By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don’t want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, across the water from the island I live on. He’s been a celebrity there for a long time, first as the city’s […]
Note to opposition: Baird was no saint
By Montreal Simon I honestly thought that I would never have to write another word about the Con clown John Baird. And it was such a great feeling. I thought I had said all I needed to say about his shabby political career in this post. But unfortunately I’m going to have to write another post […]
Coren’s epiphany
By Montreal Simon For as long as I can remember, Michael Coren has been one of the most ghastly anti-gay voices on the Canadian airwaves. A hardline right-wing Catholic who seemed to take pleasure in playing down the suffering of LGBT people, and mocking their struggle for equality. So you can imagine how shocked, and […]
Toronto puts on the gloves
A BoB Short Now that Rob Ford is (allegedly) stowed away in rehab and (thankfully) out of the public eye, Toronto Public Health has announced a new plan to inspire immature jokes. Meet condomTO, the city’s own brand of prophylactic. Though the official unveiling will occur on June 4th, local Twitter users have already beaten […]
I’m sorry I celebrated Phelps’ death. Oh, wait, no I’m not.
By Montreal Simon It seems only right that the day Spring finally arrived, was also the day that Fred Phelps finally departed. Fred Phelps — the founding pastor of a Kansas church known for its virulently anti-gay protests at public events, including military funerals — has died, the church said Thursday. And I must admit […]
Sochi: On the one hand, Brian Burke. On the other, Dick Pound.
By Dave Brindle This story has moved like an intercontinental ballistic missile. Target: Russia’s law that began the persecution, imprisonment, vicious violence against, and murder by thugs of LGBTQ people in Russia. The international gay community retaliated by putting its finger to the button and it is not going to back down. The bomb, however, is […]
Start with coats
By Dave Brindle Last year, at the beginning of winter in Edmonton, where the number of street kids is close to 225, Andrew Gagnon was visiting a friend who works with local at-risk youth. “What can I do? What do you need?” he asked her. “Coats,” she said. Gagnon went to his Facebook page, and […]
Proud
It was as fabulous as I knew it would be, just even bigger than I imagined. Downtown Toronto was given a jolt of extra colour on Sunday as more than 1 million people, some toting rainbow flags, marched the city’s streets for the 33rd annual Pride Parade. Crowds of revellers lined the parade route behind […]
John Baird at the Crossroads
By Montreal Simon It was an extraordinary sight. John Baird sitting next to Julian Fantino at a committee meeting this morning, blasting the hideous anti-gay statements of a Canadian religious organization. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird took aim Tuesday at “offensive” and “mean-spirited” statements on the website of an organization that gets federal funding to […]
Canada’s latest export: Hate
By Montreal Simon He has always been an enemy of gay people. A man who would murder their rights tomorrow, if he thought he could get away with it. He has voted against every bill that would make them equal, or protect them from hate crimes. He discriminates openly against gay organizations. He won’t spend […]