Ontario to mandate 'LGBT support groups' in Catholic schools

Ontario to mandate 'LGBT support groups' in Catholic schools

Another excellent reason to re-elect the Ontario Liberals this October.

New York passes equal marriage into law

Please excuse my silence over the last couple of days. I was on a road trip to drive a friend back home to Richmond, Virginia. We drove through New York state on Friday, as well as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and onto Virginia. Little did I know that as we passed through New York, that state became the latest to pass same sex marriage into law! I didn't watch the news at all until returning to Toronto this week and only today heard about this historic win!

Congrats to New Yorkers for this giant step toward justice for all!

p.s. I'm still on vacation this week, so I'll have little time for blogging. But have a Happy Pride!

The Truth About the Economy

Inspiring blowback against Catholic school officials on the rainbow issue..

TheStar Catholic schools: Embrace the rainbow

And for the record: the kids at St. Joseph’s Catholic Secondary School and all Catholic high school students trying to form GSAs are my heroes! I never would've done that in high school, so it's heartening to see progress in Ontario Catholic environments.

The Gay Who Wasn't Gay Enough

I just wanted to quickly give well deserved kudos to the makers of this little promo for Toronto's Gay Rugby Team. Wow! I'm tempted to join (tempted, I won't be actually joining...haha.)

Looking forward to blogging again soon when inspiration hits...

Toronto Pride likely to receive city funding after threats over controversial group

Great news tonight from the City of Toronto's executive committee. I was glad to email them this past weekend. I have no idea if it made a difference. I'd like to think so. Congrats to the Proud of Toronto campaign, especially Mike Went and Doug Kerr, for galvanizing the community these past few weeks...


From: Matt Guerin@yahoo.ca
To: "exc@toronto.ca"
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 2:28:30 PM
Subject: Please save Pride Toronto

Dear Toronto Executive Committee Members -

As a longtime Toronto resident and member of the LGBT community, I am writing to strongly urge you to continue funding for Toronto Pride.

I have been appalled by the bizarre attacks by some on freedom of expression and association with regard to the Pride parade. While we may not agree with 'Queers Against Israeli Apartheid' or QAIA in terms of their tactics or even their name, we should not deny them the right to express their positions in a public event. Questioning some of the Israeli government's policies is not tantamount to hate speech, as some have suggested.

I do not support QAIA and I'm glad they have promised not to march in this year's parade. But they have a right to participate in Pride festivities elsewhere, the same as any group, as they do not break the law. But all of this talk about QAIA is a smokescreen. To cancel funding for hundreds of thousands of people because of the actions of 20 people is ridiculous!

Toronto Pride has been an important institution for freedom and culture in our city for decades. It has brought together our LGBT community and our allies for years. It is a symbol of the freedom shared by Torontonians and all Canadians. It brings in thousands of tourists every year, fills our hotels, our restaurants, our bars, our streets, for one big celebration at the start of summer.

It is appalling that the city would find no reason to invest in this celebration. The investment more than pays for itself as the money comes back many times over in terms of revenue for the city's businesses. Like any public event of this magnitude, it also requires policing and clean-up and I'm glad the city has provided that over the years.

I hope that your committee does the right thing and continues to support Toronto Pride. Do not listen to those city councillors who have in the past said some of the most hateful things about the LGBT community, who now tell us that alleged hatred against other communities is unacceptable. Some councillors on this issue are being hypocrites. I implore you to ignore that stupidity and make the best decision for the city of Toronto and all of its citizens.

Sincerely,
Matt Guerin
Toronto, ON

The lovely view from BeBloor

Snobby, elitist Star columnist Christopher (don't dare call him Chris) Hume may hate the look of my condominium building, BeBloor. But I can assure you the view from my ninth floor balcony is incomparable (see above picture.)

Yesterday, May 19th, was my birthday so it definitely wasn't appreciated seeing Hume heap scorn on my personal dwelling. I don't consider BeBloor a stunningly beautiful building, but it is pleasing enough and fits in with the other apartments and buildings in the area in the Junction Triangle, an area transitioning from old industrial to urban residential chique. I can assure the building is exceptionally well-run and filled with lovely people, many of them first-time buyers like me who enjoy being just outside the chaos of the downtown core. We are close to High Park, Roncesvalles, College West, Queen West West and The Junction.

Considering Hume also loves the ugly Chin Crystal fiasco at Bloor and Avenue, I think we can take his opinions with a grain of salt. Hume was, of course, one of the downtown elitist snobs at the Toronto Star who helped elect Rob Ford as Toronto mayor. Wow, I never thought I could sympathize with the folks out in the burbs. But if I had to choose between Rob Ford or Christopher Hume for Toronto mayor, I'd have to vote for Ford. And that says a lot.

