Toronto City Guide

Articles

• Ageing, Desire and Older Queer Women

  Older adults are often treated as asexual in public talk; community events for ageing queer women address that gap.

• POWER and the Sex Work Law Debate in Canada

  How an Ottawa-Gatineau advocacy group, a landmark court case and competing views on decriminalization shaped Canada's sex work debate.

• Art and Women's Sexual Self-Image in Toronto

  Audiovisual installations in Toronto have invited women to take part in representing their own sexuality.

• Sex-Positive Writers and Performers in Toronto

  Toronto writers and burlesque performers who treat sexuality as a creative subject, and the tension with public image.

• Sex Worker Activism in Toronto

  Toronto sex worker organizing, bad date reporting and law reform in the Canadian context.

• Burlesque in Winnipeg: A Troupe's Story

  A Winnipeg troupe shows how comedy, body diversity and the tease define a growing prairie burlesque scene.

• Heterosexual Allies and Same-Sex Equality

  A Toronto group of straight allies used school talks, letters and Pride marches to back same-sex equality.

• Sex City and Community Radio Programming on Sexuality

  A look at Sex City, a Toronto community radio show, and the role of volunteer-run stations in public talk about sex.

• Gender Differences in Guilt After Infidelity

  A Canadian study of Toronto participants found differing guilt patterns around sexual and emotional infidelity.

• Women-Centred Sexual Wellness Shops in Canada

  How boutiques centred on women's sexual and reproductive health combine retail, workshops and education across Canada.

• From the BDSM Scene to Fetish Modelling

  A look at how some performers enter fetish modelling through BDSM communities, based on paths that performers have reported.

• Black Queer Youth Drop-In Groups in Toronto

  How drop-in groups for Black queer and trans youth begin, what they offer, and what members say about identity and family.

• Seeking Simone and the Online Dating Web Series

  A look at a Canadian comedy web series about lesbian online dating, and what its creators said about making it.

• Burlesque Personas and Sexual Energy on Stage

  How Toronto burlesque and cabaret performers build stage personas, and how they talk about sexual energy and stigma.

• Toronto's Grassroots Sexuality Scene

  How cabaret nights, educator workshops and community radio give Toronto's sexuality conversations a public home.

• Trans Cabaret: From Stage to Screen

  How a Toronto stage workshop grew into an educational video about trans identity, barriers and pride.

• Bent: A Queer Salon in Toronto

  A monthly Toronto panel series used the salon tradition for queer conversation, including evenings devoted to sex.

• Boylesque in the Maritimes: A Halifax Scene Profile

  A look at boylesque in Halifax and Atlantic Canada through one performer's stage career.

• The Cougar Label and a Toronto Dating Book

  How the cougar image entered popular culture, and how a Toronto writer treated it in a book of comic dating tales.

• Performers of Colour in Adult Film

  A neutral look at racial stereotyping in adult film and a Toronto screening night that spotlighted performers of colour.

• Cyberlesque and Toronto's Alternative Burlesque

  Cyberlesque is a darker, rougher branch of burlesque; one Toronto performer's path shows how people arrive at it.

• Okanagan Pride: Pride in a Small B.C. City

  Okanagan Pride moved from backyard gatherings to public events in Kelowna, B.C., a path shared by many smaller Canadian Pride festivals.

• Ottawa Burlesque and the Story of Sin Sisters

  An Ottawa burlesque troupe formed from casual talk, a booked show and shared roles, offering a view of Canadian burlesque scenes.

• Pink Velvet Burlesque and Halifax Burlesque History

  A Halifax burlesque troupe's five-year milestone illustrates how Atlantic Canadian burlesque took hold.

• Women and Sexuality Communities in Canada

  A general look at women-focused sexuality education and community spaces in Canadian cities.

• Documentary Films on Tantra and Sexual Healing

  Why documentaries about Tantra and sexual healing are hard to make, and how workshop Tantra differs from older traditions.

• Understanding Female-Friendly Porn

  What people mean by female-friendly porn, who makes it, and why its audience and distribution differ from mainstream studios.

• Sex-Positive Community Events in Canada

  From flirting games to World AIDS Day panels, a survey of event types found in sexuality calendars across Canadian cities.

