August 12, 2009

Tim Hortons Tells Maggie Gallagher to Get Her Doughnuts Elsewhere

Canadian coffee-and-doughnuts chain Tim Hortons…

…has reversed its decision to sponsor a Rhode Island rally held by a U.S. group that opposes same-sex marriage, after encountering fierce criticism for the move.

The August 16 event, organized by the National Organization for Marriage, is billed as a “Celebrate Marriage & Family Day.” Held in suburban Providence, the rally is to include speeches, a cookout and a ceremony in which married couples are invited to renew their vows. …

In a flyer for the event, Tim Hortons was listed as a sponsor, and was promptly criticized. …

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August 1, 2009

Elephant Man, Still Inciting Torture & Murder of Gays, Bounced from Toronto Show

Good:

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June 7, 2009

What’s the Hold-Up on Lifting U.S. HIV Travel Ban?

One of the very few good things (and maybe the only good thing) George W. Bush ever did was signing PEPFAR into law last summer, which, among other things, lifted “the HIV travel/immigration ban, which bars foreign travelers with HIV/AIDS from entering the United States unless they obtain a spouse or family waiver.”

So why can’t Canadian Martin Rooney cross the border to go shopping — or do something a wee bit more important, like passing through the U.S. to get to Mexico, where he does awareness- and fundraising for AIDS Tijuana? (”To access Tijuana,” Rooney explains, “you have to go through San Diego, and basically the bottom line to this is very simple — I cannot do my humanitarian work.”)

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Just Think of Alberta Like Texas, Only With Mormons: Full of Oil, Cowboys, and Homophobia

Gay Albertans vow to keep up the fight
against Bill 44

As Bill 44 passed early Tuesday morning, Alberta became the last province to formally recognize gay rights and the first to recognize the controversial idea of parental rights.

“Tomorrow the sun will rise, teachers will conduct their classes, and all will be right with the world,” claimed Alberta Progressive Conservative Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett. Many in Alberta disagree.

Blackett spoke at 1:30am Tuesday morning at the third reading of Bill 44, which formally adds sexual orientation to Alberta’s Human Rights Act at the cost of also enshrining “parental rights.” Section 9 of Bill 44 will allow parents to remove their children from class when lessons on religion, sex or sexual orientation are being taught.

In reaction to Bill 44, David Swann, leader of the official opposition said that when it comes to democracy, he is “profoundly disappointed with Alberta today.”

The day leading up to the vote was dubbed the “Day of Protest Against Bill 44″ by Edmonton’s queer community, who were out in visible force throughout the day. …

During the press conference [police commissioner Murray Billet] noted that this all started 11 years ago with the Vriend vs Alberta Supreme Court ruling when “a teacher was fired for being gay.” Now, the province is “making it so a teacher can be fired for teaching gay,” he says. …

Before the vote even happened Alberta NDP leader Brian Mason vowed “the battle to repeal Bill 44 starts tomorrow.” Later Swann suggested calling for a referendum on parental rights.

More at the link.

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March 12, 2009

If This Comment Doesn’t Get Deleted from Queery, I Will Be Surprised

…and impressed.

First, read the the interview with Renee Martin, author of Womanist Musings.

Slog through the comments, if you can.

Now, here’s what I wrote (and, believe me, I toned it way down from the original draft):

Here’s the meat of it, Renee, whether you like it or not:

“I’m not believe [sic] in marriage, straight or gay. I’m not married myself. I have an ‘unhusband’ and I use the term ‘unhusband’ to disturb patriarchal associations in our relationship. We’ve been happily unmarried for almost twenty years. So, I don’t necessarily see that marriage will bring the kind of benefits the gay and lesbian community thinks it will gain.”

Black, white, Canadian, what-the-hell-ever, doesn’t matter a whit. That you don’t “believe in marriage” makes your agenda crystal clear, and your position — on MARRIAGE — irrelevant. You are working AGAINST those of us who cherish our marriages (and marriages-to-be), which you have tossed to the curb via some arcane, circa-1970s, pseudo-feminist, anti-marriage philosophy which basically takes a big, steaming dump over an institution I hold dear.

The black-white divide — with exists in EVERY community — has nothing to do with *your* narrow, anti-marriage views.

Now, if you want to talk about bridging the black-white divide, I’m all ears, and more than willing to learn. As long as you keep YOUR views on MY marriage — and what “benefits” it will bring ME — out of it.

Flame suit on.

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January 15, 2009

Spree Killer Glen Race Sentenced to Life Without Parole

Backstory (full rundown, with numerous quotes, links):

Glen Race Murder Trial Begins in Plattsburgh, NY, September 10, 2008

Race sentenced to life in prison

PLATTSBURGH — During an emotional proceeding this afternoon, convicted murdered Glen Race was sentenced to life without parole for killing Darcy Manor in 2007.

The 27-year-old Canadian man didn’t react when Clinton County Court Judge Kevin Ryan announced his fate before a packed audience.

After a September bench trial, Race was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and three counts of fourth-degree grand larceny in connection with Manor’s death.

Manor, a 35-year-old married father of two, was shot in the back as he worked at a private Mooers camp where Race was hiding out as he fled from allegedly killing two Canadian men. …

Two gay Canadian men, which is what put this bizarre story on our radar in the first place.

In the meantime:

An American mental-health advocate fears a Canadian man diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic will receive inadequate medical treatment if he’s sentenced to life in a U.S. jail for murdering Darcy Manor. …

After he is sentenced, [said Joel Pink, the lawyer for Race’s family in Nova Scotia,] Race would get a new psychiatric assessment before he’s sent to prison.

His family fears that jail will worsen his condition while his conviction is appealed, said Pink.

Bob Corliss, director of forensic services for the Mental Health Association for New York State, said mental-health treatment is available in some state and federal prisons, but it is likely to be inadequate in Race’s case. …

The advocate for the rights of the mentally ill also said it’s possible that Race could eventually be sent to the Central New York Psychiatric Centre, where some severely ill inmates receive more intensive treatment.

Corliss said he was surprised that an insanity defense was not pursued.

Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie noted in a July 2007 e-mail that psychiatrists found Race competent to stand trial. …

More here.

We hope Race does get the treatment he needs. We’re also very glad there is essentially no death penalty in New York (it’s available, but, in short, it was ruled unconstitutional, and is thus unenforceable) — and equally glad Race is off the streets, for good.

There can be no happy ending to this story, but those of us whose passion for justice is matched by our unyielding opposition to capital punishment could not ask for a more reasonable outcome.

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January 12, 2009

Leading Rights Groups Urge Obama to Stop Guantánamo Proceedings Against Child Soldiers

Remember the child detainees of Gitmo? No? Well, it has been a while — long enough for these boys to grow into adults while awaiting trial (any trial, even the kangarro court otherwise known as a “secret military tribunal”). Here’s our coverage of the child detainees when we first leaned about them… nearly six years ago:

If This Doesn’t Outrage You, You’re Not Human
April 24, 2003

Children held at Camp Xray, US admits …

And think about this: If there is even one child under the age of 16 now, it means he was captured, transported to Cuba, and has been rotting in a cage at Gitmo for nearly a year and a half — or since he was between 13 and 14 years old. …

AI Weighs in on Gitmo Children
April 24, 2003

Most of the 600-plus detainees in Guantanamo are confined to tiny cells for virtually 24 hours a day and reportedly allowed to exercise in shackles for only 15 minutes twice a week…

Gitmo Update: Rummy, Myers Dis Concerns
for Child Welfare
April 27, 2003

A senior United Nations envoy has called on the United States to take prompt action over the fate of three teenage boys being held with other terror suspects in its prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. …

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has defended the detention of the boys — aged between 13 and 15 — at Camp Delta, saying they are “enemy combatants”, captured while fighting for the Taleban or al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. …

One of the youths has been identified by Canadian media reports as a Canadian citizen wanted by the US over a grenade attack in Afghanistan which killed a US soldier. …

Which brings us to a long-awaited update about that very Canadian, Omar Khadr:

Leading Rights Groups Urge Obama to Stop Guantánamo Proceedings Against Child Soldiers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — January 12, 2009 — Five leading human rights and civil liberties groups sent a letter to President-elect Barack Obama today, urging him to suspend the Guantánamo Bay military commissions and to ensure that the upcoming trial of Omar Khadr, a 22-year-old Canadian, does not proceed. The trial is scheduled to begin on January 26, six days after the presidential inauguration.

Khadr is slated to be tried before the widely discredited military commissions for war crimes he is alleged to have committed when he was 15. There is broad global recognition that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is a serious abuse in itself. This is reflected in the fact that no existing international tribunal has ever prosecuted a child for war crimes.

The groups — the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Human Rights First and Human Rights Watch — urged Obama to drop the military commission charges against Khadr and either repatriate him to Canada or, if there is evidence to support it, to prosecute him in U.S. federal courts in accordance with international juvenile justice and fair trial standards.

The groups also called on Obama to immediately suspend pending proceedings against Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan who is also charged before the military commissions for crimes allegedly committed when he was 16 or 17. A military judge twice ruled that statements Jawad made following his arrest were not admissible at trial because they were obtained through torture. However, the government has challenged the ruling and the Court of Military Commission Review in Washington, D.C., is scheduled to hear arguments on Tuesday, January 13.

The letter from the groups to President-elect Barack Obama is below and can also be found online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/…

More information on the ACLU’s work to close Guantánamo can be found online at: www.aclu.org

---

January 12, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama
Obama-Biden Transition Project
Washington, DC 20720

Dear President-elect Obama:

We write to you regarding Omar Khadr, the 22-year-old Canadian national slated to be tried by military commission at Guantánamo for crimes allegedly committed when he was aged 15. If the trial, now scheduled for January 26, 2009, is allowed to go forward, Omar Khadr will become the first person in recent years to be tried by any western nation for war crimes allegedly committed as a child.

We urge that upon taking office, you act quickly to suspend the military commissions, drop the military commission charges against Khadr, and either repatriate him for rehabilitation in Canada or transfer him to federal court and prosecute him in accordance with international juvenile justice and fair trial standards.

Background

United States forces captured Khadr on July 27, 2002, after a firefight in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of US Army Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer, as well as injuries to other soldiers. Khadr, who was seriously wounded, was initially detained at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. There, according to his lawyers, he was forced into painful stress positions, threatened with rape, and hooded and confronted with barking dogs.

In October 2002, US officers transported Khadr to Guantánamo, where the abusive interrogations continued, and where he has been ever since. Khadr told his lawyers that his interrogators shackled him in painful positions, threatened to send him to Egypt, Syria, or Jordan for torture, and used him as a “human mop” after he urinated on the floor during one interrogation session. He was not allowed to meet with a lawyer until November 2004, more than two years after he was first captured.

During his third year of detention, Khadr was charged with murder and other related crimes under the first set of military commissions authorized by President Bush. Those charges were dismissed when the Supreme Court ruled the commissions unlawful in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. In 2007, under newly authorized commissions, the United States government charged him with murder, attempted murder in violation of the laws of war, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism, and spying. He faces a possible life prison sentence.

