Monday, December 30, 2013

My sincere condolences to George Smitherman and his family at this tragic time...




It was startling late last night hearing the news that Christopher Peloso, husband of George Smitherman, was missing again, just a few short months after a similar incident that ended positively.  

George tweeted the following yesterday night: "Freedom from depression has been elusive for Christopher and once again he is missing and we fear for his safety."

And it was heart-breaking this morning getting the email from George Smitherman to his supporters and friends stating the following: 

December 30, 2013

Toronto Police just confirmed that my darling Christopher Peloso has been found dead.

We will celebrate his life and we will find comfort somehow in knowing that he has found peace from the depression that has wreaked havoc on his mind.

A son and brother, a husband and father of 3 he will always be remembered for his dedication to others.

We have been greatly aided by the compassion of the Toronto Police service and we will find strength going forward from the legions of people in our extended family who loved him so.
  
George Smitherman

You can read more about this sad story here.  My sincere condolences go out to George, their two adopted children as well as to Christopher's birth daughter, the Peloso family and to all of their extended family on this tragic loss.   

Saturday, December 28, 2013

My Top Films of 2013 (Updated Jan 26, 2014)

*** UPDATED Jan 26, 2014 (see ***new inclusion in top ten below)

As an avid cinema lover, it was a great year in film viewing.  I haven't shared a list of my favourites in a few years, so I thought I'd do so this year.  I saw dozens of films this year either in commercial theatres, at film festivals, or in the comfort of my home.  
Concrete Night, my queer flick of 2013

Below is an exhaustive list starting with my Top Eleven favourites from the year (including a 2012 title that was released in Toronto in 2013), plus other awesome flicks not in my top ten, my list of films I very much want to see as soon as possible,  followed by okay films, disappointing films and just plain bad ones.  

As a very political gay man, you'll notice a large number of queer or politically-friendly titles near the top of the mix:  


MY HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE TOP 11 FAVOURITES FROM 2013

1. 12 Years a Slave (Well on its way to Best Picture at the Oscars, this brutal gem paints a honest and unforgettable portrait of a part of North American history many try too hard to forget.  This is a brutal reminder just how awful humans can be, yet also how heroic and beautiful we can be as well.)  

2. Gravity (Astonishing technological filmmaking, it has to be seen on the big screen (and preferably in 3D), and is one hell of a ride.)

3. Quai d'Orsay (Hilarious French film is simply a must-see for all political staffers and junkies.) 

4. Concrete Night (Pictured above - A gorgeous, sexy, B&W art house film from Finland about a sexually confused teenage boy who takes to heart too much of what his selfish and clueless older brother, soon off to prison, has to say.  The queer flick of the year, in my opinion.)

**********5. Blue Jasmine (A perfect Woody Allen movie with probably what will be one of his most famous female anti-heroines, played by Cate Blanchett, well on her way to her second Oscar.) 

6. Fruitvale Station (Fleshes out the imperfect but beautiful life of a young black man and the tragedy of trigger-happy cops who rule over them with near impunity.  This paints a portrait of a life snuffed out too soon that might otherwise be just a statistic.)   

7. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley can do no wrong, it seems.  She basically cut open her own veins and let the blood spill out onto the screen, detailing deep family histories most of us would choose to keep secret.)  

8. It's All So Quiet (Deliberately paced, highly emotional portrait from the Netherlands of a middle-aged, closeted farmer, living with his old and bedridden father, very haunting and completely satisfying.) 

9. Only Lovers Left Alive (Sexy Tom Hiddleston and the always wonderful Tilda Swinton play vampire husband and wife in this Jim Jarmusch tale, probably the most original and thoughtful vampire flick I've ever seen.) 

10. Strangers by the Lake (Sexy, simple murder thriller which acts as an extended metaphor for the questionable choices many gay men make in their sex lives and elsewhere.)

11.  No (Chilean film about the successful referendum PR campaign to depose dictator Augusto Pinochet, showing the power of smart messaging over the brute thuggery of a dictatorship.)  


TOTALLY AWESOME BUT NOT QUITE IN MY TOP TEN (in alphabetical order): 

American Hustle

Bad Hair 

Before Midnight

Beyond the Candelabra (TV Movie, but it was great so I'm listing it here.) 

