Scooter McCreight, Toronto, Canada
[T]oronto is one of Canada’s most progressive cities, and the hot spot neighborhood West Queen West is the new stomping ground for the LGBT community where Scooter McCreight proudly wears sash and crown as the nightlife ambassador. As a DJ and promoter for a decade, Scooter got his start with his first monthly event called Cub Camp, a hipster-friendly gathering that slowly gained traction all over North America. “Eventually word spread and it allowed me to break into throwing parties in the US and bring the event to cities like San Francisco, NYC, and Provincetown,” says Scooter on Cub Camp’s success.
Cub Camp was put on the back burner (though there’s frequent surprise events) to his current parties like TRADE at the Black Eagle, where he regularly hires adult stars to amp the atmosphere and, well, fit the cruising theme. But like the multi-cultural melting pot Toronto is, Scooter stands for equal opportunity and has made a name for himself by hiring talent that represents the diverse LGBT spectrum, including trans men, trans women, drag queens, and leather boys. “Above all, the crowds are connected by a love of music, but the crowd is always rep- resenting the underbelly of queer nightlife. Drag queens, hustlers, faggots, freaks, and dykes…I say that anyone is welcome as long as you have a positive attitude…and are a slut.”
Whether campy or scandalous, his parties are simply successful creations fueled by his love of music. “I am a firm believer that queer par- ties should be leading the music scene,” says Scooter. “It’s why I start- ed DJing. At the time, promoters in Toronto were only hiring Top 40 DJs and there was no underground house or techno.”
His passion and music skills eventually got him booked at some notable gay parties throughout the country, including Frankie Sharp’s WestGay in NYC, and even Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake Shear’s private birthday party in Los Angeles. But his biggest accomplish- ment is perhaps being part of the fresh new movement in gay nightlife that’s taking over major cities across the continent. “There’s been an amazing connection between queer promoters/DJs in various cities across North America who are all throwing very similar parties with the same goals over the past few years. We started to notice our similarities in our respective cities and began forming an amazing family connection where we continually support each other’s projects at parties like The Carry Nation (NYC), Honcho (Pittsburgh), Men’s Room (Chicago), Pound Puppy (SF), A Club Called Rhonda (LA), The NeedlExchange (D.C.), Honey Soundsystem (SF), FagBash (PTown), and Spotlight (LA). All the people involved in these events are influencing everything you are seeing happening in gay nightlife across North America right now.”
For upcoming events, visit Scooter’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/scooterbadboy
