We’re Here, & We’re Queer: Meet the Founders of the Gaily

What was once a drunken Sunday conversation over an $8 bottle of wine on a mexican blanket in the middle of parc Mont Royal is now a reality. Long nights, more wine, several weeks and two pissed-off partners later The Gaily was born. It is the brain child of two geeks – a left brain and a right brain, a technigay and a wordsmith, one boy and one girl – who found each other at the right moment, and for the right purpose.

We all have dreams; some dreams come to fruition, some are added to bucket lists, and some – a rare percentage – with some serendipity, are realized. This realization happens when timing, hard work, creativity, and inspiration collide as it did for us. This dream, this website, is one we invite you to join in with us, to build community, to share ideas, and to change the world.

Part of our dream was to create a new online space for Canadian queers, allies, artists, thinkers, and writers to get together to discuss and rethink sexuality and queer culture in a constructive and positive way, to tear down some of our own stereotypes, to be sex-positive, trans-positive, women-positive, and queer-positive and to steer clear of celebrity ragging, people-bashing, transphobia, misogyny, and the simplistic, confining, and often violent language that we see around the internet on a daily basis. We want you to live freer, healthier, happier, and more fulfilling lives while having a lot of fun at the same time. (There I go sounding like Oprah again.)

Another part of this dream was to create similar spaces offline, to bring our community together in the same spirit we do online, and to construct and live out what queer, GAY, or homogay means to us and not by the definitions that confine us. Recently we rode some f*cking bikes, and today we will meet many of you in person for our website launch. We have some other gems up our sleeves too. COMING SOON.

Photo by: Robert Smith

ERIKA

Erika is a cowgirl at heart, born in Edmonton Alberta and raised on a small farm in the Kootenays of British Columbia. She flew the coop young and has been city-skipping ever since, resting in cities ranging from Toronto, Lyon, and Boston for a few years at a time before making her most recent stop in Montreal where she lives with her girlfriend Rachelle and their cat Boo.

After most recently graduating from Harvard, with two degrees in religion, she worked in the non-profit sector before deciding to pursue writing more seriously. She most recently blogged for Girls’ Action Foundation’s kickaction.ca, and is published in such “notable” publications as the Southern Alberta Magazine among other small academic pieces and freelance work.

She is a passionate activist for animals and women, a fierce curry-maker, scotch-drinker, and kitten-cuddler. You can follow her on twitter @DearSimone or email her at erika [at] the gaily [dot] ca.

Photo by: Robert Smith

TY

Born in Newfoundland and raised in a rural fishing community in northern Quebec, Ty has a thing for seafood, celtic music, dancing inappropriately and playing the bagpipes.

Ty has been living in Montreal since 2000 and attended John Abbott College where he completed a professional diploma in Graphic/Web Design. He is currently finishing a BA at Concordia University in Urban Studies with a concentration in Management Information Systems. In recent years he has been working full time as an I.T. professional and managing a part-time career in Canada’s Air Force.

He is largely focused on music, web development, hanging with his funny (‘til your belly hurts!) boyfriend Evan and taking care of his post-op tranny kitty George-ia. You can follow him on twitter @tysmith82 or email him at ty [at] thegaily [dot] ca. (*sings, “Call Tyrone“)