Violations of Human Rights and Juvenile Justice Standards

Khadr’s prolonged detention in Guantánamo Bay contravenes the United States’ binding legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and international juvenile justice standards. Although these international standards allow for detention of juveniles only as a last resort and require prompt determination of juvenile cases, Khadr was detained for more than two years before being provided access to an attorney, and for more than three years before being charged before the first military commission. After more than six years the lawfulness of this detention still has not been judicially reviewed on the merits.

Further, despite international standards requiring treatment of children in accordance with their age, as well as segregation of children and adults, Khadr has been housed with adult detainees, even when other child detainees were being housed together in Guantánamo’s Camp Iguana. The abusive interrogations and prolonged detention in solitary confinement violated both international juvenile justice standards and general humane treatment standards, including Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, and other binding prohibitions against torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

Failure to Comply with Obligations under the Optional Protocol

International law requires the United States to recognize the special situation of children who have been recruited or used in armed conflict. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (”Optional Protocol”), which the United States ratified in 2002, explicitly prohibits the recruitment or use of children under the age of 18 in armed conflict by non-state armed groups and requires state parties to criminalize such conduct. It also requires the rehabilitation of former child soldiers within a signatory’s jurisdiction, including “all appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and their social reintegration.”

Yet in its dealings with Khadr, the US government has ignored its legal obligations under the Optional Protocol. For years, Khadr was denied access to education, vocational training, counseling, or any family contact. Instead, he was held in isolation and abused.

Last May, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which oversees compliance with the Optional Protocol, criticized the United States’ treatment and military prosecutions of children held at Guantánamo, and called on the US government to treat children in its custody in accordance with international juvenile justice standards.

Military Trial Moving Ahead

Despite widespread criticism of the military commission system and its treatment of Omar Khadr, the outgoing Bush administration has continued to move his case toward trial. Motions hearings are now set for January 19, with a trial date scheduled for January 26. Unless you act quickly to suspend the commissions, Khadr will become the first person in recent history to be prosecuted for war crimes allegedly committed as a child, before a system that you have consistently criticized as “flawed.”

As you are aware, you voted against the legislation passed by Congress in October 2006 to authorize the commissions, calling it a “betrayal of American values.” When charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the 9/11 co-conspirators were announced in February 2008, you criticized that decision on the grounds that “[t]hese trials are too important to be held in a flawed military commission system” and that the men should be tried in federal court or by courts-martial, in order to “demonstrate our commitment to the rule of law.” Just five months ago, after the conviction of Salim Hamdan, you reiterated your criticism of the commission process, stating it is “time to better protect the American people and our values by bringing swift and sure justice to terrorists through our courts and our Uniform Code of Military Justice.”

You have also co-sponsored legislation (the Child Soldier Prevention Act, S. 1175, which was subsequently incorporated into the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, and the Child Soldier Accountability Act, S. 2135) designed to help end the use of child soldiers. These measures, both signed into law in 2008, commit the US government to expand services to rehabilitate child soldiers and reintegrate them back into their communities, and allow the United States to prosecute the individuals responsible for the recruitment of children as soldiers.

Now is the chance to ensure America’s commitment to the rule of law by putting an immediate halt to Omar Khadr’s trial. If there is evidence that Khadr committed a federal crime, he should be transferred to a federal court and prosecuted in accordance with international juvenile justice and fair trial standards; if not, he should be repatriated for rehabilitation and integration.

This is also the course you should take with the other known juvenile detainee, Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan, who has been in Guantánamo for six years, reportedly subjected to torture, sleep deprivation, and other abuse, and charged with attempted murder by the military commission for acts allegedly committed when he was either 16 or 17 years old. No trial date is currently set in his case.

We hope that you will act quickly on this matter in the interest of justice, protection of human rights, and the rule of law.

Sincerely,

American Civil Liberties Union
Amnesty International
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch

cc:
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Eric Holder

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December 2, 2008

Good News from Canada: Harper Government Going Down (And Not in a Fun Way)

That potentially good news from Canada I mentioned a few days ago has become reality:

Liberals, NDP and Bloc sign coalition pact

OTTAWA–NDP Leader Jack Layton and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion have signed an historic accord to form a coalition government to replace Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.

In an extraordinary scene on Parliament Hill late this afternoon, Dion and Layton signed a formal deal to work together through to June, 2011.

And they signed an agreement with Bloc Quebecois Gilles Duceppe that commits the separatist party to support the coalition through to June, 2010. …

Now, here comes the funny part — I mean “ha-ha” funny:

As well, the Conservatives appear quite determined to remain at the helm in Ottawa.

“We will use all legal means to resist this undemocratic seizure of power,” Harper told Conservative MPs and staff gathered at an Ottawa hotel for a Christmas party.

“Such an illegimate government would be a catastrophe for our democracy, our unity and our economy,” Harper said, according to his aide Dimitri Soudas.

Harper said that the NDP and Liberals have entered into an “unholy alliance” with the Bloc Quebecois - “a party that is here in Ottawa for no other reason than to destroy the country we all love.”

Earlier in the day, two senior Conservative cabinet ministers emerged from a meeting with Harper within an hour of the coalition’s news conference and framed the coalition as “undemocratic.”

Bloody hell, conservatives are alike all over, aren’t they? When things change to their liking, the system is working. When things change and they don’t like it, it’s “undemocratic,” and the end of the world as we know it. How friggin’ predictable.

Jim Prentice, Harper’s de facto deputy prime minister and chairman of the government operations cabinet committee, said everyone should “take a breath and pause,” and think about what’s in the best interests of Canadians.

Translation: “It isn’t fair! It isn’t fair! Mine! Mine! Mine!“

“This is an attempt to impose an alternative government upon Canadians, a government that was not elected barely six weeks ago, and a government – a coalition – that is supported by separatists, people who would break up our country.

Translation: “Submerged in sweet, sweet denial, we didn’t see this coming.”

“This is a serious situation that is irresponsible, and it is undemocratic.”

Let’s see now… I’m no expert on Canadian politics, but y’all get into office when your citizens decide which party to vote for, right? And seeing as how all these mean ol’ opposition guys outnumber you right-wingers, it stands to reason there musta been more people who voted for the other guys than for you.

Gee, it feels pretty crummy when “majority rule” works against you, doesn’t it?

Prentice said the government will consider all “steps that are reasonable to protect the interests of our country and the interests of Canadians particularly in these uncertain economic times.”

“There is a need for calm, there is a need to step back, appraise the situation…and consider what is in the best interests of our country at this point in time and that clearly does not involve a government that was not placed before Canadians, propped up by separatists who do not support our country governing Canada for the next year or more.”

He refused to outline what options the government would consider reasonable in such an “unprecedented” situation.

Well, you could hold your breath ’til your face turns blue. Or you could just get over it.

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November 30, 2008

See, We Keep Telling Ya: Fred Phelps is God’s Gift to Gays

It’s been quite the news up north — Fred “God Hates Fags” Phelps was scheduled to picket a Vancouver production of The Laramie Project — and we haven’t mentioned it because… well, that’s just what Fred does — and if we covered every belch from the bowels of the Westboro Baptist Church, this would be the 24/7 Westboro Baptist Blog.

About the only thing I have to say about this latest dust-up that I wish our Canadian friends would stop trying to prevent the Freddie Family from doing their thing, partly because I hate any chilling effect on free speech (no matter how vile), and mostly because every time the Phelps clan makes an appearance, they’re only helping the cause of the Eeeeeeeevil Sodomite Agenda.

And that’s why I’m mentioning it now — because one observer picked up on just that point: While Freddie failed to show, the brouhaha garnered much attention and support for the play’s venue (and, we expect, for the play itself):

Anti-gay extremists spark support for gay theatre

Members of Fred Phelps’ famed Westboro Baptist Church were conspicuously absent last night from their planned picketing of The Laramie Project at the Havana Theatre on Commercial Drive.

A large crowd of the play’s supporters gathered outside the venue, ready for a confrontation with the evangelical Christian group. They yelled, honked and waved Pride flags, but the confrontation never came. …

Fighting Chance Productions, a local theatre company, opened the play last night at Havana Theatre despite threats that the Westboro Baptist Church would picket the event. The theatre group asked the federal government to prevent the church’s members from crossing the border in order to spread hate propaganda.

According to the church’s press release, the play was targeted because “God hates fags and fag-enablers: ergo, God hates the Havana Theatre, Canada, Vancouver and all and everybody having anything to do with spreading sodomite lies…”

Despite the assertion that they were supposedly all going to hell, a small crowd of cheering protesters appeared to be having quite a nice time, listening to speeches from Vancouver MLA’s Spencer Herbert and Shane Simpson, municipal politicians Ellen Woodsworth and Jane Bouey, Rev. Markus Duenzkofer of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, as well as the cast of The Laramie Project.

Ironically, the failed actions of the extremist church brought together many members of the gay community, as well as giving the play enough publicity for a completely sold-out run. In light of this, many of the assembled supporters of the play joked that the real “fag-enabler” was Fred Phelps himself.

See? Ya gotta love the Phelpses. I do!

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November 28, 2008

Potentially Good News from Canada: Right-Wing Harper Government May Go Down

Good news. Very good news:

And even if the Dark-Ages conservatives aren’t completely neutered, this is a hopeful sign that they can at least be held in check — tight check.

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November 21, 2008

New York is Going to Leave California in the Dust Even Before SSM is Legalized

NEW YORK — November 21, 1008 — Insurance companies must treat same-sex couples in New York who were legally married outside the State the same as any other validly married couples, irrespective of the sex of the spouses, Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo announced today in a bulletin to all Department licensees. The bulletin, known as a Circular Letter, says that same-sex couples who enter into valid marriages outside of New York must be treated as married people for the purposes of the New York Insurance Law, including for health insurance.

“Insurance is an essential part of our planning for daily life. We expect insurance companies to provide the same rights and benefits to all legally married couples, regardless of the sex of the spouses,” Dinallo said. “As Governor David Paterson has explained, this is consistent with the position the State historically has taken with respect to marriages conducted in jurisdictions outside of the State of New York.”

The Circular Letter is based on an opinion issued by the Department’s Office of General Counsel (“OGC”) after a careful legal review that began in early spring. Both consumers and industry triggered the review by asking the Department for guidance about the rights under the New York Insurance Law of same-sex couples whose marriages were legally performed in other jurisdictions. Those inquiries came shortly after an unanimous February 1, 2008 decision by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Fourth Department in Martinez v. Monroe Community College, 50 A.D.3d 189, 850 N.Y.S.2d 740 (4th Dep’t 2008), leave to appeal denied, 10 N.Y. 3d 856 (2008), which held that a woman’s Canadian marriage to her same-sex partner is entitled to recognition in New York State, and that her partner therefore is entitled to the health care benefits offered to any other spouse.

On May 6, 2008, New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, refused to hear an appeal from Monroe County. All lower courts in New York are bound to follow Martinez as controlling precedent.

Guided by Martinez and several decisions from lower New York courts, the OGC opinion concludes that same-sex couples in marriages legally performed outside of New York are entitled to the same rights under the Insurance Law as any other legally married couples. Further, an insurer’s refusal to extend health insurance or other coverage equally to all couples may constitute unfair discrimination and/or an unfair act or practice that could subject it to discipline imposed pursuant to the New York Insurance Law.

