You might not know it walking
around Montréal’s Gay Village, but
this city is teeming with lesbians and
lesbian culture. The Gay Village (lo-
cated on Ste-Catherine Street East,
roughly from Amherst to Papineau) is

a primarily commercial area full of»

bars, restaurants, hotels, saunas,
cafés and shops. Dykes are of course
welcome in the Village, but you may
feel drowned in the sea of men. it you
want to get a true feel for lesbian
Montréal, you'll need to go out of your
way a little, but it'll be worth your while.

Your first stop in Montréal (as
in any big city, by the way) should be
the lesbian and gay bookstore,
L’Androgyne (3636 bout. St-Laurent).
No need to buy anything -
L’Androgyne is a great distribution
center for free community papers, and
fliers. Pick up Fugues, the free gay
and lesbian monthly, for a complete
listing of bars, shops, restaurants and

» activities (mostly in French, but there

is an English section aimed at tour-
ists)..Check the counter for fliers or
ask the staff if there are any other
special events going on. Hour and
Mirror, Montréal’s English-language
free weeklies, will also provide you
with good listings.

incidentally, L’Androgyne will
be celebrating its 25th anniversary in
September. Lots of events are
planned, including an evening with
cartoonists Alison Bechdel and Eric
Orner on Saturday September 12.
Call (514) 842-4765 for details.

There's always something go-
ing on in Montréal, but the highlights
of Montreals lesbian social calendar
are by far Divers/Cite, our Pride, and
Image & Nation, the lesbian and gay
film festival. '

if you’re feeling bummed out

9 SATURDAY

Barnstead, NH - Summer Picnic with
the Women Meeting Women, 12
noon, Suncook Lake,. FMl:603-883-
9969, n.s'~ris.%‘«.u tfsi-' art.-"..tv ::e:l:a .r:ef.

D SUNDAY

Burlington - UU CIRCLE: Full Moon
and Lammas ritual, potluck, and
meeting. All who support the Cov-
enant of UU Pagans’ mission are wel-
come. Weargarb if you like, and bring
something for feast, a musical instru-
ment, and a cushion to sit on. Site
TBA, 6 pm. Donations. Info, 658-
9689.

that you missed our Pride, listen up:
it's coming up on August 2! Plenty of
time to get down here, and this year’s
celebration are shaping up to be ex-
ceptionally fabulous. One of down-
town Montreal’s most famous parks,
Parc Emilie-Gamelin (formerly Berri
Square, right at Berri and Ste-
Catherine) is reserved
for Divers/Cite activities
from Wednesday the
29th of July to Sunday
August 2, the day of the
traditional parade. There
will be tons of things to

do the entire weekend,

including

lots ofspe-

cial events

and par

ties‘ for

w o m e n .

O u e er of course be
Girls, the plenty of films for
a I l -dy ke , dykes and lots of
m us i cal " ‘" opportunities to
extrava- socialize at any
ganza and number of
party on fundraising par-
F r i d a y ties and cocktail
night fea- parties. Call
f U r i n g (514) 285-4467
s i n g e r for more informa-
Geneviéve tion.

Paris '5 not If you can't make
to be it for Divers/Cité
missed. or lmage&Na-
For a de- tion, don’t dis-
t a i l e d may, we can still
programme ' find some trouble
call (514) foryoutogetinto! :
285-4011. Montréal has an excellent se-

image & Nation, the lesbian
and gay film festival, will be held at
the end of September. Now in its elev-
enth year, image & Nation offers ten

w MONDAY

Burlington - “Out of the Closet and
into the Art Gallery", Out In The Moun-
tains poetry reading. Poets featured
in this month's Poetry Issue read their
works at Rhombus Gallery. Rhombus
is located at 186 College St. (mezza-
nine level) in Burlington. Admission is
$2-6.

sliding scale, with half the proceeds
going to OlTM. For more information,
call 865-2144.

W WEDNESDAY

Lebanon, NH - 6pm, Meet at North-
ern States Tire, to help clean our
adopted hiway, Snack at the Baited
Hook on Rte 4A before or after, Rain
date: August 13. FMI: MaryLou: 603-
632-7480.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

DIVERS

 

A Quick Tour of ,    
LESBIAN MONTREAL

_______.__.._.:.____...___.._..j::.__.—_j:.j..._...__:_—:_.__.__.._._..——-:.—._.

days of excellent programming includ-
ing feature length films, documenta-
ries, and shorts. Films are shown eve-
nings during the week and all day and
evening on week-ends. if you are
coming from out of town, try to get
your tickets in advance as many of
the programmes sellout. There will

lection of bars to choose from.. if you
are interested in the true-blue night-
club scene, your best bet is to head
to Unity (1400 Montcalm, corner Ste-

Catherine in the Village) on a Friday
night. Unity is a mixed club (men and
women) with a women?s night on Fri-
days (still lots of men, but more
women. Cuter staff, too). lt’s a huge,
multi-leveled complex with a beauti-
ful roof-top terrace, a big dance floor,
and several smaller dance rooms (on

Fridays one features 80’s retro, an-
other soul and rhythm & blues). There
is also a stage on the main floor, and
often some kind of show will happen
at around 1:00 a.m. The crowd is
somewhat young and the music very
loud.