Shape up, Toronto Star. Your snobby columnist is attacking personal living spaces and buildings not even built yet. I'm glad I canceled my Star subscription back in 2007 and I can assure you I will never buy a Toronto Star copy again.

'Proud of Toronto' campaign kicks into high gear to save Toronto Pride

I was happy to attend today's Proud of Toronto event at Toronto City Hall at this crucial time. It was quite an event and will hopefully serve to galvanize the LGBTQ community into action. As many will know, Toronto mayor Rob Ford and his neo-con followers are gunning for Toronto Pride this year, hoping to cut off funding for the annual event. They also hope to cut funding for LGBTQ Programs and Services like the 519 Community Centre, arts and culture, economic development, tourism, and HIV/AIDS programs and services.

It appeared they'd use the excuse of 'Queers Against Israeli Apartheid' to cut off funding. But now that that group has pulled out of this year's Toronto Pride parade, Rob Ford and his cohorts will no doubt be looking for any and all other excuses for denying funding.

Such investment into Toronto Pride, both through direct cultural funding as well as police and clean-up support, is crucial. As Pride co-chair Francisco Alvarez said today at the City Hall event, cutting off funding for Toronto Pride this year jeopardizes Toronto's World Pride celebrations in 2014 and could lead to Toronto Pride's bankruptcy.

Thus, it's crucial that everyone who supports Toronto Pride contact Toronto City councillors to urge them to resist the very real threat to cut off funding for this important institution.

I urge everyone to sign this petition and share it on Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else you can.

Like the Proud of Toronto campaign, I also urge you to write the City of Toronto's Executive Committee ahead of their meeting on May 24, 2011 about why Pride Toronto matters: exc@toronto.ca. They will vote that day on what recommendation to make to City Council on Pride Toronto funding. I will be emailing the committee as soon as I finish this post.

Join the campaign's Facebook page here. And most importantly, spread the word and sign the petition.

A lovely victory for transgendered rights in Canada

The Canadian House of Commons passed a private member's bill yesterday - February 9, 2011 - by a narrow vote of 143 to 135 to provide protection against discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act to transgendered and transsexual citizens. It was a historic day, indeed.

A close friend of mine is a F-to-M transsexual which has made the issue personal for me. I continue to be stunned by the willingness of so many conservatives to remain ignorant on this and other issues. That explains the narrow vote, with ignorant Stephen Harper and most Conservative MPs (and sadly a handful of socially conservative Liberals) leading the charge to ensure a very vulnerable group in our society continues to live without protection from discrimination. This followed yet another despicable campaign by bigot Charles McVety to mislead Canadians about the nature of the bill. It's always the same story - passage of human rights protection will somehow lead to catastrophe, these types argue. They can be assured that transsexuals are already using public washrooms and nothing in this bill will change that. Shame on all those bigots.

As John Ibbitson writes in the Globe, it was a moral victory for the transgendered and transsexual communities and those who support true equality. Sadly, Harper, ever the enemy of democracy, will likely use his unelected stooges in the Senate to deny the bill passage into law (if an election call doesn't kill the bill first.)

Yes, we have yet another reason to remove Stephen Harper from office as soon as possible. The next election can't come soon enough!

Congrats to NDP MP Bill Siksay for sponsoring the bill. Congrats to all the MPs, including Tories John Baird, Lawrence Cannon, Lisa Raitt and James Moore and many others, who supported it. A special thank you to Marlene Jennings who took on the falsehoods pushed by bigot McVety with typical gusto. I love her.

GSA ban lifted by Halton Catholic school board

Xtra is reporting some great news from last night's Halton Catholic board meeting: the ill-advised ban on gay-straight alliances (GSAs) has been lifted.

"In a 6-2 vote, trustees decided to rescind the ban and shelve their equity and inclusive education policy. While a new policy is drafted, the board will use the Catholic 'template,' a version of Ontario’s equity policy that’s written specifically for English Catholic boards by the Ontario Education Services Corporation. Originally Halton wasn't satisfied with the Catholic template, so they made a few edits when they quietly passed the policy in November, such as removing the terms 'sexual orientation' and 'gender.' That's when they also added the ban on GSAs.

When asked by Xtra whether or not the board will allow groups to be called gay-straight alliance clubs, board chair Alice Anne LeMay refused to answer the question.

“I can’t answer that tonight. The policy will go to senior administration and will be implemented in the schools,” she says.'

Congrats to the board for correcting its error. I hope their new equity policy doesn't fail LGBT students the way their last policy did. I agree with local Halton Catholic student James Hopkins, who says he plans to take the fight to Queen’s Park to pressure the Ministry of Education to push for one equity and inclusive education policy for all school boards, Catholic and public.

