Tuesday, Feb 16

Gaymer Night at Swizzles

While everyone else is out racing fast European cars and committing mass murder, a bunch of very wholesome nerds gather to play Telestrations After Dark, a sort of adult-oriented game of telephone. Some fast-play card games are also available. It’s a bar, but there is no obligation to drink. Snacks are available.

6pm. Swizzles, 246 Queen St. For more info, visit Facebook.

Snowblower

The AIDS Committee of Ottawa’s annual festival includes some new additions this year: the African Caribbean Black MSM Health Forum and the Chomp! dinner for trans people. This festival of activities relating to men’s health and wellness includes two dance parties: The Magne+ Party and Cabaret Volupte

Runs until Sunday, Feb 21. For more info, visit aco-cso.ca/snowblower

Thursday, Feb 18

Hard Copy Book Club

Men gather to discuss Raziel Reid’s Governor General’s Literary Award–winning debut novel, When Everything Feels Like the Movies. The former Daily Xtra blogger’s book combines details of his own life with that of a young queer student who was murdered in 2008. The result is a story about a flamboyant high-school student named Jude.

6:30pm. Centretown Community Health Centre, 420 Cooper St. aco-cso.ca

Saturday, Feb 20

Oh My Jam

The production company The Queer Mafia invites everyone in the queer community to enjoy a night of hip hop, R&B and reggae. It features DJs Von Kiss and Yes Yes J-ill spinning hot beats, and performances by Zulu Nasty. If the music’s up your alley, you won’t want to miss this rare event.

10:30pm. Babylon, 317 Bank St. For more info, visit Facebook.

Tuesday, Feb 23

Erotic Talk: Talking Dirty for Everyone

To some, saying nasty-fun things as a lead up to sex comes easily. They can communicate their needs — and assess those of their prospective partners — with ease. But not everyone is born with the dirty talk built-in. Open to everyone, this workshop is intended to, as billing says, “make talking about sex just as great as doing it.”

6:30pm. Venus Envy, 226 Bank St. venusenvy.ca

Friday, Feb 26

Snow Pride

This winter, Ottawa seems to be rife with the sentiment that Pride doesn’t have to happen only once a year, so let’s make something interesting happen this winter. First there was Queerlude, and now there’s Snow Pride, a big, gay, weekend-long ski trip to Mont Ste Marie in Quebec. It features the highest vertical drop in the Outaouais region.

Runs until Sunday, Feb 28. For more info, visit Facebook.

Throb feat B’Ugo

The monthly party that’s unapologetically geared toward gay men — hopefully of the shirtless variety — is back with headliner DJ B’Ugo from Montreal. The warm-up set is by DJ Dan Valin. Organized by the creators of the party Sashay, this party has a rave feel and promises hard, deep, dark electronic beats.

10:30pm. 310 Dalhousie St. throb.club

Monday, Feb 29

Mouthing Off: All About Oral

Do your attempts at giving oral sex result in disaster? Tooth marks, screaming and gagging sounds akin to a car spinning away while stuck in a slushy snow bank? Open to everyone (and about going down on anyone), here’s a workshop that covers not only safer sex and anatomy but technique.

6:30pm. Venus Envy, 226 Bank St. venusenvy.ca

(For more event listings, visit dailyxtra.com/lgbt-events)

(Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the student that inspired the novel When Everything Feels Like the Movies.)