• Why Burlesque Appeals to Performers

  Why performers and audiences are drawn to burlesque, and how it is set apart from stripping and from mainstream entertainment.

• Themed BDSM Play Parties in Canada

  How themed play parties operate in Canadian cities, including costumes, equipment, house rules and organizer views on imagination.

• Feminist Porn Awards Week in Toronto

  What a Feminist Porn Awards week in Toronto typically includes, from screenings and a panel to the ceremony and social events.

• Paths Into Burlesque in Canadian Cities

  How burlesque performers in Canadian cities describe their start, style, influences and views on the mainstream.

• Toronto Burlesque, Columns and Activism

  Profile of a Toronto performer, columnist and sex worker rights advocate, and how those fields overlapped.

• Swingers Clubs in Downtown Toronto

  How a downtown Toronto swingers club took over a former bathhouse building and what that shows about venue culture.

• A Toronto Neighbourhood Sex Shop Story

  How sex shops changed from hidden storefronts to wellness retail, with one Toronto example of local opposition and outreach.

• Designing for Toronto's Queer Nightlife

  A Toronto designer of queer party posters illustrates how sexuality and professional creative work can coexist.

• Sook-Yin Lee and Year of the Carnivore

  A Canadian comedy about learning intimacy, and its director's view that vulnerability matters more than skill.

• Burlesque: History, Styles and Halifax

  Burlesque as satire and theatre, how it differs from stripping, and how troupes in Halifax describe the art form.

• Erotic Arts and Crafts Fairs in Canada

  Erotic craft fairs pair handmade adult-themed goods with cabaret evenings and community events in Canadian cities.

• Sexual Assault Centres and the Victim Blaming Debate

  A neutral look at what community sexual assault centres do and how victim blaming became a public issue in Canada.

• Sex Therapy and Sexology in Canada

  An explainer on sexology and sex therapy in Canada, the concerns practitioners address and the formats of care.

• Gore-lesque and Ontario Neo-Burlesque

  How horror imagery entered neo-burlesque in Ontario and how small-city scenes sustain their performers.

• Toronto Summer: Burlesque, Heat and Adult Events

  How heat, burlesque festivals and playful adult events shape summer in Toronto's adult culture.

• Adult Retail and Community Ties in Canada

  How adult retailers in mid-sized Canadian cities describe their service approach and community involvement.

• Open Space Unconferences in Kink Communities

  How the Open Space format lets attendees at kink and sex-positive gatherings write the schedule themselves.

• Covering Sexual Politics in Toronto

  Queer reporters in Toronto cover Pride, school clubs, trans rights and censorship, linking sex and politics.

• Women's Sexual Imagery in Media Art

  A Toronto media-art project invited women to represent their own sexuality through images and sound, away from stereotype.

• Rope Bondage on Stage and in the Classroom

  Rope bondage in Toronto spans workshops, club stages, a book and film, as one educator's career shows.

• Pride Festivals Beyond the Big Cities

  Smaller Canadian cities run their own Pride festivals, and Lethbridge in Alberta shows how they grow.

• Toronto Fetish Nights and Their Venues

  Recurring fetish nights depend on venues, and communities adapt when a building closes.

• Halifax and Its Reputation for Sexual Conservatism

  Halifax is often called conservative, and local reader polls show why self-selected surveys have limits.

• Halifax's Sex Show and Its Kink Community

  An adult expo in Halifax grew in year two and brought local kink groups into public view.

• The 69 Hour Film Challenge in Toronto

  A look at timed film contests about sex and humour, using a Toronto 69-hour competition as a historical example.

• Erotic Life Drawing: The Keyhole Sessions

  Erotic life-drawing nights pair artists with rope-bound models; Toronto had an early example in the Keyhole Sessions.

• Bisexual men and the question of visibility

  A neutral look at research on male bisexuality, biphobia and a Toronto anti-stigma poster campaign.

• Learning to Write the Erotic: Workshop Methods

  What erotic writing workshops aim for, from easing self-consciousness to telling sensual writing apart from sexual writing.

• Switch: A Photo Series on Gender Presentation

  Switch pairs studio portraits of the same models as a man and as a woman, questioning how identity and appearance relate.