“See the little faggot..." lyrics get 'Money for Nothing' banned from Cdn radio

I hated and resented the Dire Straits’ song ‘Money For Nothing’ when it was released in 1985 and I still do. Mind you, I had little time for that kind of rock music back then. Today, I’ve grown to slowly admire the genre. But not this song. Why? Because it blatantly and without apology used a vicious slur against gay men, and did so in a way that was as mainstream as you could get in 1985. It even won Dire Straits some awards for their work.

I'm not knocking Dire Straits' talent. There's some great guitar music in 'Money for Nothing' for sure.

To all those folks up in arms over today’s ruling by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, I say: “Let it go! There’s plenty of great classic rock out there without hateful lyrics. Listen to something else on the radio!”

And if you simply can't go without hearing the lovely lyrics, "See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup. Yeah buddy that's his own hair. That little faggot got his own jet airplane. That little faggot he's a millionaire," then play it on your iPod to your crass heart's content.

‘Faggot’ is a heinous slur against all gay men that should never be used, except in appropriate contexts. It’s the gay equivalent of the word, ‘n*gger’.

The Dire Straits song was reportedly written in the first person by songwriter Mark Knopfler from the mindset of some regular working class dudes he once saw working in a retail store selling refrigerators, TVs, etc. In the song, one such guy watches MTV on one of the TVs in the store and starts making observations of the people they’re seeing on the music network: "See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup. Yeah buddy that's his own hair. That little faggot got his own jet airplane. That little faggot he's a millionaire."

Sure it's supposed to be a characterization and not a literal attack by the song's writer on gay men (or effeminate, successful male musicians appearing in videos in the 1980s). There's little doubt in my mind the irony the songwriter claims to have meant with the lyrics was lost on most fans. Even if we accept the fact that the lyrics are unintentionally hateful (which I don't), it doesn't take away the fact that many straight guys I knew who loved this song were quite happy to sing along to it, often putting particular emphasis on the term ‘little faggot’. The song gave them even more permission than they already had to hate 'faggots.'

I doubt that Mark Knopfler was innocent here. Even he seems to have acknowledged it was an unacceptable slur as he's frequently sung the song in concert since, replacing 'faggot' with 'queenie' or some more innocuous word. 'Queenie' is still pretty homophobic.

The 1980s (and all periods before it) were virulently homophobic times. Gays were not even offered basic protections from discrimination in housing or employment in most parts of Canada at the time. Being gay meant inevitably facing frequent attacks, mostly verbal and sometimes violent. (In most parts of the world, this is still the case.) On top of that, we had Mark Knopfler adding his little phrase: “See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup...” to mainstream dialogue.

This is a song I’d like to forget. I’m all for playing censored versions of it that replace the word ‘faggot’ with something preferably non-homophobic on Canadian radio. And of course, I don’t care what people play in the privacy of their own homes or in clubs, etc.

How many movies have you watched on television which were edited to remove the profanity? Not every word is appropriate to be broadcast on the air waves.

Message to Halton Catholics: Banning gay-straight alliances promotes bullying, anti-gay discrimination

Shame on yet another Catholic school board stuck with its collective head up its arse, more worried about offending Pope Benedict in Rome than helping isolated, closeted teens in their care avoid violence and discrimination.

Added shame on Halton Catholic school board chair Alice Anne LeMay for her ill-advised comments defending a ban on gay-straight alliances in Halton Catholic schools, for which she's awkwardly and unconvincingly apologized.

We know that our high schools across Canada and elsewhere continue to be hotbeds of intolerance and bullying. Some leaders have taken action to counter that violence and intimidation.

But teenagers being teenagers will continue to harass and belittle their fellow schoolmates like they always do without strong leadership from the top telling them it's wrong.

To think, an out, gay, Catholic student living in Halton might ask that s/he and her/his straight friends be allowed to form a gay-straight alliance (GSA) in their high school and they'd be turned down flat because the Halton Catholic board believes such groups are harmful and, “don’t fall within the teachings of the Catholic church.”

Disgusting. Especially considering that by banning groups that promote tolerance and acceptance, you are, in fact, sending a message to all the students in your care that tolerating and accepting homosexuals is not cool. You don't ban something unless there is something wrong with it, no? As if high schoolers need more reasons to be homophobic and to harass gay students or students they suspect might be gay. The Halton Catholic board has just given them another reason to pick on that slightly queer, artsy boy in their midst who now has few places to turn for help.

These incidents merely increase my desire to see the whole god-damned Catholic school system shut down in this province for good! If you refuse to protect the dignity of your most vulnerable students, you are abdicating your responsibilities as educators and you have no business running anything resembling a school system. One secular, public board for all is what Ontario needs!

*******UPDATE

Here's a Facebook group set up to 'Fight the Halton Catholic School Board's Ban on Gay Straight Alliances.'

And here's an online petition to 'Tell the Halton Catholic District School Board to lift ban on Gay-Straight Alliances.'