Dear Editor,
On behalf of the ISCCA, I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all that came out and supported our Turnabout show. The guys all looked uncomfortable in heels and the Empress definitely is not used to performing as a guy, rather than a guy in a dress! The Emperor’s challenge did not go unnoticed as 4 past Monarchs came out in drag to perform in the show. Thank you Dion, Cory, Wolfgang and Damion for your efforts to drain the Emperor’s wallet! About 300 dollars was raised at this function to benefit our charities.
I would also like to thank RJ, Cliff and the Sunday Show Host Mama Kim for recognizing the Court in their venue, and by making the Emperor in Drag perform a number to raise money for charity. I am pleased to announce that with my totally unworthy performance, $165 was raised and I thank all that participated and donated.
Also, GayCalgary sponsored the ISCCA a booth at the Taboo Naughty but Nice Sex Show where we were selling the cutest ever teddy bears as a fund raiser. The bears were a resounding success – we raised a total of $765 - and the half naked firemen next to us were nothing to sneeze at either! Thank you to all the individuals who volunteered their time to represent the ISCCA at the booth. Also a thank you to Terri Stevens for promoting our cause in her inimitable style on the microphone during the event.
We would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Holiday season and hope that your New Year brings new and great things into your life!
I Remain in Service to the Community:
Michael Myte
Emperor 32 of Calgary
Dear Editor,
Re: Queer vs Gay as a term!
Webster’s Online Dictionary Main Entry:
queer - Pronunciation: \kwir\
Function: adjective
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1508
1 a: worthless, counterfeit
b: questionable, suspicious.
2 a: differing in some odd way from what is usual or normal b (1): eccentric, unconventional (2): mildly insane : touched c: absorbed or interested to an extreme or unreasonable degree : obsessed d (1): often disparaging : homosexual (2): sometimes offensive : gay
3: not quite well
— queer•ish
— queer•ly adverb
— queer•ness noun
Usage: Over the past two decades, an important change has occurred in the use of queer in sense 2d. The older, strongly pejorative use has certainly not vanished, but a use by some gay people and some academics as a neutral or even positive term has established itself. This development is most noticeable in the adjective but is reflected in the corresponding noun as well. The newer use is sometimes taken to be offensive, especially by older gay men who fostered the acceptance of gay in these uses and still have a strong preference for it.
Above is the Webster’s definition of the word Queer. As a 48 year old gay male who was raised in Ireland, the word queer in the vernacular meant the definitions as described in 1 and 2. If the then-older generation referred to someone as a little queer they meant that the individual was mentally unstable. It was an embarrassment to the family that they had a queer offspring.
In those days anyone referred to as “queer” was subject to mental examinations often times including visits to mental homes, psychiatrists and psychologists. In fact when I came out to my parents they had my doctor send me to the Dublin Mental institution for evaluation. You cannot imagine at 22 years of age being driven up to the doors of the “looney house”, left there to witness people wandering around in straight jackets mumbling to themselves, with doctors, nurses and nuns running around. It was like a scene from the Jack Nicholas movie One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest.
Fast forward to November 2008, and how does “Queer Marriage” sound to the masses? Bad enough that people are so threatened by same sex marriage (remember marriage is a religious sacrament, and no matter what religious service one might have, a couple still has to sign the “civil union”), how threatened would they be by a chant for queer marriage. Imagine all the interpretations and pre conceived notions that would come into that debate!
So please let us go back to using “the GLBTQ community” when referring to us homosexuals. Maybe someday the word queer will be acceptable to all, but for me at least it is very offensive and I would not publicly identify as queer.
Martin Rooney
Surrey BC Canada
www.martinstorm.com