The Department’s legal determination covers all Department licensees, and encompasses virtually all insurance products, such as life, disability, long term care, and health insurance. Some employer self-funded group health insurance plans that are regulated by the federal government under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) may not be affected by today’s Circular Letter.

The Department’s interpretation of the Insurance Law also is consistent with a memorandum dated May 14, 2008 from the Counsel to Governor David A. Paterson, directing all state agencies to review their policy statements, regulations, and statutes to ensure that such laws are construed in a manner, consonant with Martinez, so as to encompass marriages of same-sex couples legally performed in other jurisdictions.

The legality of that memorandum was upheld in a decision issued September 2, 2008 by Justice Lucy Billings of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in the Bronx. Justice Billings dismissed a suit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of various state lawmakers challenging Governor Paterson’s authority to issue the directive.

Consumers with questions about whether a group health plan is subject to State regulation should confer with their benefits administrators. Any consumer who believes he or she is being discriminated against by any insurer regulated by the State, or who has other insurance questions, may obtain assistance by calling the Insurance Department’s Consumer Services Hotline on business days between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at 1-800-342-3736, or by visiting the Department’s website at www.ins.state.ny.us.

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November 16, 2008

Join the Impact: Remember the Smaller Cities and Towns

As thrilled as we are to hear that X-thousand people came out in San Francisco and New York and Chicago for Saturday’s nationwide Proposition 8 protests, we’re even more impressed by the smaller cities and towns where a hundred people, or just a dozen, gay and straight, braved brutal climates, of both the environmental and the anti-gay varieties. It’s not easy to stand on a street corner and absorb the hate even when you’ve got 2,000 people on your side; we can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to do the same thing when your group numbers a few dozen — or just a few.

So, let’s look at a quick rundown of the best numbers I could find for the “big” protests, and then take a moment to appreciate some brave souls who took up the mantle of equality for all in places you might least expect anyone to do it.

The Big Protests: 2,000 People or More

New York - ? (I’ve heard everything from 4,000 on up.)

San Diego (20,000+)

Los Angeles (”12,000 is a conservative number”)

San Francisco 7,500 (various sources)

Seattle, Washington (3,000 to 6,000)

Washington, D.C. (5,000+)

Boston (+/- 4,000)

San Jose (2,000)

Chicago (2,000+)

Phoenix (2,000)

Salt Lake City (2,000)

Santa Rosa, CA (1,700+)

The Pretty Big Protests: 1,000 People or More

Sacramento (1,500)

Raleigh, North Carolina (1,400)

Dallas (1,200+)

Atlanta (1,200)

Philadelphia (”easily surpassed” 1,000)

Orlando, Florida (+/- 1,000)

Las Vegas (1,000+)

Long Beach, CA (1,000+)

Irvine, CA (1,000+)

Good Turnouts: Under 1,000

Minneapolis (700+)

Ventura, California (600)

Santa Cruz (500+)

Palm Springs (500+)

St. Louis, MO (500+)

Escondido, CA (+/- 500)

Good Turnouts Considering the Political Climate and/or Weather

Chico, California (500)

Pomona, California (400+)

Honolulu, Hawaii (+/- 400)

[A rally on Maui was also planned.]

Asheville, North Carolina (+/- 400)

Napa, California (400)

Boulder, Colorado (”hundreds”)

Oklahoma City (”hundreds”)

Madison, Wisconsin (”hundreds”)

Cincinnati, Ohio (”hundreds”)

Springfield, Missouri (”hundreds”)

Fresno, California (”hundreds”)

Boise, Idaho (”hundreds”)

San Antonio, Texas (”hundreds”)

Charleston, South Carolina (”hundreds”)

Lake Worth, Florida (”hundreds”)

Ithaca, New York (”hundreds”)

Portland, Oregon (”several hundred”)

Albuquerque, New Mexico (”a few hundred”)

Rochester, New York (”a few hundred”)

Detroit (200-500)

Albany, New York (300+)

Reno, Nevada (300)

Pasadena, California (+/- 300)

Olympia, Washington (+/- 300)

Charlotte, North Carolina (200+)

Syracuse, New York (+/- 200)

Modesto, California (+/- 200)

Fargo, North Dakota (+/- 200)

Wilmington, North Carolina (+/- 150)

Smaller Groups in Places That Should Surprise You

Anchorage, Alaska

Several dozen protested in downtown Anchorage Saturday afternoon. …

Alaska was the first state in the nation to constitutionally ban gay marriage, back in 1998, when voters approved the change by a more than a two-to-one margin.

Fairbanks, Alaska

About 25 gay rights advocates held up signs in front of Fairbanks City Hall…

Voters in Alaska approved a ban on gay marriage 10 years ago.

An Army wife organized the gathering in Fairbanks, which started at 9:30 a.m. and involved waving signs in front of passing motorists on Cushman Street.

One sign read, “Love is love.” Another: “Equal rights for all.” A man held a sign saying, “I am Sarah Palin’s gay friend.”

Kristen Magann, the organizer, described herself as heterosexual, happily married and a believer that sexual preference should not determine civil rights.

“I want to make this message heard,” she stated in an e-mail, “that all people no matter their sexual orientation should be allowed the same rights under the law.”

Bellingham, Washington

More than 100 people rallied on the corners of East Magnolia Street and Cornwall Avenue in Bellingham the morning of Saturday, Nov. 15, to protest California’s recent ban on gay marriage.

Chants of “It’s about love not hate,” and “Hey mister president, what do you say, don’t hate families because they’re gay” filled blocks of downtown Bellingham during the two-hour protest. …

The protesters in Bellingham were outside the Federal Building from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. A smaller group continued the protest outside the Bellingham Farmer’s Market after noon.

Vallejo, California

The ironic marquee of the Empress Theatre on Virginia Street served as an appropriate backdrop to a Proposition 8 protest Saturday night.

On one level of the marquee, the Empress Theatre advertised an upcoming gay and lesbian night, while one line below it advertised the Latter-day Saints Concert series.

The Saturday concert was what prompted about 75 people to gather in front of the theater chanting and demanding a return of same-sex marriage rights that the passage of Prop. 8 eliminated.

Fairfield, California

Solano County is the only Bay Area county where voters approved Prop. 8.

About 75 people showed up to a Fairfield rally organized by Fairfield High School student Crystal Nievera, 16.

“Not everyone voted yes on 8 (in Solano County),” said Nievera, who feared a small showing based on what her Facebook group told her.

The protesters met at Fairfield City Hall and marched to Solano County Municipal Court, where they would be more visible on busy Texas Street.

The young organizer invoked the spirit of slain Fairfield councilman Matt Garcia, a strong supporter of youth before he was gunned down in September at age 22.

“This is why today, I’m trying to make a difference,” Nievera said.

Tracy, California

Toni Pinck stood quietly next to Chauvin, holding a “No on Prop. 8” sign. Her son was married in San Francisco Aug. 15.

“I’m here to show support for people that are still fighting for their civil rights,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to vote for Proposition 8 if it weren’t for people who fought for the woman’s right to vote many years ago.”

Marina Martinez and Evelyn Iraheta, also Tracy residents, were married Oct. 24 in Stockton. They said they thought their neighbors were supportive of their marriage before Proposition 8 was introduced in June, until the “Yes on 8” signs began to appear. …

Salinas, California

Demonstrators also took to the streets of Salinas against Prop 8. The Salinas march happened to take place on the same day an event at Hartnell College called for the strengthening of families.

. . .

The latest returns in Monterey County show the Proposition 8 race was much closer, than Santa Cruz County. No on 8 collected 52% of the total vote.

Colton, California

Young gay students, middle-aged white and Latino couples and community activists came together Saturday on the city’s streets to protest passage of Proposition 8. …

“We are here because we need to remind people we live in a nation under civil law and Prop. 8 forces some to live according to the religious views of others,” said Randall Lopez, an organizer with the Inland Empire Human Rights Coalition, which held the local protest. …

On Saturday morning, about 30 people gathered in front of Colton City Hall to kick off the rally. …

Nicolas Daily, 19, of Redlands, who described himself as a gay black man, stood high on the steps urging the group to join him in singing “Let it Be” and “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”

“I honestly just want people to know this is not going to go away,” he said. “We are going to be out here until we get our rights.”

Idaho Falls, Idaho

Cherie Stevens, Mother of gay son: “We want our son to have the very same rights as his straight brothers.”

Cherie and her husband were among a group of 60 individuals at the Bonneville County Courthouse who all wanted to make their voices and opinions heard. They say our country was founded on the idea of equality and will now just take some time before this rings true for everyone.

Missoula, Montana

Jamee Greer took charge of a sizable crowd that united and protested Saturday in favor of gay marriage rights, a group pulled together in Missoula by the Internet and text messages.

He gave the group its marching orders, announcing the rules of the road, as the protesters carried signs and prepared to march from North Higgins Avenue to the Missoula County Courthouse.

“This is about basic human rights and civil rights not being met here at home in Montana,” said Greer…

In Missoula, Brian Cook wore a picture of his 21-year-old gay son, Andrew Sullivan-Cook, who was in Dallas marching with Join the Impact protesters. “I’m here, not only in support of my son’s rights, but it’s simply the right thing to do,” said Cook. “Even if my son wasn’t gay, I’d be here.”

Cook said his daughter, and 15-month-old grandson, would be marching in Dallas alongside his son.

Grand Forks, North Dakota

About 65 people are gathered in front of Grand Forks’s Town Square this afternoon to protest the passage of Proposition 8 in California…

The group first came together at about 12:30 p.m. in front of Grand Forks City Hall. The protest is part of a nationwide event in 300 cities, according to jointheimpact.com. The Grand Forks event is scheduled to run until 3:30 p.m.

At about 1:30 p.m., the group left their spot in front to move to Town Square at the corner of DeMers Avenue and Third Street.

Denton, Texas

Horns were honking for several hours early Saturday afternoon, supporting about 120 gay rights activists with signs and flags who were protesting the recent approval of California’s Proposition 8. …

There were many supportive honks throughout the afternoon, said John McClelland, president of the Stonewall Democrats of Denton County, a gay and lesbian political organization.

Duluth, Minnesota

Jack Harnstrom and Jon Hill have been partners for 14 years, but when California was set to vote on banning same-sex marriages, the Duluth residents raced to Palm Spring, Calif., to be wed.

Their wedding ceremony was Nov. 3, a day before California voted to take away that right. On Saturday afternoon, the couple joined about 75 others at a gay rights rally against California’s Proposition 8 at Lake Avenue and Superior Street in downtown Duluth.

Kalamazoo, Michigan

More than 120 people lined the street in front of the Federal Building Saturday afternoon to protest the recent passage of a California ballot proposal banning same-sex marriage.

Signs reading “Stop the Hate” and “Equal Rights for All” attracted honks as passing motorists showed support. The crowd stretched nearly a full block along West Michigan Avenue.

