After a protracted battle over the issue of whether so called ‘gay-straight clubs’ must be allowed in Catholic schools, many LGBT allies thought a legitimate victory had been attained when Queen’s Park ruled that such groups must be tolerated. Delaying far past the required deadline, an associated Catholic think-tank has
Continue readingTag: LGBT
Dented Blue Mercedes: Canadian government seeks to nullify non-Canadian same-sex marriages
During the March 2011 federal election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper had vowed not to reopen the abortion and same-sex marriage debates. That was good enough for some Canadians, who elected the neo-liberal Conservatives to their first full majority government last year. While Harper reiterated his pledge not to reopen the
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Introducing the Liberal Queer Caucus
The Liberal Party has a lot of work to do this weekend as Liberals from across the country schlep to Ottawa for our biennial convention. This morning we are all reminded of what exactly is at stake as it appears that Stephen Harper is engaging dog-whistle politics over marriage-equality. A
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: NC family group uses crosshairs graphic to attack same-sex marriage
Rev Mark Harris is one of the leading voices calling for a ban on same-sex marriage in N. Carolina. He heads up the state’s Baptist Convention this year and will be in the vanguard of a push for a state constitutional amendment. In reference to the upcoming referendum on marriage
Continue readingCatholics say no to anti-bullying bill because it promotes LGBT acceptance
Constantly reading about the bigoted nature of the richest Christian church on this planet, the Roman-Catholic church, can make a secular-humanist like myself sick and perhaps even resentful of Catholics themselves. It’s as sure as it can be that when the McGuinty liberals drafted Bill 13 for the Ontario legislature
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Aarchive: Anti-Abortion Lobby Dances on the Graves
(This post previously appeared at The Bilerico Project) Recently, leaders of Commonwealth nations met to discuss pressing international issues, and leaders from the U.K., Canada and others pressed for human rights reforms for LGBT people. British Prime Minister David Cameron went so far as to threaten to cut off aid
Continue readingEdwin Current: Sending praise to Hilary Clinton for her Gay Rights Speech to UN
I just finished watching this video of United States Secretary Hilary Clinton’s speech. Clinton is addressing the United Nations, regarding gay rights. I praise her for a doing such a great job and sending a beautiful, important and positive message around the world. This must be shared. Free and Equal
Continue readingEdwin Current: Sending praise to Hilary Clinton for her Gay Rights Speech to UN
I just finished watching this video of United States Secretary Hilary Clinton’s speech. Clinton is addressing the United Nations, regarding gay rights. I praise her for a doing such a great job and sending a beautiful, important and positive message around the world. This must be shared. Free and Equal
Continue readingEdwin Current: Sending praise to Hilary Clinton for her Gay Rights Speech to UN
I just finished watching this video of United States Secretary Hilary Clinton’s speech. Clinton is addressing the United Nations, regarding gay rights. I praise her for a doing such a great job and sending a beautiful, important and positiv…
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Hate Speech on Trial in Canada
If you lived in certain parts of Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Toronto over the past decade, there’s a chance you’ve encountered or at least heard about flyers distributed by Bill Whatcott. These fliers are typically peppered with photos of naked or half-naked gay men kissing (or in at least one instance, engaging in oral sex), with
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Learn about gay and trans kids? No. Have them protest abortion? Okay.
A group of parents in B.C. are adamantly opposed to the Burnaby school district enacting an LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying policy. Catholic school districts in Ontario want to ban rainbows and Gay-Straight Alliances. Charles Adler is worried that a calendar that is a teachers’ reference (and notes the Transgender Day of Remembrance) might cause kids to become
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Something brewing beneath transphobic ads in Ontario
On September 28th, Charles McVety’s Institute for Canadian Values pushed a proposed curriculum for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) into the forefront of the Ontario election, with a full-page ad published in the National Post. The ad read, “Please! Don’t Confuse Me. I’m a girl. Don’t teach me to question if I’m a boy,
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The National Post Apologizes for Anti-Transgender Ad
The National Post should never had published this truly evil ad from the grotesque homophobe Charles “Bloater” McVety.It was offensive, it was cruel, it was aimed at bullied children.But at least now they they have apologized.The fact that we will not …
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Homosexuality and the preponderance of the ‘choice’ debate
In the ongoing debate surrounding seemingly anything to do with homosexuality there is an undue focus on arguing about whether homosexuality is a “choice” and where exactly on the nature vs nurture spectrum it lies. This question would seem like it ou…
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Less Than Woman, Less Than Human
Cathy Brennan and Elizabeth Hungerford have tendered a paper to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, in response to a query regarding the current international status of women. From this exercise, the Commission will be working to “identify emerging trends and patterns of injustice and discriminatory practices against women
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Toronto City Councilor Records March, Calls For Toronto Pride Defunding (the continuing saga)
Borrowing a page from “Porno” Peter LaBarbera, Toronto city councilor Giorgio “Creepy” Mammoliti made it a point to film Saturday’s Dyke March during Toronto Pride Week festivities, in hopes of catching any sign of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) or anyone sporting similar messaging to them. QuAIA is a group that opposes what it calls
Continue readingArt Threat: Mapping queer Toronto – The art of social cartography
A new mapping project by Julia Hoecke,Fran Schechter and Susan G. Cole (at Now Magazine) has compiled a fascinating collection of cultural, political, and social spots relevant to the LBGT present and past in the Toronto area. Maps can transform and, in their own way, create knowledge — new juxtapositions, new proximities, new inclusions and […]
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Full Dissent: When gay rights and religious rights collide
Canada’s National Post published a roundtable on Friday about when religious rights and the rights of sex and gender minorities collide, in the form of school board policies to protect and affirm LGBT kids. The roundtable focuses specifically one such policy being proposed in Edmonton by the Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB), although this is on
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Gay Girl in Damascus Who Wasn’t
It was a compelling story. A young Syrian-American lesbian blogging about life and love in the darkness of a police state, only to be kidnapped.
Arraf wrote a blog called “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” a mixture of erotic prose and updates abou…
Continue readingFive of Five: Minnesota Archbishop: Opposing Marriage Equality Is Not Anti-Gay
Via ThinkProgress:Archbishop John C. Nienstedt: “The Minnesota Catholic Conference, made up of the seven Catholic bishops from the state, support this amendment not for prejudicial or political reasons, but rather for reasons that are theological, bi…
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