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Book Review: Monoceros by Suzette Mayr

Jessica RoseWebsite@nmtblog

After Patrick Furey, a heartbroken and bullied gay student, hangs himself in his bedroom, there is no minute of silence, no special assembly. Instead, his school’s closeted principal forbids staff to share any information, fearing a teen suicide would damage the school’s reputation and possibly spawn copycats. Furey’s death may happen in the first few […] More »
May-June 2011

This45: RM Vaughan on the late art impresario Will Munro

RM VaughanWebsite

It is impossible to speak of Will Munro. It is easy to talk about Will Munro(s). Will Munro, the artist/activist/social wizard/impresario and all around wunderkind, passed away one lovely, clear-as-a-bell summer morning in 2010. He was 36. In that too-short time, Will produced an enormous amount of highly influential, DIY-infused art, reinvigorated the Toronto, and […] More »
January-February 2011

Shut out of international adoption, aspiring queer parents face hard choices

Meghan Davidson Ladly

Some LGBT would-be parents find ways to thwart foreign bigotry—while others simply walk away The test kitchen of the Bayview Village Loblaws grocery store in North Toronto is packed. Around 30 women and men sit clustered in pairs in a horseshoe, framed by the cupboards and counters lining the room. They are almost all white, […] More »

This feature on the future of gay rights included in Best Canadian Essays 2010

Graham F. Scott

Best Canadian Essays 2010, the second annual collection of its kind from Tightrope Books, again includes a feature article that originally appeared in This Magazine. The collection includes Paul Gallant’s essay on the state of Canada’s gay rights movement in the wake of same-sex marriage legalization, “Over the rainbow“, from our September-October 2009 issue. Sounds […] More »

Friday FTW: Queer Canadian celebrities say It Gets Better

Graham F. Scott

The It Gets Better Project—the hugely popular series of videos kicked off by advice columnist Dan Savage a few weeks ago in response to a series of high-profile suicides by gay teens—got a contribution this week from a group of queer Canadian celebrities. The slickly edited video above gathers the stories of more than 30 […] More »

Wednesday WTF: Welcome to Canada, land of freedom (no homo)

Graham F. Scott

When the new study guide for immigrants applying for Canadian citizenship was published last November, a reporter asked Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney why there was no mention of Canada’s world-leading (but still-in-progress!) record on equal rights for gay and lesbian people. Here’s what Kenney said: “We can’t mention every legal decision, every policy […] More »
January-February 2010

Why does Europe tolerate its artistic geniuses committing sex crimes?

Daniel TencerWebsite

Among the remarkable details of Roman Polanski’s arrest last fall was the notably different reaction to it on the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean. While the North American media published explicit and condemnatory accounts of Polanski’s rape of a thirteen-year-old girl, in Europe the reaction was much more ambivalent. The governments of France and […] More »
January-February 2010

Olympic Countdown: Pride House debuts, but will athletes come out?

Kim Hart MacneillWebsite

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered athletes will find the first-ever Olympic pavilion welcoming them in 2010, a place at the Games to hang out, chill out, or come out. “The whole purpose behind Pride House” — actually a conference room at Whistler, B.C.’s Pan Pacific Hotel—“was really to create a dialogue about homophobia within sport,” […] More »

Queerly Canadian #24: In Canada and abroad, queer rights are on trial

cate simpson

Queer rights are on trial left, right and centre this month. Here in Canada, an HIV-positive gay couple from the States has won their appeal against Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Until now, the majority of HIV-positive applicants have been excluded because of the excessive burden they posed on health services. This couple was initially rejected, […] More »

Queerly Canadian #23: Uganda's gay genocide in the making

cate simpson

Uganda may soon follow Nigeria in making homosexuality an offense punishable by death. The proposed legislation was apparently sparked by a visit from American members of the ex-gay movement, who believe homosexuality can be cured through therapy. Most of these groups though have since denounced the bill, which is perhaps a mark of how extreme […] More »

Queerly Canadian #22: Chris Skinner's murder and the meaning of "community"

cate simpson

It’s hard to read the story of Chris Skinner, the 27-year-old gay man who was beaten and then run over at Bay and Adelaide in Toronto just over a month ago, without feeling chilled. In addition to the obvious horror, there is something extremely disturbing about a violent attack you can’t pin an explanation on. […] More »