Lansing, Michigan

They were among about 100 people who attended the rally in front of MSU Auditorium.

Organized by MSU Alliance of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgendered and Straight Ally Students, the protest was one of hundreds that took place Saturday nationwide.

Peoria, Illinois

Among the nationwide turnouts Saturday was a gathering of about 40 people at the corner of Main and University streets in Peoria. The group protested the decision that affected an estimated 18,000 California couples seeking the legal distinction. …

“This is a more conservative area, and we know that. Everybody knows someone who is gay. A lot of times it’s just not talked about. But we still participate in the homeowners’ associations, or neighborhood watch groups. … We buy Girl Scout cookies from neighbors’ kids.

“I do what I can to support my neighbors and their families. Why not support me and my family, my relationship?”

Champaign-Urbana, Illinois

University students and Champaign-Urbana families took to the streets Saturday to protest the recent passing of Proposition 8 in California which bans gay marriage. …

The event in Campustown was sponsored by the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Resources and was organized by Brooke Elliot, senior in Education, and Virginia McCreary, graduate student.

Elliot said they planned a protest on campus because many people were not able to get to Chicago for its protest. …

About 80 protestors stood on the corners with colorful signs. Some cars driving down Green Street honked in support of the cause.

At 1 p.m. the protestors had a moment of silence which was broken by a car honking in support of the protest. The protestors then marched down Green Street to Fourth Street and back again shouting their message and waving their signs.

The protestors were met with little resistance.

On two occasions, groups of students walking past the protestors made remarks in opposition of the protest.

One worker at Potbelly Sandwich Works opened the door as the protestors were walking past and said, “Good job guys!”

South Bend, Indiana

Every time a car honked, they cheered. A group of about 20 people stood at the corner of Main Street and Jefferson Boulevard in downtown South Bend on Saturday, waving signs in support of same-sex marriage. …

“It sets a precedent,” said Mandy Studdard, who helped organize the South Bend rally. “People say ‘If the rest of the country doesn’t want this, why should we have it here?’ We’ve got to set a different precedent. That’s not how it’s supposed to be.”

Jackson, Mississippi

About 50 people protested in Jackson outside the state capitol…

“[W]hen people see protests happening around the country, they’ll understand that this isn’t just an issue that’s happening somewhere else, this is an American issue happening everywhere, because it affects all of us,” organizer Brent Cox said.

Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia

A mixed group of students and local activists marched in protest today as part of a national day of action against the passage of California’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Nearly 100 students and residents joined for a march from the drill field around campus and back chanting slogans, bearing signs and waving and cheering at passing cars.

“We’re in southwest Virginia, we want to improve the LGBT community’s visibility and we want people here to know we exist,” said organizer Tami Grossman.

Greenville, North Carolina

About 35 people gathered in front of Greenville City Hall on Saturday afternoon to protest voter passage of California’s Proposition 8, a referendum that reversed a state supreme court ruling allowing gay marriage. …

The group protested peacefully and without incident, displaying signs and flags representing gay pride. They sang songs of protest, led by Georgia Winfree, of the group Someone’s Sister, then marched together along Fifth Street where an occasional passing car honked in response.

Macon, Georgia

In Macon on Saturday, more than 50 advocates for Join the Impact, an international organization supporting equal rights for people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, protested the California Proposition 8 vote outside City Hall.

Protesters waved signs reading “What Would Martin Do?” “Fight the H8” and “Would You Rather I Marry Your Daughter?” …

“Today’s protest is a small piece of the puzzle,” said Alex Webb, organizer of the Macon rally. “This started off as an online movement and has become a national and international phenomenon. There are people in London standing with us right now … standing with us against our treatment as second-class citizens, standing for equal rights for all.”

Buffalo, New York

150 people came out on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon to show support for same-sex marriage and solidarity with gay and lesbian people in California. …

Protesters gathered at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Bidwell Parkway with signs that advocated equality under state marriage laws for all people. The event began at 1:30pm and also featured remarks by local activist Kitty Lambert and New York State Assembly member Sam Hoyt.

White Plains, New York

Standing on the steps of City Hall, more than 70 gay men, lesbians and their supporters yesterday protested a California vote banning same-sex marriage and called for all states to provide civil marriage “equality.” …

A steady stream of drivers crawling across usually crowded Main Street honked their horns in support of the crowd. Many drivers yelled out “Yes” and “Way to go” or waved their fists in solidarity. For at least the first hour of the demonstration, no passers-by said or did anything in opposition to the gay-marriage cause.

“Westchester is a very, very affirming place to live,” said Scott Havelka of Rye Brook, interim executive director of The Loft, a gay community services center in White Plains, which supported the rally.

Burlington, Vermont

About 100 supporters of marriage equality for same-sex couples stood in a steady drizzle outside Burlington City Hall on Saturday to register their disappointment with the outcome of the Proposition 8 vote in California Nov. 4.

Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force field director Robyn Maguire rallied the crowd, insisting that Vermont could do better than California.

“We want Vermont to reclaim its role in this important civil rights issue,” Maguire said. “It’s been eight years and it’s time for us to move forward. Now more than ever does Vermont matter.”

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Gay marriage proponents united Saturday in grass-roots protests around the country — including one in Market Square. …

“It’s a matter of equality,” said Forest Stone, a Portsmouth resident, as she stood in the rain Saturday among nearly 100 other sign-touting, umbrella-gripping demonstrators.

Like dozens of others, Stone and her 6-year-old daughter Annalie both held bright signs facing traffic in front of the North Church, while some people in passing cars encouraged the efforts with honks and shouts.

The Protest That Touches Us the Most

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada

“We’re small but mighty,” said protest organizer Jennifer Rowe today.

Rowe, along with Amanda Zuke, Kyle Cardoza, Liz Laplante and two other concerned citizens, gathered outside Sault Ste. Marie’s Civic Centre to protest the recent adoption of California’s Proposition 8, outlawing same-sex marriage.

“We’re here to show our support for those in the United States who are fighting to get same-sex marriage recognized and for human rights across the board,” Rowe told SooToday.com. …

“The battle may have been fought and won in Canada to allow people to marry whoever they want, but being respected just as another human being is still a problem,” said Rowe. “There’s still a long way to go in some cases.” …

Rowe says she’s already started planning something to happen locally in support of Join the Impact’s fight.

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October 8, 2008

David Popescu Still Wants Wants Gays Dead (Yes, He Did It Again)

Backstory: “Kill Gays!” Mom-Battering Dominionist Tells Students — and a Once-in-a-Lifetime “Teachable Moment” is Lost, October 2, 2008

Sudbury candidate probed after 2nd anti-gay remark

Toronto police say they’re investigating “a threatening occurrence” after comments made by David Popescu to the spokeswoman of a gay rights group on a Toronto radio show on Oct. 2. …

In the Toronto incident, Popescu was asked by radio host John Oakley whether Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, should be executed.

Kennedy says Popescu responded “yes.”…

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October 2, 2008

“Kill Gays!” Mom-Battering Dominionist Tells Students — and a Once-in-a-Lifetime “Teachable Moment” is Lost

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

— Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

It’s one thing when a crackpot with a Bible says outrageous things — goodness knows, we have more than our share in the U.S. (and too many virtually indistinguishable from Canada’s David Popescu are running for elected office) — but it’s another to enable said crackpot through silence.

First: Who — or rather, what — is a David Popescu?

Wikipedia’s got the backstory down correctly and fairly succinctly, so I’ll be lazy and just quote from there:

J. David Popescu is a perennial candidate in Sudbury elections at the federal, provincial and municipal levels. He is currently running in the 2008 Canadian election as a independent federal candidate.

Popescu worked at Inco in his twenties, but quit in 1972 after embracing fundamentalist Christianity. He has said that he does not campaign to win votes, but rather to warn citizens of the judgement he believes will be visited upon them by the Christian God if they do not live their lives in accordance with Biblical commands.

Popescu believes that decisions made by elected officials have made it difficult for citizens to avoid sinful activity. “The casino, pornography and undoing the Lord’s Day are opening the door for sin that destroys,” he said in the 2000 municipal election. “If we violate (God’s) standards, we’re doomed from the start.” On other occasions, he said that popular music stores should be closed because they “promote Satanic music”, and has likened Sudbury’s annual Dragon Boat races to the devil. Popescu has also argued that natural disasters and other catastrophes are divine judgement for earthly sins.

He has used his campaigns to distribute a self-produced video, which features a series of his sermons. In 2003, the Sudbury Star noted that this recording contained messages directed against homosexuals. In one sermon, Popescu says, “God burnt five homosexual cities alive, including women and children, as an example of what we are supposed to do to them. Instead, our evil government gives them rights.”

Popescu was charged with assault against his elderly mother in 2003, after a family member reported seeing a large bruise on her arm. Testifying at a bail court hearing, Popescu said that he had given his mother a “small swat and a light shake” to get her attention when she was not paying attention to him. He expressed remorse for his action, but argued that it was not serious and did not constitute assault. He also testified that he had been violent toward his mother in the past, but that this abuse had ended more than 25 years earlier. Under cross examination from the assistant crown attorney, Popescu said that he had lived with his mother for his entire life, and became her primary caregiver after his father’s death in 1969. He added that he had not worked in the community since 1972, and that he considered looking after his mother to be his full-time job.

Popescu lived at a Salvation Army men’s shelter after being released on bail, and was found guilty of assault after a day-long trial. He was sentenced to three years probation, and required to report for a psychological assessment. He subsequently received part-time work at the Salvation Army, and has continued to protest his innocence.

2008 Election

At a candidates’ debate staged for Sudbury Secondary School students on September 29, 2008, Popescu stated in response to a question on same-sex marriage that “homosexuals should be executed”. The comments angered students and teachers alike, and led to YouTube videos, Facebook groups and death threats all protesting what Popescu said.

Following these statements, the Greater Sudbury Police Service announced that Popescu is now under investigation for violating Canada’s hate laws. The case will then be forwarded to a local Crown prosecutor and then to Ontario’s Attorney General for a decision on whether or not criminal charges will be laid.

Now, watch as the Christofascists down our way start screaming about the “dangers” of Christian “free speech” being stifled by hate-cimes laws, and citing Popescu as a martyr for their ever-so-righteous cause in Radical Religious Right rags like Lifesitenews and Christian Newswire. Never mind that there’s a difference between “free speech” and inciting violence; that never matters to the perpetually “oppressed” CINOs.

The next day, Popescu repeated his previous statements, arguing they were was based on Biblical passages. He stated: “I said I believe homosexuals should be executed . . . when I say homosexuals should be executed, I am speaking in terms of government actions. That is the way the Bible puts it.”

On October 1, the four major party candidates in the riding — Liberal incumbent Diane Marleau, Conservative Gerry Labelle, New Democrat Glenn Thibeault and Green candidate Gordon Harris — announced in a joint statement that they would not participate in any further debates in which Popescu was included.

So, that’s what a David Popescu is. Now that you know the story, here’s the problem: The supposed grown-ups at the school — including the other candidates — did nothing.

