What to know
- The couples we spoke to represent a range of relationships, from those just starting out to those who have been married for years.
- Their stories begin in different places; some met at a 2SLGBTQIA+ club, others met at educational institutions.
- The couples shared what makes them keep choosing love and their advice for relationships.
Love doesn’t follow a playbook, no matter who you love. For the Pride edition of This is Dating Now, we hit Toronto’s Village, and spoke to Queer couples, whether newly dating or years into marriage, about how their stories began and what keeps the spark alive.
Every Toronto dater, regardless of sexuality, knows about situationships and hookup culture. Even so, love exists here. This week, some 2SLGBTQIA+ Torontonians shared how they met their partners and what keeps them invested in their love story.
Read More
- ‘My eyes are on my Brazilian’: How this Toronto FIFA Fan Fest found love at a Brazilian party
- Gay dating in Toronto: Locals say it’s a mess, but they’re still hopeful
- ‘I don’t think the generation now even really knows what romance is’: Gen X woman reflects on Toronto dating
- What makes or breaks a relationship? Torontonians and a dating expert on setting healthy boundaries
See how Gen Z is finding queer love in Toronto
Tai M. and Cassidy S. are both very big in Toronto’s party scene — and love each other for it.
The couple met at Happy Cup, which Tai describes as a dive bar.
“[Cassidy] saw me walking, and she literally grabbed my arm, and she’s like, ‘You’re coming with me.’ She kidnapped me,” Tai joked.
Cassidy added to the banter, saying she saw Tai had a cool alternative vibe and knew what she wanted.
They consider their first date as the night they met, but don’t remember much because too much alcohol was involved.
“We got so drunk. That’s when I knew I found someone to match my energy getting blackout,” Tai said. “We did karaoke. We love karaoke. She supports me. She screams, and I scream into the mic. I love that.”
Tai highlights Cassidy’s understanding nature and great communication as traits they love about her, but emphasizes that the fun they have together is what keeps them together.
“We both like to have fun, and somebody who can really match that energy is really hard to find, who just wants to go out all the time and just do things on the daily,” Tai said.
Cassidy loves Tai’s authenticity.
“[They’re] very genuine and a real person. [They’re] very understanding. There’s no one else like that.”
Now, the couple has been together for six months and counting.
Some couples made it to marriage
Like Rihanna’s song, “We Found Love,” Lucaas L. and Donato G. also met in a hopeless place: A Toronto nightclub.
“I had a friend staying with me, and they told me about a cute younger guy who is always at a Gay station at the Eagle, and that I should go check him out,” Lucaas told Now Toronto. “So I went one Tuesday… and yeah, I checked him out
His partner, Donato, also shared how he felt in that moment.
“I was just sitting playing Smash Brothers at Black Eagle. Then he approached me. I was just playing and didn’t pay much attention,” he said. “Then he started giggling and saying more stuff. I turned my head and thought, okay, I guess I can pay attention after I finish my match.”
That night, the couple shared a kiss.
Read More
This couple also saw their first meet-up as their first date, and followed up with food at Pantheon on Danforth.
It worked out, and they have been together four years and will celebrate their first wedding anniversary in October.
They knew they were right for each other, saying that they complement each other’s traits and work through conflicts.
“I just feel like you’re gonna butt heads on something at some point with some people, so I think with everybody eventually,” Lucaas said. “So it kind of depends on how you work through things with people, and like obstacles, how you overcome them. And we did them, we do it great.
“Agree with everything your husband says,” Donato joked.
In all seriousness, Donato said his hot take is that to have a lasting relationship, you must accept the person as they are.
“Once you accept that there’s no like secret happy ending or anything, it’s just like now we’re in this together, like let’s see how long it lasts,” he said.
Another couple, Jeff P. and Victor J., met at the University of Toronto. Victor was a CBC producer at Hart House. Jeff’s gaydar kicked in, and he decided to approach him about squash.
Like a plotline from a romcom, Jeff lied, saying that he also loved playing squash, and they set up a date.
The next day, they met up for Squash.
“Friday morning, I went to buy my first squash racquet. I’ve never played it before in my life,” Jeff said.
Jeff laughs that they met up on Friday but never played squash. They hung out until Sunday.
“And that was 34 years ago,” Victor said.
Now, Jeff has actually learned squash and has become a good player.He says that knew from the get-go that he was in love, saying “I love you” that same weekend.
Read More
Victor took a bit more time, but enjoyed his company, and now they’re in love.
The couple loves quality time and the qualities that complement each other.
“Victor’s a strong, silent, stern, solid type, and he would steer me, because I met him when I was really young, so I pretty much grew up with him,” Jeff said. “He gave me the flexibility [and] the support to pretty much become the man you see before you, and I’m eternally grateful.”
Victor explained that now that he has retired, the couple spends a lot of time travelling.
“We travelled all over the world together, and we just came back last week from Paris, France,” Victor said. “We’re sort of like day and night, he’s just the most fun person to be around, always got great ideas.”
He explained that even when things are not easy, they always stick together.
“Mostly he’s fun, and when he gets mad, I walk away. We always come back.”
Jeff added in his two cents, “Even when we say goodbye for work, it’s never goodbye, it’s always see you later.”
Like Lucaas and Donato, Jeff reminds everyone about the importance of fun in relationships.
“Honestly, have fun. Have fun with each other, and be yourselves, because you are your best selves when you’re having fun, and don’t play games, life is just too, too short.”
