Queer quips: Most traumatic Pride memory? "1998. Two racist cops harassing us at the Women of Colour float. I had to play my lawyer card to get the thugs to go away." DJ Zhara (right) "Seeing the naked gay boys with funny things hanging off of their penises when I was 12. Now I love the nudists." Andy Sheim "Remembering some of them, period, but especially when the memories hit you in shocks and bolts of lucid horror at family functions during a meal." R. Kelly Clipperton "Finding out that my partner went down on an ancient homeless guy." Ellen-Ray Hennessy "They're all a little painful. Wink, wink." Richard Ryder

Thursday, June 26

aids candlelight vigil Celebrating the lives of friends lost to AIDS. 9 pm. Free. Cawth­ ra Park beside 510 Church Community Centre. www.pridetoronto.com

ann silversides Silversides launches her book AIDS Activist: Michael Lynch And The Politics Of Community. 7 pm. Free. Edward Day Gallery, 33 Hazelton. 416-535-9914.

attila richard lukacs Lukacs's exhibition Paperwork opens today with a reception and runs to Jul 13. Lehmann Leskiw Schedler Fine Art, 626 Richmond W. 416-922-1914.

big ass comedy show Weekly open mike hosted byMartina Gail. 10 pm. Free. Slack ­ Alice, 562 Church.

bookaids Book giveways to people living with HIV/AIDS. Noon-5 pm. Free. ACT, 399 Church. 416-340-8484 ext 219.

cheap queers The Hardworkin’ Homosexuals are back, featuring Keith Cole, Canon Cook, Sky Gilbert, Marnie Woodrow, William Lau and more. 9 pm. $4.47. Vatikan, 1032 Queen W. 416-533-9166.

’da kinkin my hair by Trey Anthony. Eight black women discuss their private lives in a Caribbean beauty parlour. Runs to Jun 29. $23-$32, Sun pwyc, rush $15. Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson. 416-504-7529.

DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN’S DIARY Shot like a typically neo-primitive Guy Maddin film, but shaped with new muscle and kinetic energy. It’s the welter of associations conjured by Bram Stoker, blood lust, silent melodrama and Gustav Mahler’s music that makes this movie. Carlton Cinema.

elaine stritch Actor Stritch performs songs and stories at a Pride Toronto fundraiser. To Jun 28, 8 pm. $79-$125. Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge. 416-533-7710 ext 223.

eye-opener Contemporary eyewear by artists. To Sep 14. Free. Craft Studio, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen’s Quay W. 416-973-4963.

fetish cares Fetishistic fashion shows and performers take to the stage over four days to celebrate Pride 2003. $25. Big Bop, 651 Queen W. 416-588-6862.

gallery x Defiant local artists Kris Night, Susan “Stu” Justin, R Kelly Clipperton and Leslie Scanlon. To Jul 11. 491 Church. 416-925-6665.

iconophilia Paintings by Montreal’s Sholem Krishtalka. To Jul 12. Sis Boom Bah, 1114 Queen W. 416-531-7511.

in sex art show Sexy, beautiful, dangerous art and XXX paintings by Johannes Zits, Cam­ illa Singh, Matthew Bennett, Caroline Novak and Balint Zsako. To Jul 5 at Spin, 156-158 Bathurst. 416-530-7656.

jarred mitchell Mitchell’s web-based, interactive photonovellas are on exhibit to Jul 26. YYZ Artists’ Outlet, 401 Richmond W. 416-598-4546.

killing of sister george Staged reading of the queer classic by Frank Marcus. 8 pm. $10. Buddies in Bad Times, 12 Alexander. 416-975-8555.

LEAVING METROPOLIS (Brad Fraser) is the film adaptation of Fraser’s popular play Poor Super Man, about an angsty but brilliant artist who takes a job as a waiter only to fall for the restaurant’s ostensibly straight owner. Carlton Cinema

MAMMA MIA! With a strange mix of camp and clumsiness, this light but irresistible “musical” strings together 22 ABBA songs to tell the story of an independent woman, her about-to-be-married daughter and the three men who might be the daughter’s dad. $26-$94. Royal Alex, 260 King W. 416-872-1212.

michael lynch and the politics of community Launch of a book on the AIDS activist and AIDS Action Now! founder. 7 pm. Free. Edward Day Gallery, 33 Hazelton. 416-921-6540.

miss toronto continental pageant Kick-off party at Zipperz. 72 Carlton. 416-921-0066.