Blue is the Warmest Color

Captain Phillips
Catching Fire: Hungers Games 2

Dallas Buyers Club

Don Jon

Elysium

Five Dances

Frances Ha

Getting Go: The Go Doc Project

Her

Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

Inside Llewyn Davis

Interior Leather Bar

Iron Man 3

Kill Your Darlings

Mud

Pacific Rim

Philomena

Prisoners

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Room 237

Rush

Saving Mr Banks

Star Trek Into Darkness

This is the End

The Way Way Back
Wolf of Wall Street

World War Z


HIGH ON MY MUST-SEE LIST FOR 2014, in order of my desire to see them: 

The Butler 

All Is Lost

Out in the Dark

42

Nebraska

A Touch of Sin

Reaching for the Moon

Geography Club

Short Term 12

Enough Said

Gabrielle

Museum Hours

The Hunt

The Conjuring

The Act of Killing

Blackfish

Fast and the Furious 6


FINE, BUT NOT OVERLY SPECIAL:  

August: Osage County

Beneath the Harvest Sky

C.O.G.
Eastern Boys

The F Word

Free Fall

Kick Ass 2

Now You See Me

Riddick

Salvation Army

Test

DISAPPOINTING OR JUST PLAIN BAD: 

Bruno and Earlene Go To Vegas  

Gerontophilia (Bruce Labruce can do better than this.)

Man of Steel (Incoherent, dizzying action, I was literally looking at the clock waiting for it to end.)

Oculus

Paranoia (You can find Liam Hemsworth shirtless in far better films than this rubbish.) 

SO BAD OR BORING I COULDN'T FINISH THEM: 

Adore

The Host 

Only God Forgives

Sal

Monday, December 2, 2013

Hurray!: U.K. diving star Tom Daley says he's dating a "guy"

U.K. diving star and Olympic bronze medallist Tom Daley has confirmed what many gay men around the world had hoped.

In a frank, five-minute YouTube video he posted today to his YouTube channel, which has racked up more than a half-million views in its first few hours online, Daley said, "I still fancy girls," but revealed that he’s recently started dating a man.

This is wonderful, wonderful news! Daley is obviously an articulate and amazingly beautiful human being, both inside and out.

This decision to come out so publicly couldn't have been easy. It's great that he's done it at his young age, and in such a public way.

Congrats to him!

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Toronto LGBT theatre's Rhubarb Festival inexplicably loses funding from the Harper government

After many years of support from the federal Department of Canadian Heritage for the annual Rhubarb Festival, which will celebrate its 35th year in February, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (which puts on the festival) received some bad news last month from the feds.

Buddies' application to the department's Building Communities through Arts and Heritage program had been rejected. No explanation was given, despite the fact the Rhubarb Festival has been approved in the past.

Buddies explains the situation further on its website:

"When we contacted the department to get some more information about why we suddenly did not fit the funding criteria, we were told in very generalized terms that we no longer meet the objectives of the Canadian Heritage program Building Communities through Arts and Heritage. The stated objective of this program is: “to engage citizens in their local communities through performing and visual arts, as well as through the expression, celebration, and preservation of local historical heritage.”

"This is not the first time that Canadian Heritage has withheld support from us. It happened once before. However, when this occurred, we received specific indications from the department on where our application fell short. What is troubling this time is that we have not been given any clear indication as to why we no longer meet their criteria. This has left us surprised and confused. Why do we no longer meet the program’s objective? We did not propose any significant shifts to the festival in our application. There has been no announced change in policy or priorities. The only source of new priorities that we can see at Canadian Heritage is the appointment of the new Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, the Honourable Shelly Glover.

"Unfortunately, there is no appeal process. We have been encouraged to reapply in the future and we will. We hope that we will have the opportunity to work with Canadian Heritage again.

"However, we also believe that it is important for the arts community and the public to know when there are shifts in government policy affecting the arts in Canada. As a queer organization that promotes freedom of expression for communities and perspectives that are often silenced, it is our duty to inform them. It becomes even more important for us to speak out when these shifts occur without any explanation. We believe that it is reasonable for citizens to expect a level of transparency from the Department of Canadian Heritage."

"...Rest assured, the Rhubarb Festival will still happen this upcoming February and we remain committed to providing space for communities to engage with boundary-pushing performance and ideas."

I am a supporter of Buddies in Bad Times theatre and a regular patron. I've also attended the Rhubarb Festival in the past and fully support its work at "building communities through arts". The festival has met the "needs of Canadians" in our community.

Why, Minister Glover, have you treated our important local theatre so poorly and without explanation?

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Fighting for truth through Xtra's biased political coverage

In January 2013, Xtra Toronto had hoped to get more videographers accredited to attend the Ontario Liberal leadership convention, but unfortunately the party wasn't able to accommodate them and many other media in their demands.

In response, Xtra Toronto published an article entitled "Access Denied" that insinuated that Xtra had been shut out completely of the convention, when in fact its reporter Andrea Houston had been given accreditation to attend.

The article even quoted Gerald Hannon, never a friend of the Liberal Party, as saying, “You would think they would want Xtra to be there,” he says. “Do you detect a whiff of homophobia in there?”

The insinuation of homophobia was immediately made ridiculous as the convention went on to elect Kathleen Wynne as Ontario's new premier.

Fast forward to Xtra's coverage of the ongoing Toronto Centre by-election and again we're seeing some anti-Liberal bias rear its ugly head.

The recent fawning coverage afforded to NDP candidate Linda McQuaig was matched with less-than-flattering coverage given to Liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland.

