In an unprecedented move France has actually banned something that wasn’t strictly for the purposes of race-baiting. (Sorry Tom Tucker.) Earlier this week, the country’s senate announced children’s beauty contests will be banned, pending adoption by France’s National Assembly—a move that’s sure to send the glitter and baby-thong markets reeling in France. Thong market aside, […] More »

The 2014 Winter Olympics may or may not take place in Sochi, Russia. The country has spent a reported $53 billion developing infrastructure for the Games, but a troubling new law banning “homosexual propaganda”—pride rallies or anything deemed “pro-gay”—could derail the event. Here is our round-up of who’s saying what about the Sochi debacle. The […] More »

Dundas Square, at 5:10 p.m., hundreds of protesters marched, outraged. Voices crying, “Shame!” Signs questioning, “Who will protect us from our protectors?” Bodies wearing office clothes, casual clothing, work out gear. Megaphones amplify chants, drums create unison, bagpipes mourn. Minds on Sammy Yatim, the 18-year-old boy fatally shot by police last Saturday.He never made it […] More »

Transgender performance artists Lexi Sanfino and Nina Arsenault were arrested after a WestJet flight June 20. Sanfino caused a disturbance, strutting down the airplane aisle topless after a flight attendant rudely asked the friends for makeup tips: “You know, because you used to be guys, right?” according to the Toronto Star, though the Huffington Post […] More »

On Tuesday, the UN agreed to set some standards on the 70 billion dollar arms trade. Right now, weapons-trading is an unregulated business, where illicit dealing gets lost in the same grey market as government trading. But with the first ever global arms trade treaty (ATT), that’s about to change. Theoretically, the treaty will stop […] More »

Barbara Amiel would have aced my Grade 10 English class. One of our first assignments was to come up with a modest proposal—a satirical essay suggesting a ridiculous way to deal with a real issue, like gay rights, poverty or disease. In a Maclean’s column this week, Amiel proposed how to create an “anything goes […] More »

Yesterday was Pi day (3.14), April 12th is National Grilled Cheese Day, and May 4th is Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you). But joke holidays were put on hold last week for International Women’s Day. Every spring since 1911, women worldwide have campaigned for solidarity. This definitely isn’t a redundant “holiday,” and […] More »

The Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg is asking for marriage photos from same-sex couples couples for the museum’s opening exhibit in 2015. The exhibit pays tribute to the struggle for gay rights, but it is also intended to “normalize” LGBT relationships for people who are perhaps a little homophobic. For the most part, the […] More »

What undermines human rights more than sexual abuse? Having no consolation that, if violated, those rights will be defended. Last spring, Landen Gambill, a student at the University of North Carolina, reported to the university’s “Honor Court” (a board of students and faculty) that she was sexually assaulted. Gambill’s alleged rapist, her ex-boyfriend, was found […] More »

Sanctuary! The Toronto City council passed Access Without Fear yesterday, a motion that gives basic rights to people without full immigration status. This makes Toronto the first sanctuary city in Canada, joining 31 American cities that have laws protecting non-documented immigrants. The motion affects about 400,000 migrant people living in Toronto who can’t depend on […] More »

A public opinion survey released earlier this month shows that 67 per cent of Alaskans think gay couples deserve some form of legal recognition. So, in a meeting of the Alaska House Majority Caucus February 15, Mark Miller, a reporter for the Juneau Empire newspaper, asked, “would the caucus support the idea of having domestic […] More »