The city of Saint Petersburg in Russia has introduced a bill that would impose a $100 fine for anyone found promoting “homosexual propaganda.” The fine is increased up to $1,600 for organisations. The bill defines homosexual propaganda as a “public act promoting homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgenderism to minors.” “Public act,”
Continue readingAuthor: Mark
Decoding Dunderdale
James McLeod has a great piece in the Telegram today. It comes complete with a great headline derived from a quote the Premier provides, all of which, in its own subtle way speaks volumes about the Newfoundland and Labrador Government’s unchanged half century-long view of how things ought to work
Continue readingSlap Upside The Head: Interesting Stuff In Gay History: Cinema
Gay-themed films are pretty commonplace nowadays. Nearly every major city (metropolis, if you will) has a GLBT film festival, and pictures that would previously have been restricted to exactly these sort of venues have slowly found their way into mainstream cinemas. Some, like Brokeback Mountain and Milk, are Oscar-winning successes.
Continue readingThe Skwib: Top rejected final messages from David Bowman (spoilers)
1968- "2001" – astronaut David Bowman, a photo by x-ray delta one on Flickr. As you probably know, in the book version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, David Bowman’s final words recorded by mission control are: “My God, it’s full of stars!”. (This excellent line didn’t make it into the
Continue readingSlap Upside The Head: Peruvian Mayor Worried Over Gay Water Supply
If you’re gay and ever wondered why you’re not straight, perhaps you’ve just been drinking too much Peruvian tap water. José Benítez—the mayor of Huarmey, a small town located in the Ancash region of Peru—is convinced his town’s water supply is causing heterosexual men to turn gay. The bizarre comments, which
Continue readingMona Eltahawy
I met Mona Eltahawy, albeit briefly, in New York at #pdf11. Watching her today, with two casts on her arms and a horrifying story of her treatment at the hands of Egyptian police was disturbing. Her hands may be broken, but her spirit isn’t. Here’s the speech she gave at
Continue readingSlap Upside The Head: Homophobia In The Workplace Not Completely Gone Yet
A new poll released by Angus Reid this month suggstes that anti-gay discrimination is still a reality for some people in the GLBT community. While 90% of GLBT employees in Canada indicated that their current bosses and coworkers are tolerant of their sexual orientation, just under 50% indicated that they’ve
Continue readingSlap Upside The Head: Burnaby Overwhelmingly Rejects Anti-Gay Municipal Party
Parent’s Voice, the municipal political party whose sole purpose revolved around revoking the Burnaby District School Board’s anti-homophobia and anti-bullying policy, has been soundly defeated. Parent’s Voice was a staunch opponent to the existing school board’s policies acknowledging GLBT students—policies that demonstrably help reduce harassment and bullying that has historically
Continue readingThe Skwib: Clowns ARE scary!
Clowns ARE scary!, a photo by Phil Kneen(www.philkneen.com) on Flickr.
Continue readingSlap Upside The Head: B.C. Apologises For Bizarre Gay Tourism Promotion Ban
Tourism BC has apologized after distributing a marketing brochure telling business owners in the province that they are not allowed to promote gay tourism in China. The brochure, entitled How to Market Your Business in China, states that advertising to gay tourists in China was forbidden by the Chinese National
Continue readingSlap Upside The Head: Nigeria Proposes Jail Time For Same-Sex Marriage
A Nigerian bill, opened for debate this month, will jail anyone who has—or bears witness to—a same-sex marriage ceremony in the country. According to the Nigerian senate website, the bill would forbid the “coming together of persons of same sex with the purpose of living together as husband and wife or for other purposes of […]
Continue readingSlap Upside The Head: Québec Commits $7M To Fight Homophobic Bullying
How about I share some encouraging news for a change? The Québec government has officially launched their Lutte contre l’homophobie, a five-year program to combat homophobic bullying and discrimination. The program, which was announced in 2008 but came into effect last month, has seven million dollars allocated toward over 60 anti-homophobia measures, including support for independent […]
Continue readingSaskatchewan
With polls closing in just a few hours in Saskatchewan, we bring to a close a very busy fall provincial election season.I am assuming there will be links to live results at some point, here after 8 p.m. CST (that’s 10:30 p.m. in Newfoundland)Other site…
Continue readingSlap Upside The Head: Teacher Receives Death Threat Over Anti-Homophobia Policy
A teacher in Burnaby, British Columbia has received a death threat over the school board’s proposal to adopt anti-homophobia policies designed to reduce incidents of bullying and make schools safter for GLBT students. The letter, adorned with illustrations of bloody knives, reads as follows: Must immediately withdraw POLICY #5.45 Adhere to the basic social principles! […]
Continue readingThe Skwib: Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em
Untitled, a photo by Foxtongue on Flickr. This cocky little duo signifies that The Skwib will be re-running good stuff from the archives for the next few weeks, while I attempt, once again, to write 50,000 words during the month of November. I have been successful once, but the fact that I’m already about 8,000 […]
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