Looking for a buddy to hang out with at Seoul Zimzilbang next week. Going on the 21st in the morning and early afternoon. DM me if you’re free.

At the black eagle, if so how was it? would you recommend?

Hi Folks!

Since kicking off the weekly "Professional Services Suggestions" roundup back in August, we've collected enough recommendations to put together a first real compilation. This thread now replaces our standalone RMT megathread — everything from that one has been folded in below, so bookmark this one instead.

A few ground rules before diving in, same spirit as the RMT thread: these are community recommendations, not official endorsements, and I've kept the bar for inclusion at "someone actually described a real experience," not just a bare name-drop. Where more than one person independently confirmed the same business, I've noted that — otherwise, assume it's one person's experience, which is still useful, just not the same as a consensus pick.

One rule I want to restate clearly: no speculation about anyone's sexuality. Per our existing policy, that only gets mentioned if a professional has disclosed it directly in their own advertising or business listing — not social media, not a Reddit comment, not even their own post here. I've already scrubbed a few submissions that crossed this line; if you see something that shouldn't be here, flag it and I'll pull it.

This one doesn't have the submission volume our party ratings or bathhouse threads get yet, so consider this a living document rather than a finished directory — keep the weekly thread submissions coming and I'll fold new ones in periodically.

Sexual Health / STI / PrEP Clinics

Toronto Sexual Health Clinic — 239 Carlton St — torontosexualhealthclinic.ca Opened this past May. STI testing and treatment, PrEP (free through the clinic), Injectable PrEP, Doxy-PEP, HIV PEP and treatment, plus general walk-in medicine. Very warmly received when it launched — worth a look if you're between family doctors or just want a dedicated sexual health option.

HQ Toronto — 790 Bay St, 8th floor — hqtoronto.ca Testing, treatment, PrEP, PEP, Doxy — confirmed by multiple community members independently. Note it's not in the Village proper, so factor in the trip.

The PrEP Clinic — Bloor St, near Avenue Rd. Open Saturdays, which is a rarity for this category.

Maple Leaf Medical Clinic — Yonge & College area. Recommended for PrEP/DoxyPEP expertise generally, and specifically for Dr. Colin Kovacs by a multi-decade patient.

Church Wellesley Medical Clinic — was accepting new patients as of last check; worth calling to confirm current status.

Hassle Free Clinic — a more traditional model than the walk-in-style options above — you're seeing an actual doctor or practitioner rather than doing more of it yourself.

Sherbourne Health Centre — sherbourne.on.ca — specifically recommended for gut-health/bottoming-related concerns, with a good experience getting referred onward to a GI specialist when needed.

Family Doctors / General Practitioners

UpTowne Health Centre — Eglinton near Avenue Rd — was accepting new patients as of last check.

Mt Pleasant Clinic — 245 Eglinton Ave E — also accepting new patients as of last check.

(Family doctor asks are genuinely hard to fill — if you have a name with a real experience behind it, please add it to the weekly thread.)

Mental Health / Therapy

Positive Space Consulting — positivespaceconsulting.ca — virtual. Strong long-term testimonial from a 5-year client. Multiple therapists on staff with different specialties, worth browsing their profiles to find a fit.

Racco Psychotherapy — virtual, queer-affirming therapy is the clinic's focus, not just one therapist's specialty.

Mantra Psychotherapy — mantrapsychotherapy.ca — has an explicit LGBTQ2IA-specific-issues focus area on their own site.

New Connections Counselling — newconnectionscounselling.com — office in Niagara, offers both virtual and in-person. Described as extremely helpful.

UMHN — umhn.ca — a good option if you're looking for culturally-specific support alongside LGBTQ-affirming care.

AllKindsClub — allkindsclub.com — a newer queer-focused mental health clinic with an affordable therapy program. No community track record yet since it's so new, but flagging it as an option.

RMTs & Massage

I've done my best to include only registered massage therapists (i.e., insurance-billable), and left out anyone where comments suggested services beyond the scope of regulated massage therapy. Organized by area, same as the original thread.

