John Mathenke was once arrested for being gay but, after failing to pay the customary bribe, was forced to have sex with the policeman. He had an orgy with a priest who publicly excoriates homosexuality, along with five other Masaai boys. And his Arab trader clients curse him during the day, but come back looking […] More »

I’m back in Scotland this month, for my first trip home since Christmas. Coming home is always incredible — a constant onslaught of the long-lost familiar — but being back also reminds me of some of the reasons I left in the first place. I could give you a few of those, but lurking behind […] More »

You’ve probably noticed by now, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock or just standing endlessly in line to offload your garbage, that Pride is in full swing. I have to admit I find Toronto Pride kind of overwhelming. This is largely because I come from Scotland, where Pride is shared by two cities who […] More »

It’s difficult to imagine any context in which three litres of depilatory cream, an adopted baby named O.J., and Ron Paul could come together. Of course, it’s equally difficult to imagine a Sacha Baron Cohen production in which such a whacky bunch of elements wasn’t united. Cohen’s newest movie, Bruno, to be released July 10th, […] More »

Girls are expected to behave a certain way. While I’m not exactly sure what that means, I do know that I was once chastised by one of my high school drama teachers for what she diagnosed as “this stupid Goth thing you’re going for”: referring—albeit inaccurately—to my self-styled uniform of inky dyed hair, Salvation Army […] More »

We’re less than a month away from Pride Week in Toronto, which kicks off with the Dyke March — also known as the Saturday when thousands of half-naked queer women take to the streets between Church and Yonge. Lately, I’ve been wondering if this mass shedding of clothes isn’t really about celebrating our sexuality and […] More »

Coming out is a near-universal queer experience. The coming-out story recurs again and again in queer cinema: it’s our version of the coming-of-age tale. But where the traditional narrative and reality diverge is at the assumption that coming out is something that only happens once in a lifetime. In the movies, the quiet boy starts […] More »

I love pink. I look good in pink. In fact, I think everyone looks good in pink. And that’s good news, because February 19th marks the first international Day of Pink, an annual event to raise awareness to stop bullying, discrimination and homophobia around the world. This Thursday, a quarter of a million people will […] More »

[Editor’s Note: from time to time we feature guest bloggers on important issues. Email editor at thismagazine dot ca to enquire about contributing.] BY CATE SIMPSON Forty years after the Stonewall riots, Julie Bindel, writing in The Guardian earlier this week, claims that trans men and women haven’t earned the right to be recognized by […] More »

Up to 20 men have been arrested in the African nation of Senegal because they are gay, according to yesterday’s press release from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). “Many consider Senegal to be one of the most progressive African countries on the issue of homosexuality,” said Joel Nana, IGLHRC’s Program Associate […] More »

Makvan Mouloodzadeh was executed in Iran’s Kermanshah Central Prison at 5 a.m. yesterday morning, according to a report from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Mouloodzadeh, 21 at the time of his execution, had been accused of having raped other boys when he was 13. But at his trial, all the witnesses […] More »