Edmonton Sun:

Candidates and teachers looked on in silence as students called for him to be “cut off.” Despite their outrage, the discussion moved to other topics. Paul Camillo, principal of Sudbury Secondary, emphasized the school’s inclusiveness in his closing remarks but did not condemn the statement.

“We’re here today to hear what the candidates have to say,” he said in an interview. “As an inclusive school, we respect all other opinion although we may not agree with them — and I know there were definitely some things said today that we don’t agree with.”

That’s a noble ideal, but it’s also downright cowardly. Mr. Camillo could have easily expanded on his closing remarks and used the moment to guide the students through an invaluable lesson. But he didn’t.

“That’s enough of Popescu’s bile“:

Those who have watched Sudbury riding candidate David Popescu over the years might not be surprised by his outrageous comments concerning gays, but now is the time for his public reckoning.

And it will likely come at the hands of high school students who questioned him, heard what he had to say and outright rejected his vile comments. …

The students jeered him and requested he be cut off, while the other candidates sat in silence.

It almost seems as if the candidates have an unspoken protocol not to respond to Popescu’s routinely offensive remarks, else practically every debate could be derailed. …

It is an understandable approach, but it risks being misinterpreted by the public as an unwillingness to speak out on the issue. …

School principal Paul Camillo was likely astonished to find that what should have been a valuable lesson in democracy for his students turned into such a spectacle. He chose not to condemn Popescu’s remarks, but instead explained to students how the democratic process allows all voices to be heard. He also stressed the importance of researching candidates before casting a vote. We cannot take issue with that stance. No one should be forced to condemn others, but it didn’t matter. The students knew what to do. They were the bright spot in all this. They expressed themselves in a reasonable, measured fashion — they did not sit on their hands or hurl insults.

The episode was an astounding lesson for them, but they showed that young people can make a difference with their voices.

“Teachable Moment Lost“:

I am a high school teacher. Initially, when I read that “teachers looked on in silence as students called for him to be ‘cut off,’ I understood that to mean that they weren’t reprimanding their students and were allowing them to protest.

As I continued to read though, I realized that the staff did nothing, literally. They heard the comments made by the candidate and heard the students’ protests, but allowed Popescu to continue speaking and kept their students in the auditorium. I considered for a moment what I would have done in their place and realized that I would not have been willing to stay and listen to anymore of Popescu’s twisted philosophies myself, never mind expecting my students to do so.

To me, this was a teachable moment. The staff could have used this opportunity to teach their students that it is their social responsibility to defend the rights of minorities and that their voices would be heard when they spoke out against hatred. …

I suspect the school equivalent, a suspension, would have been handed to a student who said something similar within the school. …

Instead, Popescu was allowed to continue responding to questions. With this, the students learned that the world will accept intolerant speech, disguised as freedom of expression or political views.

What’s more, they learned that standing up against such hatred is pointless because their attempts will be ignored or thwarted by higher authority.

I hope that the students of Sudbury Secondary School follow his story and see justice served to Popescu and that this prevents their passion from being extinguished.

The children, as the hackneyed old saying goes, are our future.

It’s just a damned shame the “adults” in charge failed to lead the students through such a real-life, shock-and-awe lesson about hatred and bigotry.

Fortunately — or sadly, depending how you look at it — it took the kids to teach the adults about right and wrong.

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September 10, 2008

Glen Race Murder Trial Begins in Plattsburgh, NY

Although I haven’t written here about the bizarre story of accused murderer Glen Race (left), the old Lavender Liberal Forums did keep up with it when it was first unfolding nearly a year and a half ago.

Here are some of the news articles we were discussing at the time (links mostly dead now):

Nova Scotia man arrested in gay slayings

A Nova Scotia man arrested in Texas has been charged in the deaths of two men here that prompted a rare public warning to the Halifax gay community, the police said Wednesday.

Glen Douglas Race was arrested Tuesday by the U.S. Border Patrol. They notified Canadian officers investigating the violent deaths this month of Trevor Brewster and Michael Knott. Mr. Race was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder, one in the first degree and the other in the second degree.

Mr. Race was also wanted in New York state, where he stands accused of killing the caretaker of a remote property. Darcy Manor was killed last week in Mooers, two days after Mr. Brewster’s body was found at a Dartmouth site known to be used by gay men for cruising.

An attempt is under way to extradite Mr. Race to New York state and it is unclear how that will affect attempts to return him to Canada.

According to the Halifax police, Mr. Race left his home province in a car belonging to Mr. Brewster, and travelled through New Brunswick and Quebec into the United States. The car, a two-door black 2004 Honda Civic with a rainbow teddy bear decal above the left tail light, has not been located. …

Police charge Nova Scotia man with murders of two gay men from the Halifax area

… Police refused to reveal what led them to name Race as a suspect, saying that information was part of the ongoing investigation. …

But it’s not clear when he could be returned to Canada since he could face charges in New York, where police are investigating his possible involvement in the death of Darcy Manor.

Manor, 35, was killed last week at a hunting camp in the small community of Mooers, N.Y.

Investigators there said Wednesday there was no known connection between Race and Manor.

U.S. police sources said Race was in possession of a firearm used at the hunting camp and had documentation on him that was linked to Manor, a married father of two children.

In Halifax, Jacquard said it was "too early to indicate what motivated the crimes," adding that police didn’t know if Race had targetted gay men in Halifax. …

Border Patrol arrest murder suspect wanted in New York, Canadian slayings

… The U.S. Border Patrol says an agent noticed something suspicious near the river just south of Harlingen [TX]. …

Investigators say while the agent questioned Race he noticed a rifle in a bag the Canadian man had with him.

When the agent went for the rifle, Race allegedly attacked the agent. …

Darcy Manor was found dead at a remote summer camp where he was working on a water line.

When he didn’t return home that night, family and friends went searching for him. His body was found hours later, but his 1992 Ford pickup was missing. It was recovered in Houston on Tuesday.

“Race was in possession of a .44 caliber rifle that was stolen from the scene of the homicide in Mooers, New York,” Maj. Richard Smith of the New York State Police told WCAX-TV of South Burlington, Vermont during a Tuesday news conference. …

Manor was a married father of two young boys. He was laid to rest on the same day his accused killer was arrested.

Man arrested in Texas in North Country shooting death

… According to New York State Police, Glen Race of Nova Scotia was apprehended Tuesday by the U.S. Border Patrol in the Brownsville, Texas area. Police said Race had the .44-caliber rifle that was stolen from the scene in Mooers where Darcy Manor died Thursday night from a gunshot wound. …

Investigators believe Race used Brewster’s car to travel across Nova Scotia and onto New Brunswick, Quebec and into the United States, police said.

Mooers is 160 miles north of Albany near the Canadian border. …

My comment at the time:

Wow.

My first thought is that they nabbed a serial killer before he racked up any more notches on his belt — but then, I have this weird feeling there may be more victims. (I hope to God I’m wrong.)

I am very interested in learning about Race’s past, especially his movements throughout N. America over the past decade or two, especially since he was arrested in Texas. Anyone else remember the rash of unsolved murders of gay men in and around Dallas some years back?

As for Darcy being married with children… well, we all know that may mean nothing. Could have been perceived as gay, could have been on the DL… anything is possible.

Cops likely U.S.-bound next week

Halifax Regional Police and RCMP officers are preparing to head to the United States as they continue to investigate the murders of two Halifax-area men this month.

Officers are hoping to speak to Glen Race, the 26-year-old Halifax man whom American authorities are holding in the second-degree murders of Darcy Manor of Mooers, N.Y., and Paul Knott, 44, of Timberlea and the first-degree murder of Trevor Brewster, 45, of Cole Harbour. …

They will head to either Texas or New York, depending on where Mr. Race is. He is now being held in Texas but could be extradited to New York within days.

Police searched Mr. Race’s North Street apartment on Tuesday, Ms. Brien confirmed. …

His further extradition to Canada is not likely to happen in the near future, Cpl. Taplin said. …

Accused murderer finally speaks

For the first time since appearing in various Texas court rooms, Glen Douglas Race opened his eyes and acknowledged the judge.

The Halifax man accused in the deaths of Michael Paul Knott, 44, of Timberlea and Trevor Charles Brewster, 45, of Cole Harbour as well as the shooting death of Darcy Manor in upstate New York, waived his right to an extradition hearing when he appeared before Judge Arturo Cisneros Nelson in a Cameron County, Texas, courtroom yesterday morning.

In previous court appearances, Race has kept his eyes tightly closed and failed to respond to questions even with a nod. …

Race waived his right to a full extradition hearing, which gives the New York authorities 10 days to pick him up in Texas and return him to Clinton County, N.Y., to face second-degree murder charges in the death of Darcy Manor. …

Andrew Wylie, the district attorney for Clinton County, N.Y., told the Press Republican newspaper that regardless of mental illness, Race will be prosecuted in New York to the full extent of the law. …

Vehicle belonging to murdered Nova Scotia man found in woods in Quebec

HALIFAX - A missing car belonging to a Halifax-area man who was murdered earlier this year has been found in woods in Quebec.

RCMP in Nova Scotia were advised Monday that Trevor Brewster’s Honda Civic was discovered by a hunter off Route 202 near Havelock, Que. …

Brewster, 45, of Cole Harbour, N.S., was found murdered last May beside Frenchman Lake in Dartmouth, N.S. …

Glen Douglas Race, 26, of Dartmouth has been charged with first-degree murder in Brewster’s death.

Race is also accused of the second-degree murders of Paul Knott, 44, of Timberlea, N.S., and Darcy Manor, 35, an American man who was shot to death in upstate New York.

Both Brewster and Knott were gay and were known to frequent cruising areas in the Halifax area. …

Now, nearly a month after waiving his right to a jury trial, Race is facing the charge of murdering Darcy Manor in Plattsburgh, New York:

Opening arguments started at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

Defense attorney Mark McCormick of Malone has indicated he will use an insanity defense.

The bench trial is expected to be largely focused on expert medical testimony regarding Race’s mental capacity, according to McCormick.

Race is also accused of stealing a .44-caliber rifle from the scene in Mooers where 35-year-old Manor was found dead. …

He also faces murder charges in Nova Scotia on accusations of killing Trevor Brewster and Michael Paul Knott.

That insanity defense may just work — Race wanted to represent himself, a request that was denied yesterday.

But, wait — the story gets even weirder. From WPTZ’s article, “Murder Suspect’s Request To Represent Self Rejected“:

New York state troopers testified on Tuesday that they were first told by Manor’s friends that he’d been mauled by a bear. Police also testified they classified the death as suspicious when they saw Manor’s body wrapped in maple syrup tubing…

Excuse me?

What is maple syrup tubing, and how could anyone have thought Manor had been mauled by a bear if his body had been wrapped in it?

The Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut explains:

There are two basic methods used to “tap” the tree. The classic bucket and spout method and the pipeline or tubing method. The procedure with the bucket and spout method is; a small shallow hole is drilled into the tree, a spout is “tapped” into the hole, a bucket is placed on a hook, and a cover is attached to keep out debris. The procedure with the pipeline or tubing method is a small shallow hole is drilled into the tree and a spout attached directly to the tubing is “tapped” into the freshly drilled hole. A web of tubing and pipeline must route downhill, straight, and tight for the sap to effectively flow to a holding tank at the end of the tubing pipelines. Larger syrup producers may choose to apply vacuum to the tubing. With the implementation of vacuum a sugarmaker may notice an increase in sap yield. The vacuum stimulates sap flow from the tree and through the tubing.

