Counting is ongoing, but reportedly both the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ sides in the Irish debate are now declaring the pro-equality side has won the referendum in Ireland to legalize same-sex marriage in the country. What a great result! A great day for equality and inclusion in this world! Those who
Continue readingAuthor: Matt Guerin
Queer-liberal: My thoughts are with Ireland today…
The Irish are voting in a historic referendum today on marriage equality. I’m mostly Irish by blood, although not by citizenship. And, as you can guess, I’m hoping that it turns out well for those who favour equality. At first, I was surprised that such a vote on minority rights
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Progressives look for champion to stop Harper
It’s been an interesting few weeks with a perfect storm producing a surprise NDP victory in Alberta. The Alberta NDP win does prove the NDP can win votes from Canadians in surprising places. But we need to dissect the reality a bit further to realize that this isn’t necessarily the
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Wow! How stupid can Ontario PCs be?
As I listened to the Ontario PC official read out the individual riding results minutes ago, with Patrick Brown winning most ridings (and eventually winning the leadership), I was struck by how out of touch Ontario Tories are with their local communities. Or perhaps it proves just how much of
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Historic NDP victory in Alberta gets tonnes of reaction!
Last night’s historic NDP majority in Alberta was something to behold. Goodbye, Alberta PCs and Jim Prentice! The NDP took 53 seats, the Wildrose 21, the PCs just 11, the Liberals one, and the Alberta Party took one. Calling the election when he did will go down as one of
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Canada now has two elected, openly LGBT premiers
PEI Premier Wade MacLauchlan With tonight’s majority Liberal win in Prince Edward Island, Wade MacLauchlan becomes the second openly gay premier elected in Canada (after Kathleen Wynne in Ontario.) Most celebratory of all is how his sexual orientation seemed to be non-issue in the race. How far we have come,
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Monte McNaughton shows his true colours on eve of Ont PC vote
Failed Tory leadership candidate/Lambton-area PC MPP Monte McNaughton hit new lows over the weekend with emailed attacks on his colleague Christine Elliott, who might end up being his political boss after May 9th. McNaughton again flirted with sexism and/or homophobia when he criticized Elliott in the email for allegedly not
Continue readingQueer-liberal: ‘A Sinner in Mecca’ impresses at Hot Docs Toronto festival
Thousands of Muslims circling the Kaaba in Mecca, as seen in ‘A Sinner in Mecca’ I attended the world premiere last night of director Parvez Sharma’s controversial new documentary ‘A Sinner in Mecca.’ It played at Toronto’s Hot Docs film festival. Sharma is an openly gay Muslim filmmaker who
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Could Rachel Notley’s NDP be heading to shocking win in Alberta?
I watched last night’s superb debate between Alberta provincial leaders. Yes, Alberta politics has become spell-binding for political junkies this election. Yes, NDP Leader Rachel Notley was amazing and PC Premier Jim Prentice didn’t really help his struggling campaign much, especially with his patronizing comment, “I know that math is
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Edward Snowden, Bill C-51 and the scary growth of government surveillance
I recently watched the chilling, superb documentary Citizenfour by director Laura Poitras. The film, which won the Best Documentary Feature award at this year’s Academy Awards, chronicles in detail the 2013 interviews by Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill with Edward Snowden, the infamous whistle blower. It also outlines how
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Michael Coren is my new hero
I really like the new Michael Coren, who’s undergone a mellowing that looks very good on him. Watching him debate the horrible Charles McVety in this Power & Politics debate this week on Ontario’s new school curriculum was immensely enjoyable. So I’m happy to post it here:
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Sorry, religious conservatives, Canada is a secular country
I’m immensely pleased with this Supreme Court ruling yesterday. It has struck me as wrong for decades that we continue to recite Christian prayers at public council and legislative meetings in this diverse and secular country. Chantal Hebert nicely sums up the issues in her column here. Hebert writes: “The recitation
Continue readingQueer-liberal: I hope local, longtime Liberal Marco Mendicino wins Eglinton-Lawrence Liberal nomination over Eve Adams
Sorry, federal Liberals and Trudeau inner circle members, sorry Tom Allison and others, this idea to let Eve Adams run for the nomination in Eglinton-Lawrence was a huge mistake. She’s a bad fit in a riding that is ripe for the taking. I have to agree with Mike Colle on
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Conservatives in Ontario and Alberta go topsy turvy…
With yesterday’s dropout by Monte McNaughton, the Ontario PC leadership race is down to just two: mainstream Tory Christine Elliott, who has represented the provincial riding of Whitby-Ajax since 2006, and the vaguely social conservative Patrick Brown, who has been the federal MP for Barrie since 2006. I’m glad to
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Religion is a drug best served with moderation and skepticism…
On this Good Friday, when all North Americans (and many others in the West) get a statutory day off – a privilege not extended to any other faiths, yet some Christians still say they feel like victims of unfair treatment – I’m reflective upon the role of religion and faith
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Patrick Brown urges ‘greater market access’ for Postmedia…er…
On all levels, this is wrong. The CEO of a major news media organization, like Paul Godfrey, who runs Postmedia Network Inc. which includes the National Post, should not be endorsing political leadership candidates or parties. This is different, of course, from newspaper editorial boards endorsing one political party in an
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Trans Day of Visibility!
On this ‘Trans Day of Visibility,’ I give you Laverne Cox. And a link to this nice story about Yasir Naqvi and Cheri DiNovo working together to fight federal Tory anti-trans shenanigans.
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Stephen Harper is a deeply immoral and dangerous man
After watching this sobering, fascinating interview with famed political philosopher Charles Taylor on yesterday’s Power & Politics, I’m more convinced than ever that my headline is true. Taylor was commenting on Stephen Harper’s recent statement that the niqab is rooted in a culture that is “anti-women.” “How dumb do
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Conservative yuck factor goes up…
PM Harper, another Tory and evolution-hater MP James Lunney. Yuck and yuck and yuck. It seems the thinly-veiled, socially conservative extremist face of the Conservative movement in this country is showing itself more honestly lately. Smart politics? Nope. Arrogant? Yes. Representative of mainstream Canada? No way. These folks belong no
Continue readingQueer-liberal: Tory Plett’s bullying of trans people continues in Ottawa
Wednesday was Pink Shirt Day in Canada, a day to stand up against bullying. But in Ottawa, where Tories act like bullies most of the time, attacking anyone who can’t fight back easily, they ignored the day and continued their old tricks. Tory Senator Don Plett ignored his critics, including
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