An LGBTQ Guide to Toronto

Co-owned by queer photographer Adam Moco and florist Anton Levin, Miss Pippa’s is a hybrid store that combines a flower shop, a gift shop and a Portuguese-inspired wine and cheese deli on College Street. “It has the most beautiful café/bar area. There’s a ton of plants in the back and they do floral arrangements,” Murphy says. Moco’s photography, including portraits of drag queens presented in ornate frames, decorate the walls.

As the city’s only clothing-optional beach, Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Island has become a hub for the gay community. “It may as well be Sitges in the summer,” Murphy says, referencing the famous gay beach near Barcelona. “Everyone’s socializing and enjoying the sun. It’s a rite of passage for a lot of queers.”

This Queen Street dive bar was one of the first LGBTQ-friendly spots to pop up in the West End, where Murphy lives. He appreciates the Beaver’s smaller quarters, which give it a buzzing atmosphere. “You don’t have to worry about walking in and thinking, ‘there’s nobody here’. There’ll be five people and it’s busy.” Regular events include weekly drag queen nights, karaoke and trivia.

Every Saturday, Adam Moco, co-owner of Miss Pippa’s, brings out his fab alter ego Miss Moco to host Sunday brunch at the Gladstone on Queen West. “What I love is that you get all ages. The Gladstone is a very family-friendly place,” Murphy tells us. Miss Moco is also known to bring guests along for the show. “In the summer, when they’re performing, they’ll spill out onto the sidewalk and into the streetcars.”

For a sweet indulgence, Murphy heads to Parkdale to grab a few freshly baked treats from the queer-owned Craig’s Cookies. Actor-turned-baker Craig Pike uses recipes and techniques learned from his mother and adds his own updated spin by baking popular chocolate bars into the mix, such as KitKat, Snickers and Toblerone. Murphy prefers to keep things simple, though. “I’m kind of basic. I just love a really straightforward chocolate chip cookie.”

Perhaps because of his role in film, Andrew Murphy feels at home in a movie theater. As the hub of the Inside Out Film Festival, he finds himself on King West’s TIFF Bell Lightbox throughout the year. “It really became another home away from home when I first moved to Toronto,” he says. He also helps to co-host events and LGBTQ programming at the cinema.

In Toronto’s Gay Village, the Black Eagle is one of Murphy’s go-to nightlife spots. “They have a great dance floor. There’s still very much of that leather culture and cruising idea, but it’s much more of a mixed crowd now.” The Black Eagle hosts popular themed nights like Balls Deep Disco and Dance Floor Makeout. Summertime draws crowds to the Black Eagle’s spacious and buzzing outdoor patio.

The Glad Day Bookshop at Church and Wellesley bills itself as the world’s oldest LGBTQ bookstore. In addition to stocking queer authors, books about sexuality, queer theory and lesbian fiction, Glad Day also serves as a venue for events, such as dance parties every Friday and Saturday. “They trust and love the community so much that the books are just there and you’re dancing around them. It’s kind of a beautiful moment,” says Murphy.

This weekly Tuesday event at Pegasus Bar in Toronto’s Gay Village is a popular spot for a midweek night out. “You can go at happy hour, have a drink and then the drag queen roams in an hour late and you slip right into bingo.” Pegasus Bar has pool tables in the back, as well as darts, pinball and ping-pong.

Toronto’s new Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is located in the emerging Junction Triangle neighborhood. Aside from their permanent collections, the MOCA boasts a roster of queer-friendly exhibitions and events. Recent examples include Purple Nights, an evening featuring apprentices from the Royal Conservatory of Music playing queer artist Frank Ocean’s greatest hits, and an exhibition on the queer filmmaker Chantal Akerman.

Inside Out’s head office is located in this arts-focused heritage building at Richmond and Spadina. Of the several artist studios and galleries in 401 Richmond, some are queer-run or feature queer artists, like A Space Gallery and Gallery 44. “The family that owns the building, their daughter is queer and she’s very involved with the running of this place,” says Murphy.