Maple syrup tubing looks like this.

Now that we know more than we knew we ever wanted to know about maple syrup tubing, we turn to the bear-mauling question:

Trial of N.S. man hears that victim looked like he had been mauled by a bear

Marvin Eugene Drown wiped away tears as he told a courtroom on Monday the body of Darcy Manor looked like it had been “mauled by a bear.” …

…Drown described how he and several friends went looking for Manor after he failed to return home at his usual time. …

…Drown said the victim “was like a son to me” and he told the court he became concerned when Manor’s wife called to say she was worried.

He said he and another friend at first thought there was a dead animal on the road when they began searching the campgrounds of the Churubusco Lodge where Manor had gone to install a water pump.

Drown said he was able to see from the headlights of his vehicle that it was Manor.

He then walked over, reached down and touched the victim’s cold arm.

“He was curled up in a ball and his clothes were torn”, Drown testified.

“He looked like he had been mauled by a bear.” …

Alan Barnaby, a New York State police investigator, testified that when he visited the crime scene, he noticed a large blood stain on Manor’s right shoulder.

He said that tubing had also been wrapped around the victim’s waist and neck area.

Barnaby testified that Manor had been lying face down on a dirt road and that there was a piece of rope next to his head with a large rock close by. …

Another story from The Canadian Press offers a few more details; i.e., “Ryan Fountain testified that … Manor’s shorts were ripped and there was an abrasion on his left thigh [and] a melon-sized rock near the body and what appeared to be a pillow under the head.”

I guess it’s possible that, in the dark, and perhaps in a state of shock, Marvin Drown might have seen the tubing and the pillow, but not registered it. A “large pool of blood” might have obscured the details, too.

More as this story develops.

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August 6, 2008

Sex Workers Group Wins HIV and Rights Award at HIV/AIDS Conference

MEXICO CITY — August 6 — The Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) is the recipient of the 2008 international Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch announced today. The award, which recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations that protect the rights and dignity of people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, was presented in Mexico City on August 6, 2008, at the XVII International AIDS Conference.

“Sex workers routinely face human rights abuses, including the discriminatory denial of health services, arbitrary detention by police, harassment, and sexual and physical violence,” said Richard Elliott, executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. “This award recognizes the extraordinary contribution of the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers in the struggle for sex workers’ rights.”

Since 1994, APNSW has represented sex workers in various policy and educational forums, promoting the participation of sex workers in HIV/AIDS programs and supporting dialogue between nongovernmental organizations, governments, and activists. The group has challenged the increasing criminalization of all forms of sex work and unethical drug trials with sex workers as subjects.

APNSW has shaped policy at the global and regional levels, and built the capacity of local grassroots sex worker organizations, including by creating a network of transgender activists. Throughout Asia, the network has been challenging gender-based violence, promoting access to health care for sex workers, and advocating for the decriminalization of sex work.

“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers,” said Andrew Hunter, the network’s policy director. “International recognition of sex workers’ human rights is vital to curb the HIV pandemic. Governments and UN agencies need to promote sustainable, comprehensive HIV prevention and care initiatives for sex workers that are community-led and protect their human rights.”

The stigmatization, social exclusion, and legal marginalization of sex workers contribute to human rights violations, and can exacerbate their risk of HIV infection. Increasingly, according to APNSW, anti-trafficking efforts and laws criminalizing transactional sex have resulted in violence and human rights abuses against sex workers at the hands of police. The organization pointed to new anti-trafficking legislation in Cambodia, where sex workers have been sent to “rehabilitation” centers and subjected to sexual violence and beatings, and had little access to health care or food.

“Being a part of APNSW — working in solidarity with tens of thousands of sex workers in the region — has allowed us to challenge the way the authorities have applied this law in Cambodia, and to gain strength to bring this issue to international attention,” said Kao Tha of the Women’s Network for Unity, a sex worker rights organization in Cambodia.

“The International AIDS Conference presents a forum to focus worldwide attention on the epidemic and our global response,” said Joe Amon, director of the HIV/AIDS program at Human Rights Watch. “Unfortunately, too often that response has been tainted by prejudice and misinformation. Only by ensuring the health and human rights of sex workers will governments, UN agencies, donors and nongovernmental groups be effective at reducing the vulnerability of sex workers to HIV infection. The Asia Pacific Network’s work epitomizes this.”

The Awards for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights were established in 2002 by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch. An award is presented annually to one Canadian and one international recipient. This year’s Canadian recipient was Peter Collins, a prisoner and health activist in Ontario, Canada.

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June 19, 2008

Gay Marriage Flashback: 1972

Among my many passions is a penchant for trashy old tabloids — the trashier and the older, the better. Amidst ancient copies of The National Enquirer (before it went to color) and my beloved Weekly World News (Bat Boy is go!) are some now-obscure titles, such as The National Insider, and this: a May, 1972, edition of the National Examiner.

No doubt you’ll understand why I preserved this issue (even though I wasn’t even eleven years old when I picked it up, for a mere quarter); the text of the article (which I’ve transcribed in full — you’re welcome!) follows the second graphic.

Oh, and try to remember this was written more than 36 years ago — when calling a gay man a “swish” was one of the kinder epithets you could expect from these tabloids, which were uber-heterosexist, catering (especially in the case of the Enquirer) to the queer-bashin’, Commie-hatin’, John Wayne and Ronald Reagan-lovin’ “family values” crowd and/or the kind of American male Gore Vidal once said was hysterical about his own masculinity: the sort who also devoured True Detective magazine (i.e., the sexually insecure putz who drooled over pictures of scantily-clad bimbos while imagining himself to be a modern-day Casanova — which he wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination).

With that perspective in mind, I give you a surprisingly not-so-awful tabloid article on the first legal marriage in (where else?) Canada:

First Legal Homosexual Union

TWO MALES ‘MARRY’ EACH OTHER

Newlyweds Plan to Adopt a Child in the Near Future

by JOHN SAMSON

The groom nervously slips the ring on the slim finger of his bride, who looks ravishing in a red silk Nehru jacket with a gold and rhinestone collar.

“I now proclaim this union solemnized and witnessed,” says the officiating notary.

Nothing odd about that? There wouldn’t be, except that both the bride and groom are males — and they intend to live as man and wife and eventually adopt a child!

Canada’s first homosexual marriage took place in Montreal, Quebec, this February. Twenty-seven-year-old ballad singer Michel Girouard and pianist Rejean Tremblay, 25, signed a “contract of union” in a ceremony which closely resembled a marriage, held in the downtown Chez Zouzou Disco club.

“We are determined to open the eyes of the world to the normality of homosexual love,” said Mr. Tremblay at the gay ceremony.

The two men had beautiful blonde vocalist Danielle Ouimet and TV star Andree Boucher as witnesses to their union, and the ceremony threatened to develop into a brawl as excited photographers jostled each other, each fighting to get the scoop of the year.

Lawyers Claude Archambault and his partner Jacques Rioux read the contracts binding the two males together, and afterwards the happy couple sipped champagne and posed for photographs in front of their three-tier wedding cake.

“Kiss the bride,” shouted the photographers, but they had to be satisfied when the two shy young men merely embraced in Gallic manner, planting chaste kisses on each other’s cheeks.

While Edith Piaf’s version of “He’s My Man” provided background music, about 35 guests milled around, congratulating the newlyweds.

The ceremony ended speculation which started when Mr. Girouard, on a recent trip to Paris, caused a stir when he announced that he was engaged to Mireille Mathieu, a French singer. Several Paris newspapers ran the item, and were forced to retract it after Miss Mathieu’s prompt and vehement denial.

Next Girouard, who has been living with Tremblay for 10 months, announced his intention of “marrying” Tremblay. This plan was aborted when he was told that neither the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church nor Canada’s criminal code permitted two males to marry.

Determined to “break the chains of international homosexuality,” the couple agreed to sign two contracts which would be acceptable under the Quebec civil code.

One was a contract of association, and the other of union. The only difference between their relationship and a regular marriage is that the contracts can be broken by either of them giving six months’ notice in advance.

“They intend to adopt a child,” said a friend of the couple. “They are blissfully happy together, and I think they make an ideal pair.

“They have agreed to merge their business careers, pool their earnings and provide mutual support to each other.”

Opinions in Montreal and Quebec are divided on the morality of the union. Church authorities, predominantly Roman Catholic in the province, are against it.

“They are ridiculing the bond of holy matrimony,” said a Roman Catholic priest who wished to remain anonymous. “God intended marriages to procreate the species, and this unnatural relationship offends all bounds of decency, as well as the canonical law.”

Associates of the pair are vocal in their opposition to such criticism.

“The Church should mind its own business. Many of us have been happily living together as man and wife for years,” said a swish blond male, who preferred to identify himself only as Bubbles. “Bringing it all out into the open is the best thing that could have happened.

“It will show the world that homosexuality is beautiful and natural, and not the perverted, dirty relationship that so many people believe it to be.”

The couple have said that they intend to go on their honeymoon to South Africa, before returning to make a series of show business appearances in Canada and the U.S.

“The two have done nothing illegal under Canadian law,” said an attorney who is checking on the marriage to see what precedents it sets up. “Their legal advisors have created a bond between them which is as strong as any marriage ceremony could make.

“From the point of view of the law, they are above reproach. The moral implications of the union are purely a matter for public opinion to decide.”

Montreal, with several booming “gay” clubs, is generally unruffled by the pair’s demonstration of their love for each other.

“In Quebec, we are perhaps more liberal-minded than many others,” said Andre Couillard, a prominent Montreal playboy. “It is perhaps the English who are making the most fuss.

“I might suggest that some of them are just jealous of the young couple.”

Legislators suggest that the ceremony may lead to alterations in the marriage laws of Canada.

“If we get many more of these blatant public announcements of a perfectly private intention,” said an Ottawa lawmaker, “I am quite sure that some of the women of Canada will also want their lesbian relationships legalized in the same way.

“This could lead to a completely new body of legislation being forced through Parliament.”

At the present time, no new same-sex marriages have been announced, but the action of Girouard and Tremblay is seen as opening the door to a potential rush of applications.

“We’re considering going through a similar ceremony,” said a swish couple in the downtown P.J.’s club. “As well as keeping others from trying to break up our romance, there are many income tax savings to be gained once your’re legally united.”

Lawyers agree to the truth of that last statement.

“When a couple sign a contract such as Girouard and his partner have ratified,” said a prominent business lawyer, “they are effectively becoming a registered company.

“They can make tax deductions for many aspects of their mutual existence.”

Montrealers expect that it will be a long while before the churches hear a priest saying, “Do you, Mr. X, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

Those words would sound very queer at the present time, but the first steps have been taken.

“It’s a sign of the new age,” said a gaily garbed brunette in P.J.’s.