The Xtra web page featuring Freeland's interview contains a direct link to McQuaig's interview, but no such link back to Freeland's interview exists on McQuaig's page. (Watch out to see if Xtra rectifies this after I post this.)

Xtra writes: "The Liberal candidate in the Toronto Centre federal by-election says she is a strong LGBT ally who, if elected, will continue to fight for the rights of queer people in Canada and abroad. However, in an interview with Xtra about where she stands on key LGBT issues, Chrystia Freeland left many questions unanswered...Xtra was only able to chat with Freeland for 27 minutes."

The problem here is the questions were never posed due to time running out, so how can unasked questions be unanswered? It's also odd because until today, Xtra had published, "Xtra was only able to chat with Freeland for 20 minutes." We've seen numerous NDP twitterers refer to those "20 minutes" often since the article was published. Now it's 27 minutes.

Perhaps the slight alteration in the interview time was due to this clarification posted on Freeland's website today:

"The Daily Xtra, an online news source for the LGBTTQ community, published an interview with Chrystia earlier this week. Even though Chrystia ended up speaking to the interviewer for longer than the agreed-to 20 minutes that were scheduled, the interviewer was unable to ask all the questions that she had hoped could be answered during the (plus an additional 9 minutes of run-over time). Here is Chrystia’s stance on those issues that were not covered in the interview..."

I'm glad that Freeland has put on the record her stands on those important issues.

Today, Xtra also published an online video interview with Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, which he handled very well with reporter Andrea Houston earlier this week.

But again, in the write-up accompanying the video, Houston focuses almost exclusively on alleged Liberal shortcomings on certain issues.

All politicians should be made to account for their actions and performance. The media should be able to toss whatever questions they deem fit at those politicians.

I do have a great deal of respect for Houston and for the work that Xtra does in the community. Their coverage of issues important to LGBT people is usually pretty stellar.

But as we've seen, their political coverage tends to have a pro-NDP bias. Liberals who dare not to give Xtra everything it demands (such as a video crew at the Ontario Liberal leadership convention) or unlimited extra time to ask questions during interviews already running over the agreed-to time, seem to get poorer coverage from them as a result.

Most people in the LGBT community are smart. We know that Xtra, like most media outlets, is not without its biases. Attacking certain media for such biases can seem often pointless. It's a fact of life. But calling it out is also fair and necessary.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Indiegogo campaign to fund new Leon Le film - DONATE

Dear Friends & Readers --

Please allow me to put aside politics for today and instead write about a new short film project being undertaken by my friend, director Leon Le.

I'm proud to say that Leon's launched an Indiegogo campaign to help raise funds to produce the film, tentatively titled 'Talk To Her.' The film is about love, acceptance, and missed opportunities and it explores the complicated relationships between Michael, a second generation Chinese-American man, his mother, and his girlfriend of two years to whom he plans to propose.

Leon Le is an extremely talented director and artist who produced/directed/wrote/edited another short film in 2012 called "Dawn," which I worked on as associate producer. It was a gritty, realistic and moving film about a young black man who detects what he considers to be a racist glance from another passenger on a subway, whom he follows off the train to try to teach him a lesson, to shocking results. Here's the great trailer below:

"Dawn" has already played at over 20 film festivals and continues to find audiences and win awards.

This is the next film project by Leon Le and I'm happy to say I'm also working at Associate Producer on it as well.

If you would like to invest in the project and help make it happen, please consider giving to the Indiegogo campaign. Every little bit helps!

MOVEMBER:

And speaking of helping out friends, another good friend of mine, Jefferson Darrell, is growing a moustache for Movember. If you want to help him out, here is the Movember Canada link to his campaign.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Zac Efron strips for upcoming raunchy comedy "That Awkward Moment"

Okay, let's put aside all seriousness and celebrate the release of a new, rated-R movie trailer for Hollywood heartthrob Zac Efron's upcoming raunchy comedy called 'That Awkward Moment.' The film is set to be released in January, but already the producers are making us salivate over the quick shot of the 25-year-old hunk's nude body while planking on a toilet (apparently after taking Viagra and then needing to urinate.)

Watch the trailer below to get more details.

I've been waiting for young Mr. Efron to show off a little nudity for years. For an actor who has traded so much on his sexy good looks, it seemed strange that Efron hadn't yet done nudity on the big screen (only instead offering shirtless or even underwear-only scenes, which have been enjoyable to watch, but still aren't quite the full monty we hope to see). Apparently, the drought will be finally over in early 2014 with 'That Awkward Moment.' I can't wait.

Until then, we can stare at this photo and dream of seeing this shot scrolled wide across the big screen with hopefully much more to see of Efron, co-star Miles Teller and perhaps even handsome Michael B. Jordan thrown in. Enjoy!

