Toronto has long been a haven for 2SLGBTQ+ creatives but local artists say that now, more than ever, it is important to protect and support queer art, which is about so much more than entertainment.
Toronto’s history of queer art and expression is long and colourful. From transgender icon Jackie Shane dominating the stage in the 1960s, to popular modern artists like Brooke Lynn Hytes, if Toronto’s art scene could talk it would scream queer!
For many queer artists and patrons of the arts, these creative ventures are about more than just entertainment, it’s also about resistance and representation. But we’re living in a time where many 2SLGBTQ+ businesses, including arts venues, are struggling to stay afloat.
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PROTECTING SPACES FOR QUEER ARTISTS
Earlier this year, the community took a hit with the closure of the beloved queer sports bar and venue Peaches. Recently, Glad Day Bookshop, the world’s oldest queer bookstore and a popular Toronto location for queer events, announced it would be moving out of The Village following a fundraiser to save the shop from the threat of eviction.
These events just underscore why we need to be supporting queer art and artists.
“The reality is in our city right now, queer spaces are disappearing. Space for transgression is disappearing as we kind of turn into all the same Instagram beige across the city. We stand against that,” ted witzel, artistic director of Toronto queer theatre Buddies in Bad Times, told Queer & Now.
“The world is f***ng horrifying, and so to have these spaces where we can celebrate and we can hold up the artists who are really pushing forward and refusing normal at this moment feels incredibly vital.”
Elie Chivi, the executive director of Inside Out, Canada’s largest 2SLGBTQ+ film festival, echoes this, saying that protecting spaces dedicated to queer art is important as it ensures that queer voices continue to thrive, and our stories are not pushed to the margins or forgotten. But it’s about more than just being heard.
“These spaces are not just about visibility, they’re about safety, affirmation, and the right to express oneself authentically. When we invest in them, we’re investing in a more inclusive, understanding society,” he explained.
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He says that events like Inside Out also provide a foundation for future generations of artists to share their stories and experiences, build community, and continue the ongoing fight for equality.
“Without these spaces, we risk losing the richness, diversity, and vital perspectives that make our community and culture so powerful,” Chivi said.
While there are other venues for queer art to thrive (mainstream media, we’re looking at you), queer art on these platforms are often cancelled, heavily censored, or watered-down. Chivi explained that spaces dedicated to queer art are essential because they provide artists with a platform to tell authentic stories without censorship or compromise.
“These spaces foster a sense of belonging and community, allowing marginalized voices to be heard and celebrated,” Chivi said, adding that they are vital for amplifying diverse perspectives, challenging stereotypes, and expanding the visibility of queer experiences in ways that mainstream platforms often overlook.
“In many ways, these spaces serve as sanctuaries for creativity, resilience, and expression, where art becomes a powerful tool for healing and social change.”
OPENING THE STAGE TO DIFFERENT QUEER ART
Buddies in Bad Times is hosting an extensive lineup of Pride events this year, including the 2-Spirit Cabaret on June 12, and the youth-centred Pride Prom on June 21. witzel says that the beauty of the theatre is that they can open the stage to so many different types of queer artists in the city.
“Part of the reason for doing a three-week-long festival is [we’re] trying to make space for all of the people who have something to share with the queer community during June,” he explained, adding that this includes everything from burlesque to drag.
“People want to be part of it, and so we try to create as much space as possible.”
witzel is about 19 months into his tenure as the theatre’s artistic director. He says that despite working for various venues around the world, he has never come across another queer arts institution that operates year-round on a scale like Buddies.
“The fact that we have a 46-year-old queer arts institution that has staked out a place inside of both the arts landscape of Canada as well as the queer landscape of Canada is really f***ing unique,” he explained.
He says that this work has allowed for discourse around art, queerness and performance, while creating space for queer artists of all disciplines to create, celebrate, and play. witzel says now, more than ever, we need queer celebration, art and artists.
“I have a poster in my office that says we’re not going back to normal because normal is the problem. That so encapsulates for me the core of what we are doing at Buddies, [which] is trying to push against normal and create space for chaos and perversion and transgression and to do that joyously and to do that creatively and to do that through celebration as much as we do that through art.”
“We stand for bringing your wettest, wildest, weirdest self. And whether that means, you know, make political art, tear down this wall, or whether that just means you’re finding a moment of queer joy, intimacy, getting off in the stairwells, that’s all so vital to protect because it’s about protecting a space for dissent and transgression in this city,” witzel said.
THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATION
As an artist herself, musician and Muslim Pride curator Urvah Khan adds that it’s important for queer communities, especially youth, to have representation to look up to.
“Growing up, many queer and trans folks – including myself – didn’t have idols or representation we could look up to. We didn’t see ourselves reflected in the art around us,” Khan explained.
“That’s why spaces dedicated to queer art are so important: they give us the opportunity to be that representation for someone else. They allow us to be the voices, the idols, the stories that we never had growing up.”
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She told Queer & Now that spaces created for marginalized communities often get diluted over time, eventually losing their purpose as community stops being the focus. But it’s important to combat this.
“It’s crucial to protect queer and trans spaces because these are the places where we create, where we tell our stories from our own lens, not through someone else’s narrative,” she explained. “These spaces are not just safe, they’re sacred.”
She explained that having the opportunity to express yourself through art is a privilege, and to her, having that ability means everything.
“Artistic expression gives my life structure and purpose. It’s not just about creating—it’s about existing fully, loudly, and truthfully.”
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