Where some people in Toronto would say the drive to Etobicoke – the western most part of Toronto where I live, from downtown is to far to travel for some fun; people in Northern Ontario are willing to drive from Timmins to Sudbury (296km – 184mi, 3 – 4 hours) to get action.
People in Sudbury will drive to Toronto for an extended weekend to get some action.
You’ll find that the BDSM and Leather communities have to work together in order to make things happen. You’re not going to find a solely gay Leather group in a place like Sudbury – it’s going to be more pansexual oriented with crossover between gay, lesbian, bi, trans and straight communities.
Gay Men's Sexual Health Summit 2010
I had the opportunity to discuss this within the context of sexual health information outreach to gay men in cities and towns outside of our major centers during the Gay Men’s Sexual Health Summit held in February 2010.
I was honoured to be part of a panel discussion called “Get Your Kink On: Best practices in BDSM Outreach” moderated by Duncan MacLachlan (ACT, MLT 1996), Nate Soloman (NOCK), Ishwar Persad (Center for Addiction and Mental Health), David Ivey (MLT 2010), Matthew Pavelich (MLT 2008) and Trevor Jacques (WholeSM Publishing).
That’s the way things are in the world outside our major centers such as Toronto, Ottawa, and Hamilton. There just isn’t the critical mass to maintain separate communities. People have to work together.
One of Master Chuck’s initiatives to drive community involvement and bridging in Northern Ontario is to setup a series of munches and munch & learns.
A munch is a place where kinky folk get together, eat, drink and chat. A munch and learn is the same but with the added benefit of being able to learn via demo or full length discussion. For many outside a major center, this is the first step into the kink and leather world.
View Larger MapIn the case of Northern Ontario, kinksters will drive from Sudbury to North Bay (129km – 80mi, 1.5 to 2 hours) or from Parry Sound (162km – 101mi, 2 hours) just to attend a munch.
On FetLife, Master Chuck has setup the following discussion groups (you’ll need an account on FetLife to participate):
If anyone wants to grab a ride with me to go to a munch in Sudbury or North Bay, let me know! You’ll be surprised. The Inukshuk on the way up are quite something.
Both Master Chuck and i will be posting Sudbury and North Bay munch details on our respective blogs.
For the record, driving the 4.5 hours to see Master Chuck for the past 7 years (as of June 5) has all been worth it. No nose bleeds either!