Friday, October 11, 2013

John Greyson, Tarek Loubani return to Canada after imprisonment in Egypt

Today, October 11th, is National Coming Out Day.

That fact made this article today by J. Lester Feder on Buzzfeed all the more poignant. Entitled, "How A Gay Canadian Filmmaker Jailed In Egypt Went Back Into The Closet To Save His Life," it details how gay Toronto filmmaker John Greyson's partner, Stephen Andrews, was forced to go back in the closet in order to help keep Greyson safe. If you haven't heard about Greyson and Doctor Tarek Loubani's incarceration in Egypt (because you haven't read a Canadian newspaper or watched much TV news for two months), you can read about it here in their own words.

Greyson and Loubani returned to Canada tonight after being released from prison last weekend. It's great that this ordeal is over for them and they're back in seemingly good spirits.

I once met Greyson through my friend Cuong Ngo at an Inside Out film festival party a few years ago. Greyson's documentary film 'Fig Trees' won the Best Canadian Feature Film award that night. My own film 'The Golden Pin' won Best Canadian Short that night as well, and my film's director, Cuong Ngo, was a student of Greyson's at York University.

I've always been a fan of Greyson's films, especially the gay classic 'Lilies.' I don't share some of his politics, but I respect his opinions and his obvious bravery. It would take an immense amount of bravery for any openly gay man like Greyson to make his way into Egypt or Gaza in order to document stories we rarely get to see in the West.

I've also found it repulsive that so many on the conservative right in this country have taken to attacking Greyson and Loubani for their political views and for being in Egypt at all, taking the opportunity to attack the men when they were down (behind bars in an Egyptian prison), something conservatives are often happy to do. The worst may have been this column by bozo writer Margaret Wente, who outed Greyson as gay while he was still in Egypt this week (although at least he was out of prison by the time this went to publication.)

I don't believe criticizing Israeli government policies in the occupied territories is tantamount to being "anti-Israel" as so many commentators continue to falsely allege. I will admit that I've never been a fan of the group 'Queers Against Israeli Apartheid' and I do sometimes detect a disturbingly hateful streak in some of the criticism leveled against Israel by some activists. But I've never observed such extremism in Greyson's opinions, who has been forceful but also intelligent in his comments. I was glad to see the two men take the time tonight to thank both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird after they landed in Toronto.

One final note: As a hot-blooded gay man, I must say that one aspect of this story that wasn't lost on me is Tarek Loubani's immense good looks (in my opinion, of course.) Just look at his smiling face! Combined with an activist mindset and the brains to earn a medical degree, let's just say I was enchanted. I also sensed that Loubani might be gay, an impression that was reinforced by that video Greyson and he released on their website yesterday before returning from Egypt. But I read quite curiously in Feder's article today that Loubani's "heterosexual." But a guy like me can still dream, no? Maybe now it's Loubani's turn to come out on this special day? ;-)

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Time to revoke charitable status for "Living Waters" and other Christian groups like it...

I got very angry reading this investigative journalist piece today in the Toronto Star by undercover reporter Graham Slaughter. It's part one of two stories the Star is publishing this weekend into the dubious Christian program called "Living Waters," that claims to heal gay people through an intensive 22-week program that costs $550. The Toronto chapter is run out of a church in the north part of the city.

In the story today, Slaughter writes:

"During my time undercover in Living Waters’ Toronto chapter, I posed as a depressed gay man who hoped to become straight. The Star sent me inside the Toronto program because many respected psychological authorities have denounced gay conversion programs, saying they pose serious psychological risks, including depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

"The movement to “heal” homosexuality is on its last legs in the United States. Exodus International, an American group, shut down in July and publicly apologized to those it had counselled. Yet in Canada, similar programs still exist.

"At Living Waters Toronto, the program is led by a team of volunteers, including a preschool teacher, a personal trainer and a pastor. Leaders give hope that God can heal participants’ “sexual and relational brokenness,” an umbrella term that includes such issues as homosexuality, masturbation and pornography addictions.

"But some of those former participants told the Star stories of personal anguish and spiritual crisis when their attempts to become straight failed. (Their stories appear in Part 2 of the investigation..)

"These stories chip away at Living Waters’ facade as a healing ministry, revealing instead a religious organization that hurts some participants in its attempts to heal sexual dysfunction and relationship problems."

Despite this, this bogus Christian group continues to enjoy the benefits of charitable status in Canada, something it obtained in 1998. Slaughter's article confirms:

"Living Waters must meet certain requirements to keep its charity status, one of which is to provide a “public benefit.” In the CRA’s guidelines for registering a charity, it describes “benefit” as “directed toward achieving a universal good that is not harmful to the public — a socially useful endeavour.”

If the information in the article is to be believed, it's clear that Living Waters did not include its plans to run gay reparative therapy sessions when it applied for charitable status. The program's leaders promote lies about the origins of homosexuality in individuals and follow lines of thought in their "healing" that have proven deeply damaging to those who are unfortunate enough to come into their misguided clutches.

