January 21, 2010
Why does Europe tolerate its artistic geniuses committing sex crimes?
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 Poland both came to Polanski’s defense, and when... [More >>]
January 15, 2010
Olympic Countdown: Pride House debuts, but will athletes come out?
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,” says organizer Dean Nelson on the phone from... [More >>]
November 13, 2009
Strengthen democracy and fight bigotry head-on — Legalize Hate Speech
The fight for free speech is not the work of angels. Academics love Evelyn Hall’s famous saying, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” In the age of promiscuous online speech, the sentiment of two university protestors seems more apt: “Free speech for all. Even douchebags.” Marc Lemire, the cherubic-faced webmaster of white supremacist Freedomsite,... [More >>]
October 21, 2009
Ottawa’s Gay Guerilla Takeover turns any club into a D.I.Y. gay bar
Guests at Ottawa’s Heaven dance club expect to have a good time and dance the night away. What the mostly heterosexual crowd was not expecting this spring Saturday night was for the club to be overrun by the Gay Guerrilla Takeover. The Gay Guerrilla Takeover is an organization that does what its name says: once a month, a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, queer, and queer-friendly people venture... [More >>]
October 6, 2009
Book Review: Who’s Your Daddy? And Other Writings on Queer Parenting
Who's Your Daddy? And other writings on queer parenting, edited by Rachel Epstein The legalization of gay marriage in Canada has coincided with an era that might be dubbed the first “queer baby boom.” As such, this generation of queer parents and their children have been forced to adopt the ambivalent role of pioneers in a social space in which the model of the “traditional” nuclear family... [More >>]
October 1, 2009
In the developing world, fledgling queer rights have a long way to go
Out of the country, back into the closet. Illustration by Don Charles. I am on a gay beach, surrounded by half-naked, toned, tanned, Speedo-sporting gay men. Somewhere a random diva is belting out a dance hit. The tropical sun has ensured all bodies are dripping. At the makeshift beach bar, ice is plunked into orange and incarnadine cocktails, and the bartender screams, “Cheers to queers,” kissing... [More >>]
September 14, 2009
Honeymoon’s over: what’s next for the gay rights movement
Marriage certificates in hand, middle-class gays and lesbians have drifted away from the fight for queer rights. Underfunded and burnt out, the activists left behind say there’s still plenty of work to do. Last January, Helen Kennedy sat behind the Hockey Night in Canada desk with CBC’s Ron MacLean, explaining why her organization, Egale Canada, had filed a complaint about sports commentator... [More >>]