• Lady Porn Day and the Debate It Started

  Lady Porn Day was a one-day social media campaign inviting women to discuss pornography openly.

• Toronto Burlesque and Its Performers

  An explainer on Toronto burlesque, its festival culture and how one troupe founder described her creative path.

• Cabaret Burlesque in Toronto: A Troupe Profile

  An explainer on a Toronto troupe that frames its shows as cabaret theatre with burlesque elements.

• Sex-Positive Culture in Canada

  An overview of sex-positive community life in Canada, its variety from city to small town and the stigma that persists.

• Pride Festivals Across Canada

  An overview of Pride festivals in Canada, their origins and the role they play in communities.

• Male Nude and Erotic Photography in Toronto

  An overview of male nude photography in Toronto, its artistic lineage, collaboration with models and the legal context.

• Annie Sprinkle, Ecosexuality and Sexecology

  Explains ecosexuality and sexecology through a Toronto university lecture by artist and sexologist Annie Sprinkle.

• Inside Toronto's Fetish Street Fair and Club Scene

  Overview of Toronto's fetish club nights and street fair as an example of a big-city kink scene.

• Erotic Arts and Crafts Fairs in Canada

  How handmade erotic craft fairs work, using a Toronto fair as an example of the format.

• Women-Centred Sex Shops and Feminist Porn Awards

  A look at a Toronto shop founder's views on feminist porn, sex classes and shifting attitudes toward women's sexuality.

• Swingers Clubs, Naked News and Public Curiosity

  A look at how adult venues and nudity-themed media draw newspaper coverage and curious readers.

• Sex-Positive Retail and Workshops in Toronto

  Profile of a Toronto retail model that pairs inclusive products with workshops and community programming.

• Shannon T. Boodram on Writing About Sex

  A profile of Toronto writer and host Shannon T. Boodram, her book LAID and her approach to discussing sexuality.

• Adult Expos in Canada and What They Offer

  An overview of consumer sex expos in Canada, their vendors, audiences, common criticisms and regulatory context.

• Feminist Porn and Its Awards in Canada

  Feminist pornography and its awards are explained, with a look at independent creators who manage their own production.

• Worker Co-operatives in Sex-Positive Retail

  A neutral look at how a worker co-operative model has been used by sex-positive shops in Canadian cities.

• Toronto's Comedy and Burlesque Crossover

  Stand-up and burlesque scenes overlap in Canadian cities through shared venues, producers and performers.

• Career Paths in Gay Adult Entertainment

  An overview of entry routes, industry awards and career changes in gay adult entertainment, drawing on early-2010s profiles.

• Layton and Sexual Health Policy

  A tribute from the sex-positive community credits Jack Layton with HIV/AIDS policy work in Toronto and support for same-sex marriage.

• Understanding Slut-Shaming and Victim Blaming

  Definitions, history and social media dynamics of slut-shaming and victim blaming, including Canadian debates.

• How Performers Enter Toronto Burlesque

  Toronto burlesque performers often start through chance introductions, lessons and classic-film inspiration before building signature acts.

• Feminist Sex Radio and Community Media

  How feminist, sex-positive collectives use community radio to explore sexuality through talk, writing and sound art.

• Foot Fetishes: What Research and Culture Say

  An explainer on foot and footwear fetishes, how researchers define them, and why they feature so often in popular culture.

• Pansexual and Sex-Positive Venues in Canada

  How inclusive adult nightlife venues work in Canada, the 2005 indecency ruling behind them, and the business realities they face.

• Toronto Burlesque Troupes: An Overview

  How Toronto burlesque troupes blend dance and theatre, and how performers describe the art form.

• Restraint Products Made for Couples

  How some makers design restraint gear for couples who want playful bondage without the look of hardcore kink equipment.

• Understanding Sex Magic as an Esoteric Idea

  A neutral look at what sex magic means in esoteric traditions and how documentaries approach such subjects.

• Ontario's Landmark Prostitution Law Decision

  How an Ontario court decision on prostitution laws was framed under the Charter and received by sex work allies and commentators.

• Building Burlesque Scenes in Small Canadian Cities

  How small troupes in northern and rural Canada build a burlesque audience in communities new to the art form.

• Remembering Wendy Babcock

  A neutral note on Wendy Babcock, a Toronto sex work activist, and how communities remember advocates.