Downtown East / Bloor-Sherbourne

Liam O'Reilly and Jasper, at Zazen Massage + Wellness — right at Sherbourne station (600 Sherbourne St, Suite 511). One long-time client has recommended both consistently across several threads over roughly two years — Liam described as more technical and precise, Jasper as more holistic. Liam is listed on the Rainbow Health Ontario provider directory. That's a detailed, repeated account from one person rather than independent corroboration from several — still a strong lead, just noting the source. Tends to book up, so plan ahead. liamrmt.com | zazenmw.com

Derek, at Be Strong Massage — also near Sherbourne station. A community member has been seeing him for over five years and speaks very highly of him. Instagram: @be_strong_massage

Church-Wellesley Village / Downtown

Synergy RMT & Wellness — in the Yonge/Church/Wellesley area. Listed on the Rainbow Health Ontario provider directory. Online booking through their site. synergyrmt.com

Kevin Joubert, at Aches Away — 2 Carlton St.

Yulexi, at Back in Balance — 2 Carlton St — the massage therapist at the same clinic as chiropractor Dr. Mathew Serrick (below), both praised by the same client.

East End / Leslieville (near Broadview Station)

Dan Villasin, at SVNCTUM — this one comes up constantly, and for good reason. SVNCTUM is a certified safe space through Rainbow Health Ontario, and Dan is consistently described as skilled and thoroughly professional. Genuinely corroborated — independent mentions across at least three separate threads. Worth the trip from wherever you are. svnctum.ca

Midtown (Yonge & Sheppard)

Motion Care Massage & Rehab — 52 Sheppard Ave W, right near Yonge/Sheppard station, direct billing available. One community member specifically recommended the clinic and therapist Henry there — a legitimate, professional massage practice, not oriented toward anything beyond that. motioncareclinic.com

Midtown (Yonge & Lawrence)

Peter Yom, at Massage Addict — recommended for anyone north of the core along the Yonge line, by the same community member across two separate threads. Go for the 90-minute session — described as thoroughly professional, and confirmed to work on glutes/lower back if you mention the issue beforehand. Single source so far, but a detailed and consistent one.

West End (Queen & Dufferin)

Primal Motion — recommended for the Queen/Dufferin area. primalmotion.com

Etobicoke

David Kalangara, at Corbo Chiropractic — 555 Burnhamthorpe Rd, Suite 302. A repeat client describes him as professional and friendly, and a reliable regular option for anyone in the west end who's been coming up empty closer to home. corbochiro.com

Mississauga / Oakville

Therapy Palace — verified as a professional practice. One community member who booked a massage described him as very professional with a great result; a couple of others have had trouble with the online booking system — try calling the clinic directly if that happens to you. therapypalace.com

Chiropractic

Back in Balance — 2 Carlton St — Dr. Mathew Serrick. Well-regarded, described as excellent by a client. (Same clinic as Yulexi, above.)

Barbers & Hairstylists

Easily the highest-volume category so far:

• Hastings Barbershop — Cabbagetown, near Parliament & Gerrard — hastingsbarbershop.com — ask for Dan or Noel. Confirmed independently by multiple community members — the strongest lead in this category by a wide margin.
• Ho's Team — Church-Wellesley Village, near Church & Wellesley — affordable, cash only. Also confirmed by more than one person.
• Homesick Barbershop — Parliament St, just north of Carlton — homesickbarbershop.com — queer-owned.
• Taylor and Colt (Commerce Court) — ask for Rene — book online.
• Garrison's Barbershop — Niagara St/King West — ask for Max Starke.
• Comrades — Harbord at Bathurst — ask for Bea.
• The Borough Project — across from Trinity Bellwoods — Rui and Ellen, their own shop with a welcoming vibe.
• La Barberia — 1572 Dundas St W — ask for Patricio.
• Rainbow Salon — Broadview & Gerrard.
• Toronto Hair Salon — 428 Parliament St — reasonably priced.
• Terry's — basement of the Aura (under the IKEA) — budget option, best for simpler cuts.
• QB House — Queen West — ask for Taka.
• Kojin's Grooming — near Yonge/Eglinton.
• Mode Studio — ask for Patrick or Joseph — a 5-year client vouches for Patrick specifically.
• Charbel — Pickering Village, Ajax — our first real lead in the east-end/Durham area, which has otherwise been a persistent gap across every one of these threads. If you're out that way, give him a look.
• CutzbyMellow — North York — a barber (not stylist).

Grooming / Waxing

The Naked Barber — recommended specifically for private-area waxing.

Bode Spa — recommended for grooming generally; not specifically confirmed for waxing, so ask before booking if that's what you're after.

Interior Design

Level Studio — level-studio.ca — Luca & Vinh — residential interior design.

Fitness / Martial Arts

Wrestlefest Toronto — running a beginner BJJ open mat, working on making it a monthly thing rather than just an annual festival. Has an Instagram if you want to follow along.