I'm sure tomorrow's story will detail many tragic experiences by people who have gone through Living Waters' program. If those stories are similar to many others I've read from similar Christian programs, Living Waters will be exposed as doing great "public harm" and "destruction," not the "public benefit" needed to continue its dubious charitable status in Canada, where in the past three years donations have accounted for 62 per cent of the group's total revenue.

In fact, the Star reports that Canada Revenue Agency documents show that Living Waters has grown significantly in the past nine years, more than tripling its annual revenue from $227,035 in 2003 to $769,204 in 2012. The idiots who are giving this money to this group do not deserve a tax receipt for it, that's for sure.

It is well past the time that these types of bogus Christian groups be cut off from the public trough.

UPDATE*****

As expected, the stories shared in Part Two of this Toronto Star piece by reporter Graham Slaughter illuminate further the damage being done by Living Waters and other religious programs like it. Here's how the experiences of one former participant in the program are described:

"After a year and a half in the Living Waters program — the end of a 10-year journey of denying his sexuality — [Darin] Squire left the program feeling ashamed. He said Living Waters indoctrinated him to believe that as a gay man he could be only three things: a prostitute, a pedophile or a recklessly promiscuous swinger.

“I was told there was no such thing as a healthy happy homosexual. They do not exist,” he said.

He accepted this supposed fate and descended into a self-destructive “depraved lifestyle,” he said. “No one walks out of there and says, ‘It just doesn’t work for me.’ We walk out of there broken. People go in there unhealthy and come out unhealthier.”

Clearly, there is no credible "public benefit" to this Living Waters program. I hope they and other groups like them lose their charitable status as soon as possible in Canada!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Best wishes to Christopher Peloso, George Smitherman and family...

After missing since Monday, 39-year-old Christopher Peloso, the husband of former Toronto Centre Liberal MPP George Smitherman, was located today by police, dirty and disheveled in the Lansdowne Ave. and Dupont St. area, just after 11 a.m.

I want to express my best wishes to Christopher, George and their family at this time as they move forward with their lives. I also hope the public and the media give them the dignity and respect they deserve.

"The path forward isn’t firmly clear except that we know that it’s long and it will be hard," said Smitherman today at a press conference.

“(Christopher) and me and our family and our kids especially will be surrounded by an outpouring of love and they will restore anybody’s faith and confidence,” said Smitherman.

I want to commend the media, particularly Xtra, for their coverage of this story.

Here's footage of George Smitherman's press conference today, accompanied by former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall:

Sunday, September 8, 2013

LGBTQ Rights activists rally around the world against ignorant laws

The International Day of Protest for LGBTQ Rights took place today, Sunday Sept 8, 2013, in about 50 cities around the world including Toronto. Citizens concerned about attacks on LGBT human rights in Russia, Uganda, Iran and other countries also rallied or held "kiss-ins" in Rio, London, Dublin, Berlin, Montreal, Winnipeg, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Stockholm, Paris, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Brussels, Chicago, Pretoria and many other cities.

About 100 people turned up this evening in Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square (pictured above and below) to rally and show support for their fellow queers in other countries. I was glad to be among them. The most touching moments were hearing letters of thanks from LGBT activists in Russia and elsewhere where they live in fear of being targeted by anti-gay laws and rampant homophobia and violence.

Once the rally took place, the group marched down Yonge Street briefly stopping traffic en route to the TIFF Bell Lightbox building at King and John in downtown Toronto to send a message during Toronto's high profile international film festival. (A sore foot made it impossible for me to join them on the march tonight, but I was there in spirit.)

The struggle continues but these types of public protests against ignorance send the right message both in our own country and across the world.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The heartwarming story of Wren Kauffman

I have been delighted this week to read about the story of Wren Kauffman, an 11-year-old Edmonton boy who went back to school this week like most kids his age. The amazing part of this story is that Wren returned to school after he had been known as a girl named Wrenna. This school year marked the end of hiding for him.

As this Huffington Post article indicates: "Teachers, friends and other students at his Edmonton school know the truth — that he's a girl on the outside but feels like a boy on the inside. And that's why, even at such a young age, he has chosen to live in the world as the opposite sex, and not keep it a secret.

"If you're not yourself, then it kind of gets sad and depressing," says the freckle-faced kid with short-cropped hair.

"I'm glad that I told everybody."

Click on this link to watch a great Canadian Press video of Wren in his own words. Unfortunately I can't embed it here on this site.

What a beautiful kid! I'm so proud of him and his family for supporting him in this amazing decision.

The story also reminds me of a dear friend, Kyle Scanlon, who was also transgendered and often told me how he felt quite awkward while growing up. Born female with the name 'Kelly', Kyle said he too looked at himself as a boy, not a girl while growing up. The onset of puberty and its hormonal changes brought on a deep depression that lasted for Kyle for years. Only later as an adult (a couple years after I met him) was Kyle able to undergo gender re-assignment surgery and finally become the man he was meant to be.