• Neo-Burlesque in Canada

  How burlesque works as a performance art in Canada, from classic and neo-burlesque styles to cabaret production and teaching.

• Canada's Sex and Law Stories, Looking Back

  A retrospective on court rulings, curriculum debates and cultural controversies in Canadian sexuality news.

• Sexuality Educators and Researchers in Canada

  How Canadian sexuality educators combine academic research, community organizing, teaching and writing.

• Sex and Shame in Toronto Solo Theatre

  How a one-person Toronto show framed sex, power and shame within a long-running festival of new performance work.

• Strip Club Nights in Canadian Cities

  How strip clubs work as nightlife venues in Canada: atmosphere, performance, pricing structures, patrons and dancers' work.

• SlutWalk Toronto and Its Origins

  The remark that sparked SlutWalk, what an organizer said about the word slut, and the march's message on victim blaming.

• Keith Cole: Provocation and Art Education

  Toronto performance artist Keith Cole mixes provocation, drag and spectacle, and a profile described his move toward art education.

• Vancouver Burlesque and Its Modern Revival

  A profile of Vancouver burlesque troupes and the revival of burlesque as live, comedic and spectacle-driven entertainment.

• Autumn Gatherings in Canada's Adult Communities

  The kinds of fairs, expos, fetish nights, classes and memorials that traditionally fill the Canadian adult calendar in November.

• A Short History of Sexuality in Canada

  An outline of how laws, institutions and attitudes toward sexuality have changed in Canada, and how historians study them.

• Shibari at Toronto's Nuit Blanche

  A look at a Toronto rope bondage showcase held during Nuit Blanche and how its organizer described rope as an art form.

• Play Parties in Toronto's Kink Scene

  An explainer on how play-focused kink parties differ from dance-oriented fetish nights in Toronto.

• Burlesque and Fetish Performance in Canada

  A neutral overview of how burlesque, fetish modelling and sexology interests overlap for Canadian performers.

• Gay Bathhouse Culture in Canada

  An overview of gay bathhouses in Canada, their social role and their links with health education.

• Toronto Queer Nightlife and Broadcasting

  A look at how a Toronto DJ, writer and radio host combined nightlife and broadcasting around sexuality.

• A Toronto Queer Band and Its Humour

  How a Toronto queer band mixed raunchy humour with personal and political lyrics and played Pride-season stages.

• Independent Escorts: Work, Stigma and Law

  How an independent Toronto-area escort described her work, public stereotypes and the legal debate.

• Inclusive Gay Bars and Private Clubs in Saskatchewan

  A look at gay bars that welcome straight guests, private membership clubs, and a Saskatoon venue that tried a mixed-audience model.

• Toronto Burlesque Troupes: How One Began

  How a Toronto burlesque troupe formed, its mix of styles, and why it separates itself from club stripping.

• Sex Talk on Canadian Television

  Canadian television has long carried frank sexuality programming. A Toronto live talk show offers one past example.

• Building a Kink Scene in Quebec City

  A Quebec City social club shows how kink scenes grow from munches and social nights, and how stigma shapes them.

• The Feminist Porn Awards in Toronto

  The Feminist Porn Awards in Toronto honour erotic film that includes female pleasure and diversity.

• Christine Bruckert and Research on Sex Work Law

  Criminologist Christine Bruckert studies sex work as labour and has argued that criminal law pushes workers into riskier settings.

• SlutWalk Toronto and the Fight Against Victim-Blaming

  SlutWalk began as a Toronto march against victim-blaming and slut-shaming and went on to inspire similar events in many countries.

• Boylesque and Male Burlesque in Canada

  How boylesque adapts burlesque for male performers, with a look at troupe formation, style and personas.

• Toronto Burlesque: Satire, Parody and Pin-Up

  How burlesque performers in Toronto build careers on satire and parody, often after starting in smaller Ontario cities.

• Kink-Themed Club Nights in Canadian Cities

  Background on fetish nights and kink-themed club events in Canada, including dress codes, venues and consent norms.

• Toronto Adult Culture: Erotica, Pride and Speech

  Toronto adult culture themes: erotica readings, free-speech disputes at Pride events and sex-positive workshops.