The Queen on Taboo

Perhaps you remember me as the 68-year-old "Queen" who came out to his "Mum" in the Mirror ["It's never too late," August 2, 2001]. You might also have seen me in endless re-runs on Out In The City on Canal Vie, as the foolish, fond old man who fell for a 25-year-old dancer from Club Taboo. That is history and I hope I've learned some things, but I still go to Club Taboo.

The other Friday night I was going to go, right after I had finished an evening shift working as a volunteer for a Gay community organization. But I was still jet-lagged from visiting 99-year-old Mum in the U.K., so I luckily postponed my visit. That same night my favourite dancer was arrested as a "Found-In" in a "Bawdy House," as defined in a section of the Criminal Code of Canada dating from the 19th century.

In the two years that I have known him, he has danced for the Gay public, and privately for myself, but he has never prostituted himself to me. To invert the lyric of Carole Pope, it has been "all contact but no touch." The management of Taboo saw to this as much as possible through regular patrols of the "private" area and we behaved ourselves.

Notwithstanding, my dancer has had his picture broadcast on Radio-Canada as a "prostitute" and has been outed to his grandmother because of this invasion of queer space. Dancing is but one of the three jobs that he holds down to support his family and keep himself independent of the public purse.

I could write the same about other employees of Taboo, whom I have gotten to know and respect over the last eight years or so. So someone under age with forged ID wangles his way on to the premises to earn a living. This is not the first time. There was an incredible incident the other year when a mother stormed in to a Mr. Taboo contest final, with a policeman in tow, and demanded that her underage son be pulled of the stage, which he was - by the tweak of his ear.

So Club Taboo was warned and kept under observation. But it does not require a platoon of flatfoots to make discreet inquiries and have a minor removed from the premises for an infraction against liquor-control regulations. Effective communication, liaison and community co-operation should have been sufficient. Instead we have this draconian invasion of queer space.

We have our community standards. What happens at Club Taboo is not indecent to those of our community, who choose to go there. The professionalism (not prostitution) of the dancers and staff is nourishment for older gays and is even supportive for queers younger and undecided.

How come many customers under the same roof on the night of the descent were released after questioning without charges? How come waiters and bartenders who have no administrative or physical connection with what goes on in the private room were arrested? How come what allegedly goes on in the private room turns the whole premises in to a bawdy house as conceived by Victorian sensibilities?

It is time that the law was repealed and the cases (also currently in Calgary, after a recent raid on the Goliath sauna) were thrown out of court, as they have been in other Canadian cities that are perceived as less enlightened and tolerant than Montreal.

It is time that Montreal's queer community woke up and, despite government blandishments of Montreal as a Gay tourist and Gay Games destination, realize that their favourite relaxation spot or event might be the next target.

Vive le Québec Libre.

» Chris Wilson

Justice for dead dog

I am very glad that you chose to cover the Mile-End dog killer incident ["See Spot die," May 29]. I saw the posters the Vrahnos put up and they were heart wrenching. The couple's grief was very, very tangible. What happened to the dog was brutal, and the police indifference must have felt like a kind of brutality as well.

It seems to me that the crime causing these people such emotional devastation could not possibly be covered by the term "vandalism." If the individual involved had walked into their place and destroyed their sound system, that, in my opinion, would be vandalism. What the individual did was walk into their place and kill their beloved animal companion. If the police really want to call this terrorist act vandalism, as opposed to murder (which it is), then the question begs: why aren't they doing anything about it? Is it not part of their job?

» J. Davey

The horrendous crime of suffocating Kerri, the Alsatian-Lab, to death will be prosecutable in a far stronger way than is currently possible if federal Bill C-10B passes Parliament.

The bill is a set of amendments to the federal criminal code on crimes against animals. For the first time ever, non-human animals will be considered to be living creatures rather than property. A judge will be able to sentence an abuser to as many as five years in prison, as well as to a $10,000 fine and to prohibit an abuser from ever again adopting a companion animal.

The bill has been passed by the House, but indications are that the Senate will try to weaken the bill and send it back to the House with suggested changes, which the House will hopefully reject.

People who would like to support the bill can get all the info they need by tuning into the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies Web site (www.chfs.ca). Let's do this to honour the memory of Kerri.

» Shloime Perel

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