Sadly, even this transformation didn't help Kyle handle all of his personal demons and he chose to end his own life in 2012. So watching this story this week about this amazing 11-year-old boy who has support from his family, his classmates and his school to come out as transgendered provides some great relief and hope.

If indeed school boards across Canada are starting to work out how to accommodate and support transgendered students (and make no mistake, there are many such students struggling in our schools right now), then that is a fantastic thing and most needed!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird blasts 'hateful' Russian anti-gay law

I'm very glad to see John Baird taking a very strong stand in opposition to Russia's odious, hateful, new anti-gay laws.

"As concerned as we are about the Olympics, that's nothing. That's two, three, four weeks for the athletes and participants and the visitors," Baird said in a telephone interview from Colombia with CBC.

"This mean-spirited and hateful law will affect all Russians 365 days of the year, every year. It is an incitement to intolerance, which breeds hate. And intolerance and hate breed violence."

Baird did not endorse recent calls for a boycott but said Russia's hosting of the Olympics would draw attention to the issue.

"In the run-up to the Olympics, it provides a spotlight on this mean-spirited and hateful law," Baird said. "Hopefully, we can use that spotlight to bring pressure to bear on the Russian government."

I do support boycotting all Russian products including vodkas to put pressure on that foolish country to reverse these hateful laws. I also think athletes should put aside their massive ambitions and consider for a moment the moral implications of competing in a Games in a country that treats its minorities this way. For me, it's like refusing to stop eating at a 'No Jews Allowed' restaurant just because you can't get enough of the food.

You can read the full CBC story here.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Stephen Harper's Conservatives take away victims' rights by passing pro-hate speech bill

While few were looking, Stephen Harper's Conservatives have succeeded in using the weaselly option of a backbencher's private member's bill to quietly gut the Canadian Human Rights Act to remove victims' rights to fight back against hate speech in Canada.

A no-name Tory MP's private member's bill passed the Senate this week and received Royal Assent. When the bill is fully implemented within a year, Section 13 of Canadian human rights law that permitted rights complaints to the federal Human Rights Commission for “the communication of hate messages by telephone or on the Internet” will be history.

Now victims of hate speech over the internet or over the phone will have no recourse except to wait for police forces with little or no hate crime budgets to go after hate mongers in Canada. And even then charges can't be laid until Attorneys General give approval, which usually dissuades police from seriously pursuing the criminals.

Anti-hate provisions in the Human Rights Act empowered victims to fight back for themselves against the bigots. Those guilty were frequently found guilty, unlike in the criminal courts where convictions have been much more difficult to achieve.

By taking away this option for victims under the Canadian Human Rights Act, and at the same time ignoring the demand that police themselves should be given the ability to lay hate speech charges instead of relying on Attorneys General, the Conservatives have shown their true priorities.

Conservatives are siding with the bigots.

By passing this bill, the Conservatives have taken away victims' rights and made it easier to get away with (hate) crime in Canada. Yes, you read that correctly. It's shameful.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

2nd Toronto Pride Week LGBT Short Film Festival launches Monday

After a very successful inaugural run in 2012, I'm very proud to be organizing the Canadian Media Guild's 2nd Toronto Pride Week LGBT Short Film Festival, which starts tomorrow. I've been working with other CMG volunteers to select a collection of great recent short films with LGBT themes, contact filmmakers or distributors to arrange to receive screening copies and working with CBC colleagues to make it happen. Again, it's been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

The festival highlights a number of excellent short films from recent years, including some award winners. The diverse 107-minute program will play continuously on a DVD loop in the Graham Spry Theatre in Toronto between 9 am and 9 pm from Monday June 24th to Friday June 28th (with an extra screening on Saturday June 29th from 12 pm to 5 pm.) The theatre is located near the Wellington Street entrance of the CBC Broadcast Centre.

And most important: ADMISSION IS FREE!

Details:

Monday, June 24, 2013 to Friday, June 28, 2013 from 9 am to 9 pm.

Saturday, June 29, 2013 from 12 pm to 5 pm.

Graham Spry Theatre, 1st floor of the CBC Broadcasting Centre

250 Front St. W., Toronto, Ontario

If you are in the Toronto area this week and want to check out some great LGBT short films, please consider dropping by!

Here's our Facebook event page for more information on the films selected.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Inside Out film festival wraps: My favourite flicks this year.

The 23rd Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival wraps today. I've been a patron of the festival since I moved to Toronto in the 1990s. This year was a great success on many fronts with many good films getting a Toronto or Canadian premiere.

I took in seven programs which included a handful of short films and five new feature films. I missed the opening night feature, 'In the Name of,' and also the Centrepiece gala feature, 'Pit Stop,' due to schedule conflicts and the steep price for tickets. I'll get a chance to see both in the future, I'm sure.