Saturday nights are good to try
some of Montréal‘s smaller neighbor-
hood pubs. O’Side (40758 St-Denis,
corner Rachel) is in the heart of the
Plateau where many lesbians make
their homes. lt’s a warm, friendly
space (women only, except for Mon-
day nights) with big sunny windows,
pool tables, and mellow music.
Dietrich, a new pub just up the street
(4282 St-Denis) offers a T-dance on
Sunday afternoons from 5:00 to 10:00
PM with our favorite honorary-dyke
DJ, Bobzilla (from Unity’s 80's retro
room). Dietrich also has a street level
terrace which is ideal for sipping
drinks in the sunshine. Men accom-

Montpelier - Vermont Freedom to
Marry Task Force meeting to plan fu-
ture public forums. At the office of
Vermont Cares, 7pm, 73 Main St.
Mont. FMI Roberta Garr 223-7620

B} THURSDAY

Middlebury - Rainbow Families Gath-
ering on the green for the Bristol Band
concert. 7 pm. Look for the rainbow
windsock, again. Everyone welcome,
bring your kids or just the kid inside
you. FMI: 388-8298 Barb

W SUNDAY

Montpelier - Vermont Gay Men's
Chorus board meeting, 4:30-6:30 pm
at the UU Church in Montpelier. This
meeting is for anyone interested in
joining the board, talk about the
director, 501c3, etc.

by Johanne Cadorette

panied by women are welcome.
There are also places of les-
bian interest in the Gay Village. Drug-
store (1360 Ste-Catherine East) an-
other multi-leveled “complex” (they’re
all the rage here, you'll see), has lots

’ of little rooms and terraces often filled

with women, even though the space

Don’t bother asking if there is a smoke-free area in
a bar, because you will end up having to help the
server get up off the floor from laughing so hard.
Chalk it up to a cultural thing and be prepared to
dry-clean your clothes.

is mixed. The music is mellow, the at- T

mosphere is more pub-like than club.
lt’s a good place to have a quiet drink
before heading to Unity. Mississippi

Club (1584 Ste-Catherine East) is . -

another nightclub (in the big Bourbon
Complex -l tell you, it's out of control)
and a generally safe bet on week-
ends. Music is very commercial dance
(i.e.: dance mixes of the Titanic
theme) and everyone just dances
their pants off (well, tops, actually, but
you get the picture).

its quite possible -and in fact
recommended -that you’ll want to do
something other than go to bars while
in Montréal. Montréal has tons of art
galleries, theaters, and music venues
and on any given week, there's bound
to be something of lesbian interest.
At the Museum of Contemporary Art
(185 Ste-Catherine West) you’ll find

MONTREAL, p12

White River Junction - 6pm "Potluckl
Lobster-fest" for details call Pat: 802-
296-2095.

W 19 WEDNESDAY

Stowe - Women ofthe Woods Dinnrel
biking at Whiskers Restaurant, meet
at 6 pm, use the nearby bikepath ei-
ther before or after dinner. Call 485-
8588 by 8/15 if you plan to attend.

Q) 22 SATURDAY

Cornish, NH - 6pm, Cornish Fair with
Potluck after at Renee’s: 603-542-
1972.

$7 23 SUNDAY

Putney - Lesbian Book Group: 7 PM
at Heartstone Books. We read books

in all genres, by women authors, usu-
ally with some lesbian content. Please
join us! For more information, Tatiana
(802) 387-2781, or
tatianas@sover.net.

a} 26 WEDNESDAY

Montpelier - Vermont Freedom to
Marry Task Force meeting. At the of-
fice of Vermont Cares, 7pm, 73 Main

— St. FMI Roberta Garr223-7620

B’ 27 THURSDAY

Manchester - Vermont Freedom to
Marry Task Force meeting to organize
VFMTF activities in Bennington
County. For time, location or other in-
formation contact Sandi Cote (802)
362-2959