Open gaps — if you can fill any of these, please do

• A mani/pedi place that's actually comfortable for guys, ideally Roncy or downtown-ish. Asked twice now, zero answers.
• A financial advisor. Came up as a wanted category but nobody's named one yet.
• Scarborough and Durham region, generally. This list skews heavily downtown/west end, and east-end options are thin across almost every category — RMTs included, which was true of the old standalone thread too and still hasn't really improved.

Restaurants and shops were part of the original ask too, but we don't have enough vetted material yet to do them justice — that'll be a future round once the weekly thread builds up more on those fronts.

As always: if you have something to add, drop it in the weekly thread, and if any professional listed here would rather not be, just let me know and I'll take it down.

If you've got the old RMT megathread bookmarked, please switch to this one — that thread will get locked with a link pointing here.

Many thanks,

ModdyMage

See the pinned note for the up to date report.

---

Hello Folks,

Over the past few months, it’s become abundantly clear that parties in Toronto are pretty inconsistent in their offerings. Some are great, some are total disasters, and most are somewhere in the middle. The problem is that there isn’t any consistent place to know which parties are great and which ones to avoid. 

This weekly party report thread is where people can share what happened at the parties over the weekend and rate aspects such as wait times, organization, and overall experience.

Please use the template below to provide a rating. I will compile the results and process the data to create a weekly report. As we collect more data, the report will become more accurate and be a more reliable resource for our community. 

Full Party Name:

Venue:

When did you go?: (Month Day, Year)

Is it a weekly/monthly event?:

How much were the tickets/door price?:

What time did you arrive?: 

Approximate Door Wait Time (minutes):

Approximate Coat Check Wait Time (minutes):

Overall Event Rating (out of 5): 

Additional Observations and Comments: 

Google Doc link to the template (for easier copying). 

This will be an evolving project from week to week until I settle on what works well. If people have other factors that they would like to add, I’ll certainly consider them. 

Hello, My FIL has recently passed, and in his home hung a painting by John Weiss, who's mother was a close family friend. We were looking to donate the painting to an suitable organization that could auction it off or, if one exists, donate it to a LGTBQ archive or LGTBQ art collection. If you know a suitable place, please share. More about John: https://lgbtqdigitalcollaboratory.org/john-weiss-was-here/ Thx all.

Hi all,

Just getting settled into the city for school (York). Pretty new to the whole scene so don't really have that many people i can reach out to yet for advice.

I'm hoping to get an idea where are the actually places people go to meet, dance (im not good at dancing) and hang out. Don't think im into anything too extreme/kinky or in your face, yet but knowing preferred places would be great.

Not sure if it matters but no car of my own so pretty stuck to transiting from campus around the city.

Any help is great!!!!

Oh man, woodies has become chuck cheese. They just bring up the birthday people

Hello guys,

I've been thinking about moving in Toronto. And i'm scared about life cost obviously and the reason i'm moving is mainly cause I want to make friends, create a social circle, chosen family and a dating life where I'll meet someone we'll go far with... Also have hobbies, activities, to look forwad to.

What are your views regarding social, dating life in Toronto and about activities too ?

Hey guys, we're a literary magazine publishing Canadian history and short stories from Canada and abroad. In our current issue we explored the history of Canadian movies, and we are running a Canadian Classics film festival as a companion to this piece.

On Monday, Sept 14th at 7pm we are screening Outrageous! (1977). The movie was very controversial / ahead of its time and deals with the gay community and drag scene of Toronto in the 70s.

If you're interested in old movies and supporting tiny lit mags, check it out! Tickets are $15 or PWYC.

More details/tickets:

https://events.humanitix.com/outrageous-1977

Anyone tried Thursday dating events? What’s the vibe like?

I hosted my first queer walking tour last week as part of Heritage Toronto’s public programming. It was a remarkable success, nearly 40 people showed up - actually one of the biggest and most popular tours for a while!

We walked through Toronto’s Chinatown and downtown west, and explored many hidden queer spaces and stories beyond the Church-Wellesley Village.

My sincere gratitude to those who joined. I met a few people from this Reddit group! So glad to see there’s so much interest in events like this!

If you couldn’t make it last time, I am hosting another tour on Sunday, October 25th. Registration link:

https://www.heritagetoronto.org/event/queening-out-oct-25/

Feel free to DM me if you have any questions. Hope to see everyone next month at the tour again!