But here's my take on what I did see:

My favourite feature film in the festival: 'The Go Doc Project,' by director Cory James Krueckeberg. This mockumentary about a cute, young New Yorker who concocts his own fake documentary film to get closer to the object of his obsession, a hot go-go boy, charmed me with its technical ingenuity and solid story telling, not to mention the charming and surprising love story between the boys. The title is a play on the two lead characters' names, Go, the go-go boy, and Doc, the socially awkward soon-to-be college graduate. The two lead actors, Tanner Cohen and Matthew Camp (who is a real life go-go boy), are adorable and deliver surprisingly decent performances. The film is by the same team who brought us the wonderful 'Were the World Mine' a few years back, which also starred Cohen.

For an independent gay feature, 'The Go Doc Project' delivers everything one wants: cute boys, an engaging love story and beautiful imagery, including a very hot sex scene and much nudity (see the hot pic on the right). It was shot entirely using low-end cameras by the actors themselves, but still looked terrific! I especially loved the long montage of the boys kissing in several famous NYC locations, obviously filmed in guerrilla style and probably without the usual permits. This sends a delightful message to other independent queer filmmakers: get a good concept, hire some talented and adorable leads and you can make a hit film for pennies compared to Hollywood's big budgets and still find an audience. You can find out more about the film here.

I also saw and loved director Alan Brown's latest 'Five Dances.' (pictured below). It's a close second place in my estimation of the features I saw this past week.

This film concerns a young man, played by Ryan Steele, with zero support from his family struggling to make it as a dancer in New York City. Not out of the closet, he gets hired to take part in a five-person show where he meets a fellow male dancer with whom he begins a hot affair. It, too, was remarkably romantic and sweet, themes I definitely noticed in several films at Inside Out this year.

I saw and enjoyed the German feature 'Free Fall,' about a cop trainee who falls in love with another gay man on the force despite having a pregnant wife. The two male leads were exceedingly easy on the eyes, and the story was compelling if not overly original. Also interesting was the Spanish film, 'Animals,' about a troubled 17-year-old boy who can't seem to let go of his childhood fears. The Donnie Darko ripoff was beautifully shot and well-acted, but left me confused and disappointed. Perhaps my own need to see troubled characters find some kind of redemption or resolution is clouding my feelings about this interesting failure of a film. But I can't say that I recommend it.

I also finally got to see James Franco's hybrid drama-documentary 'Interior. Leather Bar,' (pictured.) Written and co-directed by Travis Mathews, it was a fascinating experiment that explored issues around homophobia in general, and in Hollywood in particular, using the re-enactment of 40 minutes of censored footage from William Friedkin's 1980 homophobic classic 'Cruising' as a launching pad. Franco's film isn't so much concerned with actually re-enacting the missing footage that was apparently cut from 'Cruising' because it was too risque. Instead, Franco and Mathews are more concerned with emphasizing the anxieties of their recruited group of handsome, mostly-straight actors, led by sexy Val Lauren (playing the Al Pacino character), about playing it gay in a film containing explicit gay sex. Some of the scenes in the film were apparently scripted, others completely improvised. In one key scene between Lauren and Franco, the director explains that he's trying, with this project, to turn around the despicable homophobia on display in the original 'Cruising' into something that is instead "beautiful" and positive. On that score, Franco and Mathews largely succeed. The result is an interesting statement and wonderful antidote to the original film which inspired it. Although I'm sure this film won't be to everyone's liking.

I also saw a number of short films which impressed me. 'For Dorian' by Toronto director Rodrigo Barriuso, about a single father who discovers that his adolescent, developmentally-disabled son is gay, was unbelievably beautiful. Director Alyssa Pankiw's 'Her With Me', about a young lesbian who picks up a Hollywood actress, was charming and sexy. F-T-M director Chase Joynt's 'I'm Yours' featuring himself and M-T-F transsexual activist Nina Arsenault answering a series of identical, personal questions was fascinating and illuminating. Director Ryan Levey's moving short 'The Closest Thing To Heaven' about an older gay man's reminiscing about his late partner was stellar and beautifully told. And Toronto director Steven Bereznai's 'Let's Get Soaking Wet' was a delightful exploration of gay male anxieties around participating in group sports, something I can relate to. I'm hoping to program all of these shorts into the Canadian Media Guild's 2nd annual Pride Week LGBT Short Film Festival later this month. Stay tuned for more on that soon!

Monday, May 6, 2013

'The Golden Pin': Cuando las tradiciones se interponen en el amor / 'The Golden Pin': When traditions stand in the way of love

I recently did an interview with the Latino queer website UniversoGay about my short film, 'The Golden Pin,' which has turned into a hit on YouTube. I posted the 16-minute short film there on October 24, 2012, and in six short months, it's attracted over 900,000 views! At this rate, we might be at 1 million views by the middle of June!