“Montreal’s first homosexual marriage looks like the thin edge of the wedge towards regular unions between couples of the same sex.”

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June 14, 2008

Comprehensive Travel and Tourism Study of Gays and Lesbians Highlights Leisure Travel Insights

New national survey by Harris Interactive, Travel Industry Association, and Witeck-Combs Communications also includes consumer rankings on gay-friendly destinations

By Matt Skallerud, Pink Banana Media

Nearly half of all gay men (48%) and lesbians (47%) surveyed in the U.S. say that a destination’s gay-friendliness is important to them when making leisure travel choices. In fact, over one-quarter of gay men (27%) and lesbians (28%) say gay-friendliness is “extremely” or “very important” as a consideration in travel planning, according to a new national survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association (TIA) in partnership with Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.

“While we’ve known the importance of the GLBT travel market for some time, this study really underscores the tremendous economic potential of the market to the travel industry,” said Laura Mandala, Vice President of Research for TIA. “This data will be invaluable as the industry increases its efforts to reach out to this historically underserved travel segment.”

In addition, majorities of gay men (53%) and lesbians (69%) report that a place generally identified as safe and free from intimidation and threats — especially places “where they can hold their partner’s hand in public” — is one of the top three ways they consider a destination as gay-friendly. Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications said, “Gay-friendliness is frequently mentioned as a litmus test for how GLBT travelers and consumers favor destinations, travel brands and services. We find they are not looking for special treatment, but, instead expecting consideration and equal respect given all customers.”

Four out of ten gay men (40%) and lesbians (40%) also recognize a gay-friendly environment if the city or community “is known to be culturally welcoming and to support diversity and GLBT civil rights.” Positive word of mouth is a key consideration for both gays and lesbians, and gay men (33%) and lesbians (18%) also cite “gay nightlife, gay clubs and bars” as one of their top three consideraions for gay friendliness.

These are a few of the key highlights from the national survey commissioned by the Travel Industry Association in September. The online study was conducted in conjunction with Harris Interactive, a global leader in market research, along with the leading gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) strategic marketing and communications agency, Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. This study is considered first-of-its-kind because it closely examines the activities and preferences of GLBT travelers in contrast with heterosexual travelers.

The national online survey was conducted among 2,020 self-identified U.S. GLBT adult travelers (ages 21 and older) who have taken at least one leisure trip within the past 12 months and among 1,010 U.S. adults who self-identified as heterosexual and who also have taken at least one leisure trip in the past year. Both the GLBT and Heterosexual adults were randomly invited from among the overall Harris Interactive multimillion member online panel of respondents to participate in the survey.

Harris Interactive Vice President of Travel and Tourism Research Jim Quilty commented, “Contrasting GLBT activities and preferences with those of heterosexual travelers highlights marketing opportunities for destinations and companies who offer products and services to the GLBT community.”

The GLBT respondents also were invited to state, from among given choices which U.S. and Canadian destinations, in their opinion, are gay-friendly. The top 21 gay-friendly U.S. destinations named by the panelists (in order) include: San Francisco, CA (76%), Key West, FL (57%), New York, NY (51%), Fire Island, NY (48%), Provincetown, MA (46%), Los Angeles, CA (38%), Miami/South Beach, FL (37%), Las Vegas, NV (35%), New Orleans, LA (34%), Palm Springs/Palm Desert, CA (33%), Boston, MA (29%), Chicago, IL (29%), Fort Lauderdale/Wilton Manors, FL (29%), San Diego, CA (29%), Seattle/Bellevue, WA (27%), Washington, DC (23%), Honolulu, HI (22%), Palm Beach/West Palm/Boca Raton, FL (20%), Portland, OR (18%), Philadelphia, PA (17%), and Providence, RI (17%) and Rehoboth Beach, DE (17%) tied for twenty-first.

The top 10 gay-friendly Canadian destinations named by the U.S. respondents in the survey include: Montreal, QC (44%), Toronto, ON (39%), Vancouver, BC (38%), Quebec City, QB (20%), Victoria, BC (16%), Niagara Falls, ON (15%), Ottawa, ON (12%), Calgary, AB (9%), Halifax, NS (6%) and Prince Edward Island (6%).

The new study also disclosed that gay men, whether traveling alone or in groups, tend to spend more on trips than lesbians and heterosexuals, as well as for air fare and car rentals. On their most recent trip, traveling alone, gay men on average reported that they spent nearly a third more on their total trip expenses ($800 on average) than did heterosexuals traveling alone ($540 on average). When gay men reported their last trip traveling as a group, the average spending of their entire party was $3,070, which was more than reported by heterosexual groups ($2,870) or lesbians traveling together ($2,740).

In addition to the lead partners, this comprehensive research also was sponsored in part by the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau, American Association of Nude Recreation, Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, Expedia.com, Florida Keys & Key West (Monroe County Tourist Development Council), Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Harrah¡¦s, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, LA Inc., The LA Convention and Visitors Bureau, Logo, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Group, VISIT FLORIDA and Washington Convention and Visitors Bureau.

For information on purchasing the survey, interested parties should contact Valerie Hutchinson, TIA, 202-218-3630 or vhutchinson@tia.org.

© Matt Skallerud, All Rights Reserved.

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Canada’s New Democrats Speak Out Against Gay Blood Donor Ban

From the NDP-Quebec LGBTT Commission:

NDP speaks out against the ban on gay blood donors, will table 3,250-name petition

Candidate pledges the party’s solidarity and accepts a 3,250-name petition

SHERBROOKE, June 12, 2008 — Cheryl Gosselin, New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate in the riding of Sherbrooke, today received a petition signed by more than 3,250 people calling for the end to the ban on blood donation by gay and bisexual men.

The petition, collected by the Association gaie et lesbienne de l’Université de Sherbrooke (AGLEBUS), was submitted to Prof. Gosselin during a press conference organized by the AGLEBUS to mark World Blood Donor Day on June 14. It will be formally presented to the House of Commons by MP Bill Siksay (Burnaby-Douglas), NDP critic for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and transsexual (LGBTT) issues.

“This ban is based on fear rather than science,” Prof. Gosselin said. “It makes no distinction whatsoever between a man who engages in high-risk sexual behaviours with multiple partners, and one who has been in a monogamous relationship with another man for twenty years. Numerous countries have already recognized this and changed their regulations, but Canada continues to deprive itself of desperately needed blood.”

The restriction applies to any man who has had sexual relations with another man, even once, since 1977. The same restriction applies to a woman who has had sexual relations, even once, with a man in that circumstance. The nature of the sexual act, whether the act is at risk of transmitting infection or not, and the use of safer sex techniques are not taken into account at all - only the gender of the partner.

“It is also important to remember that this overbroad ban perpetuates and reinforces stubborn prejudices regarding LGBTT people which the community is working hard to end,” Prof. Gosselin added. “We need a blood system governed by science, not stereotypes.”

Cheryl Gosselin also presented a message of support from NDP health critic Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North). “The discrimination against the LGBTT community that still lingers in our blood donation policies is unacceptable and must be changed,” the MP writes. “The tremendous work in gathering over 3,000 names on this petition will contribute to bringing about that change and, as well, has already succeeded in raising public and political awareness of the need to root out remnants of discrimination in our health care system.”

The petition has the support of numerous health professionals, including Dr. Réjean Hébert, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Sherbrooke, and Dr. Mark Wainberg, director of the McGill AIDS Centre.

The press conference at the University of Sherbrooke also featured Maxime Boissonneault, president of AGLEBUS; Steve Foster, president of the Conseil québécois des gais et lesbiennes; and Chantal Morin of the group IRIS Estrie, as well as a male and a female student who described their experience of being rejected as blood donors.

Last March, the NDP-Quebec Section’s General Council in Victoriaville adopted a resolution stating that the NDP opposes “all discriminatory policies regarding organ and tissue donations” — including blood donation — “except where such policies and their precise limits are strictly delimited by valid scientific data, and in particular, that any restriction based on sexuality must refer to specific sexual acts and the use of preventive measures, not only the gender of the persons involved.” The NDP has also been fighting in recent months against a similar policy regarding organ donation.

Notes for a speech by Cheryl Gosselin
New Democratic Party candidate in the riding of Sherbrooke

Université de Sherbrooke, June 12, 2008, 10:00

Ladies and gentlemen,

First I’d like to thank AGLEBUS for inviting me to accept this impressive petition on behalf of the New Democratic Party caucus. I’m pleased to bring you a message of support which I’ll present in a few moments from our health critic, Judy Wasylycia-Leis MP, as well as the solidarity of our critic for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans human rights, Bill Siksay MP, who will be officially presenting the petition in the House.

These 3,250 signatures represent as many people who see no sense in depriving gay and bisexual men of the opportunity to save a human life by giving one of the most personal gifts one can give: the gift of blood.

In Canada, a man cannot give blood if he has had sexual relations with another man, even once, since 1977, and a woman cannot give blood if she has had sexual relations, even once, with a man in that circumstance. That’s the rule. 1977 — most of the students at this university weren’t even born then.

You’ll notice also what this rule doesn’t include. Even though it is meant to protect against transmission of various sexually transmitted infections, in particular HIV, it nevertheless makes no distinction at all between acts that are at a high risk of transmitting infection and others that are not. It does not take the use of safer sex methods into account in any way. Accordingly, it makes no distinction whatsoever between a man who engages in high-risk sexual behaviours with multiple partners, and one who has been in a monogamous relationship with another man for twenty years. It considers nothing but the gender of the partner.

This ban is therefore based on fear rather than science. Obviously we must have a safe blood system. But a safe blood system requires restrictions based on strict evidence rather than old stereotypes that protect nobody. I would like to highlight and thank those in the medical field who have publicly supported this principle, especially Dr. Hébert and Dr. Wainberg.

It is also important to remember that this overbroad ban perpetuates and reinforces stubborn prejudices regarding LGBTT people which the community is working hard to end. We need a blood system governed by science, not stereotypes. Numerous countries have already recognized this and changed their regulations, but Canada continues to deprive itself of desperately needed blood.

For our part, last March, the NDP-Quebec Section’s General Council in Victoriaville adopted a resolution stating that the NDP opposes “all discriminatory policies regarding organ and tissue donations” — including blood donation — “except where such policies and their precise limits are strictly delimited by valid scientific data, and in particular, that any restriction based on sexuality must refer to specific sexual acts and the use of preventive measures, not only the gender of the persons involved.” In this line, the NDP has been fighting over recent months against a similar policy regarding organ donation.

I would therefore like to congratulate AGLEBUS and the other activists here for conducting such a vigorous campaign to push Health Canada to remove this stigma. I reiterate the NDP’s solidarity with your cause and I wish your campaign every success!

Thank you.

Statement by Judy Wasylycia-Leis, MP

As NDP health critic, I want to indicate full NDP support for this great initiative undertaken by l’Association gaie et lesbienne de l’Université de Sherbrooke (AGLEBUS). I regret that my parliamentary duties prevent me from attending today’s press conference to personally deliver this message of support.