my breasts, my choice Photographic installations by Barbara Brown, Betsy Carey and Maureen Aslin. To Jul 6. Geist Gallery, 1054A Gerrard E. 416-778-1667.

nfb pride screenings The National Film Board screens Solo by Atif Siddiqi and Tommy: A Family Portrait by Mary Sexton. 6:30 and 8:45 pm. $8, stu/srs $6. 150 John. 416-973-3012.

ndp pride social Hosted by Toronto Centre-Rosedale candidate Gene Lara. 7:30 pm. Free. Fiddler’s Green Pub, 27 Wellesley E. 416-657-2531.

paul petro’s summer group show Art by Stephen Andrews, Ho Tam, Amy Bowles, Paul P, Julie Voyce and others. To Jul 26. 980 Queen W. 416-979-7874.

pierre poirier O'Connor Gallery is showing an exhibition of conté on paper by Poirier to Jul 6. 97 Maitland. 416-921-7149, www.oconnorgallery.com

power plant Thirty artists from the Americas have their way with minimalism and conceptualism. $4. Harbourfront Centre, 231 Queen’s Quay W. 416-973-4949.

pride reception The Ontario Bar Assoc’s orientation and gender identity committee and the Law Soc of Upper Canada host. 5 pm. 130 Queen W. 416-947-3314.

pride week cheek Join funny gay guy David MacLean and the city's bawdiest comedians to celebrate Pride with laughter. 8:30 pm. $12. Laugh Resort, 370 King W. 416-364-5233.

stage fright Portrait works, video and sound/wall art by Rebecca Bournigault, Kim Dawn, Jonathan Horowitz, Sharon Switzer and Kerry Tribe. To Jun 28. Free. Mercer Union Gallery, 37 LIsgar. 416-536-1519.

the crystal lite show Live taping of Pridevision TV’s new talk/variety show. 8:30 pm. Free. Zipperz/Cell Block, 72 Carlton. www.zipperz-cellblock.ca

THE SAFETY OF OBJECTSWriter-director Rose Troche’s film tracks four suburban families, with Dermot Mulroney as a man trying to find his purpose in life by helping neighbour Glenn Close win a car, and Patricia Clarkson as a frazzled but still cool single mom. Canada Square

the sound of music The classic musical gets a staging. Runs to Jul 6. $39-$72. Stage West, 5400 Dixie, Mississauga. 905-238-0042.

the sublimely sensual marlene dietrich A festival of campy classics and exquisite melodramas runs to Jun 28 at Cinematheque Ontario. Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas W. 416-968-FILM, www.bell.ca/cinematheque

the 13th floor Pride art exhibition, featuring drawings, paintings and photography by David Wall and Deryk Angstenberger. Opening reception today 6-9 pm, and show continues to Jun 30. Free. This Ain't the Rosedale Library, 481A Church. 416-929-9912.

THE WILD DOGS (Thom Fitzgerald)This story has Fitzgerald playing a pornographer scouting talent on the seamiest streets of Bucharest. Stocked with whoring expats and disabled outcasts, this is a film about exploitation. Canada Square, Carlton.

3-D official pride dance Ignite the spirit of Pride at the 2003 dance with DJ Sum­ asian. 8 pm. $20, adv $15. Phoenix Concert Theatre, 410 Sherbourne. Tickets online at www.pridetoronto.com

TONY ’N’ TINA’S WEDDING Performance art meets dinner theatre in this entertaining interactive Italian wedding. $55-$68 (incl dinner). Vinnie Black’s Chapel of Love, 56 Blue Jays Way. 416-872-1212.

trans fusion crew Queer youth meet to work on publishing a zine called Transmission. Details at SOY, 416-924-2100 ext 259.

unified weekend pep rally Official Pride kickoff party, featuring Paulo and host Justine Touch. 10 pm-3:30 pm. $15 (dress in athletic wear). 5ive Nightclub, 5 St Joseph. www.unitytoronto.com

u of t pride pub The queer resources program holds a barbecue (6 pm, no cover) and dancing from 9 pm-midnight. Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle. 416-946-5624.

WOMEN WITHOUT WINGS(Nicholas Kinsey)sets Katya Gardner on a voyage of discovery when her Albanian grandfather dies and she goes back to the old country to visit her hillbilly relatives, including an aunt who renounced her womanhood and lives as a man. Then she gets caught up in the Albanian civil war. Carlton

zsa zsa Works, Robert Weir’s mixed media and sculptural show, runs to Jun 28. 962 Queen W. 416-537-3814.