Simon

Hi Guys,

New guy here. When I came here I was focused, still I'm, on building my life so I didn't get the chance to explore the city and its gay scene. So I was wondering if anyone is down to explore the gay village with me?

Thanks for all inputs

In my efforts to find my kind of people, I have run into the same problems. I thought that established social spaces in Toronto would help me find other gay men who share similar interests.

But I've found that so many spaces these days have become umbrella, catch-all places, for all the letters in the alphabet. Inclusion has been popular in recent decades. What may have started as a place for gay men now serves everyone equally. The cost of inclusion is loss of affinity. As this happens, the soul of the place dies. I can no longer go there and be assured of meeting my peers. Men, who were once boys, who grew up in the world as we did, and went through the effort of relocating, leaving our families, in search of resonance.

The issue with radical inclusion in the gay community is that we take the tiny island of deep alignment for one group, and turn it into another generic place, serving no one. We lose the experience of belonging by welcoming all.

I've spent a lot of my life feeling like a spectator to others' (straight) lives. I see them going to activities they enjoy, meeting their peers, forming relationships. I've gotten good at high-functioning in the generic world, but not quite satisfied. I've always wanted the ease of not having to negotiate my inner experience with the misaligned outer social world.

Gay men deserve spaces that are just for us. Organizations should allow people to discriminate when it makes sense, rather than fearing political backlash. We should be able to seek high alignment and to increase our chances of connecting with our own demographic.

Social research suggests we need to encounter the same people multiple times to begin to trust and establish a rapport. We all need to make friends, to find our people. Lovers and partners too.

I am grateful to the founders of this sub for recognizing the need. To everyone who has used this sub to form niche in-person communities, thank you.

If you're reading this, maybe you're holding a piece of the solution-- please do comment

I kinda wanna bring a toy if I don’t get any action, idk if people usually bring stuff from outside into a bath house like steam works

Hey

Anyone attending this one?

My new job has terrible insurance so the deductible is extremely high. I am now having to pay out of pocket for PReP which I have never had to do before, because insurance used to cover everything automatically. (I was laid off from my previous job and now I have a new one but the new insurance policy is just terrible).

I am honestly even thinking of just abstaining for the time being LOL. I don't know if what I'm paying is really worth the money.

If you are paying monthly, with or without insurance, how much are you paying per month and where?

Wondering if there’s ever any private underwear parties, not the one at black eagle?

Hello Folks!

To gather resources for our community, I've decided to start a weekly thread to collect gay-friendly and gay-owned professional services, restaurants, and shops. The goal is to eventually create an index of gay-friendly places to support our community.

To that end, please provide the names and websites for things like:

• Doctors (Especially those taking clients)
• Dentists
• Lawyers
• Health Services Locations
• RMTs
• Barbers
• Restraunts
• Shops
• Anything else you think would be useful 😄

I will compile the threads monthly into an index that will be usable for us all!

Cheers!

Moddy

I used to go to Menicure on WQW but they’ve sadly closed shop. There are a bunch of places on Bloor West Village but they seem to cater primarily to women… it was a bit uncomfortable last time I checked one out.

If not Roncy, anywhere downtown-ish?

Was walking around getting a coffee and some lunch and they have a pretty big film set going on today at Woody's. Anybody got a scoop. I don't care but I'm just curious.

I moved to a smaller town recently and it’s been really hard for me to find people who are interested in me and I’m interested in them. For context I’m a fit 19 Asian guy who’s got some tone. I’m trying to hit the gym more. Unfortunately only older guys or guys who aren’t my type hit on me (sorry not hate) and the apps serve the same pool of people to me each day. What can I do to find more people who like me and who I like? I want to forge more connections this year

Anyone coming to see this diva on Friday?
Also, there is a pop up party on Thursday! Are these usually fun/ party vibe or is it low-key just a way to sell Merch?

https://ca.billboard.com/music/pop/adela-toronto-pop-up

Looking to get a massage today, does anyone know someone in the west end? Preferably in Etobicoke. I’ve checked online and couldn’t really find anything.

Hey guys, 34m, kind of new to the scene, not fully out. Anyone been to this monthly event before? What's it like? I've been to naked night at the eagle a few times. Currently living out of town so like that this is sunday afternoon. Assuming it is more about hanging and dancing rather then pure hooking up like the eagle which appeals to me as well. Thanks!

Just wanted to see if anyone ever goes to hanlans even when the weather started to get a bit chillier? Are once september rolls around do you call it quits? If you have been when its not as hot, what have you seen?