The discrimination against the LGBTT community that still lingers in our blood donation policies is unacceptable and must be changed. Based on fear and prejudice, not science and evidence, the prohibition against donations has very real consequences and is costing the health and lives of countless patients. It is terribly important and urgent that we get rid of it.

As you may be aware, the NDP has been battling the same discriminatory approach that the government has taken in the organ and tissue donation area in recent months. That this type of biased restriction can still spring up today underscores the importance of changing donation policies as quickly and clearly as we can. We must counter not only the harm this is causing to those who desperately need donated blood and organs, but the negative message it is sending about the LGBTT community.

The tremendous work in gathering over 3,000 names on this petition will contribute to bringing about that change and, as well, has already succeeded in raising public and political awareness of the need to root out remnants of discrimination in our health care system.

I congratulate AGLEBUS on this important initiative and look forward to working with my colleagues MP Bill Siksay and future MP Cheryl Gosselin in carrying forward this petition and to pushing for the changes it calls for.

Judy Wasylycia-Leis
Member of Parliament for Winnipeg North

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January 7, 2008

Hypocritical Conservativism It’s not just for the USA anymore.

“I hate homosexuality,” says Balwant Singh Gill, a prominent leader in B.C.’s large Sikh community.
“Most Sikhs believe homosexuality is unnatural and you can’t produce kids through it. And, secondarily, no major religion allows it.”

Nothing surprising there. A typical “conservative” viewpoint. But wait-there’s more.

Illustrating his apparently fluid values in another way, Gill acknowledges he used to vote Liberal federally, but is switching to the Conservatives because he believes they’re tougher on terrorism.

At the same time, he votes provincially for the New Democratic Party because he believes everyone has a “moral duty” to pay taxes to care for the disadvantaged.

I’m having a hard time following this already. How does he keep up with himself at the polls?

Although Gill is adamantly against homosexuality, he thinks, like many Sikhs and unlike Christian conservatives, abortion is acceptable; an individual choice.

…..

And while Gill, a married father of four who owns a trucking company, is opposed to having babies outside marriage, he believes prostitution has to be an accepted fact of life.

…..

“You have to have two parents to take care of babies. It’s a problem that’s happening in our [Sikh] community. The father takes off and the mother is left to take care of the kids.”

Meanwhile, Gill thinks prostitution, since it seems to be in such high demand, is okay.

An MRI was done of Gill’s brain. Yep, that explains his insanely convoluted thinking.

Gill certainly doesn’t bring to mind our traditional perception of the liberal, amicable Canadian. But then again, he’s not a native Canadian. He and other immigrants are striving to change Canadian perceptions of what is right and wrong.

New immigrants are increasing the proportion of Canadians who are conservative about what is right and wrong — especially about family values and sex — and nowhere is that more true than in B.C., an Angus Reid poll suggests.

…..

Only eight per cent of poll respondents who describe themselves as “Canadian,” or native born, show up in the strict moralist category — compared to 19 per cent of self-described “others,” or foreign born.

…..

But imported moral conservativism is not the end of the story when it comes to ethical trends occurring because of the rapid arrival of foreign-born people to Canada: Immigrants also appear to more morally polarized than native-born Canadians.

…..

There are far fewer immigrants in the “Thoughtful Conservative” group (23 per cent) compared to native born (35 per cent).

“Thoughtful Conservative”. Isn’t that an oxymoron?

We can now rest a bit easier here in the USA. We are no longer the only ones who must suffer the slings and arrows of hypocritical conservative wingnuts who want to run our lives.
I will light a candle for Canada tonight.

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October 4, 2007

NDP Calls for Boycott of Anti-Gay & Lesbian Artists

For us U.S.-centric Usians, the NDP is Canada’s New Democratic Party — basically good guys, and what you wish the U.S. Democratic Party would be; i.e., totally pro-LGBT, pro-social programs, pro-environment, etc. Here’s their latest press release:

OTTAWA - NDP critic for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Transsexual Issues, Bill Siksay (Burnaby-Douglas) called on Canadian fans of Jamaican dancehall music to carefully consider their attendance at concerts by Jamaican performers Elephant Man and Sizzla.

“These performers are known for their explicit lyrics calling for the killing of gay men and lesbians. According to human rights organizations, their music has contributed significantly to a marked increase in anti-gay and lesbian violence in Jamaica,” noted Siksay.

“Canada and Canadians have said clearly that the incitement of violence or murder against an identifiable group is unacceptable. I hope that fans of Jamaican dancehall music will appreciate that a vibrant musical tradition should not be used as a cover for the promotion of hatred. I hope that they will choose to boycott performances. I also hope that the promoters and venues for these concerts will reconsider their participation in the spread of a hateful message. Canadians must stand in solidarity with the gay and lesbian community in Jamaica and in Canada in saying that the promotion of violence is not acceptable,” concluded Siksay.

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October 2, 2007

Toronto: Elephant Man, Sizzla Shows Cancelled

The Toronto Star delivers the good news:

Kool Haus has pulled the plug last minute on the concerts of two controversial reggae and dancehall artists.

Entertainers Elephant Man and Sizzla were scheduled to perform Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 respectively, but both men have been under fire from human rights organizations who say their lyrics are homophobic.

Akim Larcher, founder of Stop Murder Music Canada - a coalition made up of 20 organizations that promote human rights - says that the federal government has remained silent.

“They shouldn’t have been allowed to get visas to perform in the country,” says Larcher. “It’s not about censorship or artistic freedom. That stops when hate propaganda is involved… No one should have that platform to speak.”

. . .

But activist and author Orville Lloyd Douglas says a lot of these organizations are targeting Black entertainers. “There are a lot of double standards here. They don’t go after Eminem or Marilyn Manson.”

. . .

“There are artists who are profiteering the songs about death and violence against gays and lesbians,” says Larcher. “It isn’t a black and white issue. It’s a human rights issue.” …

Ah, the old when-you’re-wrong-shift-the-target-to-something-else gambit. But that’s OK; we’ll bite:

Nobody’s “targeting Black entertainers” — only so-called entertainers whose lyrics promote the murder of gay men and lesbians; e.g.:

Shot batty boy, my big gun boom — Sizzla
(”Shoot queers, my big gun goes boom”)

Battyman fi dead!
Please mark we word
Gimme tha tech-nine
Shoot dem like bird — Elephant Man

And gay people have long complained about Eminem’s anti-gay lyrics, even while being told we’re just not hip enough, or young enough, or whatever enough, to appreciate his artistic stylings.

Whatever. These lyrics alone, from Eminem’s Criminal, are clear:

My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge
That’ll stab you in the head
Whether you’re a fag or lez
Or the homosex, hermaph or a trans-a-vest
Pants or dress — hate fags?
The answer’s ‘yes’

And if Marilyn Manson is offending anyone (and it should be African-Americans who are offended; we’ve heard Manson repeat the N-word in his lyrics, compulsively), why isn’t anyone speaking up? Maybe because Manson is primarily the property of death-obsessed teenagers unlikely to notice his racial barbs, much less complain about them?

See also:
Toronto Cops to Keep Close Eye on Jamaican Hate Music Purveyors

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September 26, 2007

Toronto Cops to Keep Close Eye on Jamaican Hate Music Purveyors

What would Bob think?

The Toronto Star reports:

Toronto police will monitor this Friday’s concert by Jamaican dancehall artist O’Neil Bryan, also known as Elephant Man, after receiving complaints that the performer incites anti-gay violence through his music.

. . .

Despite protests by the Toronto-based Canadian Caribbean Human Rights Group, immigration officials have issued visas to both Bryan and Collins. The latter was banned from the United Kingdom in 2004. Bryan arrived in Canada last week and has performed in Winnipeg and Victoria, where local police closely monitored the concerts.

. . .

Ticket sales for Elephant Man’s show have been poor, with only one-third of the 2,180 seats sold. Sizzla’s concert is expected to draw 1,500.

That’s little comfort to the organizers of the Stop Murder Music campaign, made up of 20 advocacy groups that believe music by homophobic dancehall performers has contributed to mob attacks against gays in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Police could charge the artists if they perform anti-gay numbers.

The artists’ Toronto promoters, Ultimate Entertainment and Chris Hines Ent., say the performers don’t have the power to “invoke violence and murder” against gays and lesbians.

The Toronto booking agent says he can’t do anything now because of contractual agreements, but says: “I am a million per cent against lyrics that promote hatred against gays and lesbians, women, religions and races … Had I been aware of the nature of the lyrics, I wouldn’t have allowed the booking.”

That’s why it’s important to keep hammering at the issue. A lot of people who can do something are just not aware.

See also:
Dr Evil or plain hate?

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September 13, 2007

We’ve Got Those Warm “My Bodyguard” Fuzzies Now

Pink tsunami sends bullies a message

Bullies who threatened a new student at their Nova Scotia high school for wearing a pink polo shirt were themselves schooled by two seniors who dressed half the student body in pink two days later, the Chronicle-Herald of Halifax reported.

The newbie, a ninth-grader, showed up in pink Sept. 5 for the first day of class at Central Kings Rural High School and was set upon by a group of six to 10 older teens who called him gay and threatened to beat him up, the paper reported.

The next day, seniors David Shepherd and Travis Price decided to act.

. . .

Enlisting as many students as they could online that evening, David and Travis headed to school Friday with a pink basketball, 75 pink tank tops for male students to wear and yards of pink fabric for headbands and armbands. They even persuaded a local retailer to open early so they could buy more.

. . .

David and Travis figure about half the school’s 830 students wore pink.

“The bullies got angry,” Travis told the Chronicle-Herald. “One guy was throwing chairs (in the cafeteria). We’re glad we got the response we wanted.”

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September 12, 2007

Court Rules NYS Gay Married Benefits Legal

Reports 365Gay.com:

An Albany court has dismissed a challenge to a decision by New York State’s Comptroller that treats out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples the same as any other legal marriage in terms of benefits afforded to state employees through the New York State Retirement System.

In 2004 in response to an inquiry by a gay state employee wanting to know if his retirement benefits would cover his family if he went to Canada to legally marry his partner, New York State Comptroller at the time, Alan Hevesi, stated that, “Based on current law, the retirement system will recognize a same-sex Canadian marriage in the same manner as an opposite-sex New York marriage under the principle of comity. That principle has been legal practice pursuant to New York Court of Appeals rulings for many years.”

. . .

Hevesi’s interpretation of the law matched that of then Attorney General, now Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who also said that, under the state’s current laws, same-sex couples who legally married in other jurisdictions should be treated as any other married couple in New York State.

The Alliance Defend Fund, an Arizona- based organization that regularly fights LGBT issues, filed the suit, citing the July 2006 ruling by the Court of Appeals - the state’s highest court - that upheld New York’s ban on same-sex marriage.

. . .

The issue that Hevesi addressed for the purpose of retirement benefits involved only same-sex marriages from Canada. Following today’s ruling by Judge McNamara, Hevesi’s successor, Thomas P. DiNapoli announced that the retirement system would be recognizing all legal out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples and not just those from Canada. This will include same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts, Spain, Netherlands, South Africa and Belgium.

The ADF has not said if it will appeal today’s ruling.

See also:
NY recognizes Canadian same-sex marriages

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