UniversoGay translated my answers into Spanish for their website. I offer the English version of my Q&A below.

How did you came up with the idea of the short film at the first place?

Director Cuong Ngo and myself decided we wanted to work together on a short film for his final year in film studies at York University in 2008. We decided to tackle a love story idea in which one closeted man was involved with an openly gay man. At one point, Cuong recommended to me that I write in a swim scene and the result was the first draft of 'The Golden Pin.' He and I worked back and forth on the script for several weeks until it was ready and we shot it in December 2008.

The idea was a short film and then become a movie?

Yes, we wrote the short film's script with the idea that one day we'd expand the story into a feature film.

It was based in a real story that you know or someone told you?

Cuong Ngo is Vietnamese, so he wanted to explore an Asian male character who was struggling in the closet under pressure to marry a woman and have children to continue the family line. The story we came up with wasn't based on any one person in particular, but more about a general struggle many young queer people face in their lives.

In many countries they are debating gay marriage. Do you think that with the topic installed at the society will change the mentality, like the father´s main character?

I do agree as same sex marriage becomes legalized in more and more countries, it will slowly continue to change the cultures of those countries. Canada has had equal marriage since 2003. Queer people do have the option of lifelong partnership formalized in marriage. The passage of equal marriage signifies that the society has embraced true equality in law for all people, including queer people. It also means the culture doesn't denigrate queer people and instead gives them the freedom to be happy as they see fit.

The short film had an open ending. At least I think that. Was it on purpose to make a movie later to complete the story?

Yes, it was on purpose leaving the ending of the short film open-ended. The short is just 16 minutes, so we didn't feel it was right to present an entire character arc including a full resolution in such a short time. We simply wanted to present a character caught in a dilemma that many queer people face. We also wanted to universalize the dilemma somewhat by showing the mother character having also been unhappy in her own life choices. In the short film, we simply wanted to ask the audience the question, "What would you do in these circumstances?" We didn't want to give the audience the answer as well. We want the audience to decide for themselves.

Since we have always planned to make a feature film, we are planning a longer storyline that does answer the main character's dilemma. So stay tuned with the feature film.

How was the casting, the locations, etc? The movie will be with the same people?

Cuong Ngo chose the actors to be in the short film and they did a wonderful job! Our team worked together to find the right locations all of them in Toronto. The feature film version will likely also be shot in Toronto. But we have made no casting choices about the feature film at this point.

Oriental and Occidental society and culture are different. Was different to the reaction in that places to the short movie?

The short film has resonated in many Asian countries and played in many festivals in those regions. Currently, the short film has almost 900,000 hits on YouTube and a huge number of views have come from Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan. The YouTube video is banned in China where it's only had 16 hits. But the response from the rest of Asia to it has been strong.

Incidentally, the short film also has a large following in Saudi Arabia and Mexico, and the audience is building nicely in India as well. Of course, the most views are in the United States. The short film has struck a chord right across the world and we're very proud of that.

Any memories, funny for example or significant, that you can tell us about the filming?

The costume designers noticed the night we were shooting the swimming pool scenes with the very handsome swimmers that their Speedos were a bit loose. We worried they wouldn't stay on the swimmers in the water, so we drove quickly to a nearby Shoppers Drug Mart in order to buy safety pins. The costume people used the safety pins to tighten the Speedos on our swimmers to make sure they didn't fall off in the pool. And they mostly worked, although one swimmer has a slight problem in one shot that you can see in the short film.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Canadian Supreme Court upholds anti-hate speech laws in case against Bill Whatcott

I'm quite pleased with this morning's ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada against Bill Whatcott's dissemination of hateful, anti-gay flyers in Saskatchewan in 2001 and 2002. Whatcott had been found guilty of breaking the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code's hate speech provisions and fined thousands of dollars in penalties. However, an appeal court overrruled that finding in 2010. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission then appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which heard the case in October 2011. I wrote about this case then.

Today's ruling is a great read. I hope the media editorialists who defended Whatcott's ability to publish and distribute these hateful flyers (one of which used the words "Kill the Homosexuals") take the time to read it and get educated about the harmful effects of hate speech.

The Supreme Court ruled today the Human Rights Code's ban on speech that exposes an identifiable group to hatred as valid. In so doing, it likely reinforced similar anti-hate speech provisions elsewhere in Canada's laws. The Court also ruled that other vague wording in Saskatchewan’s hate law, which bans speech that “ridicules, belittles or otherwise affronts the dignity of,” was constitutionally invalid.

The Supreme Court concluded that two of Whatcott's flyers constituted prohibited hate speech and he must now pay $7,500 of his original $17,500 in fines. In the judgment, Justice Rothstein writes: "Passages of these flyers combine many of the hallmarks of hatred identified in the case law...The expression portrays the targeted group as a menace that threatens the safety and well-being of others, makes reference to respected sources in an effort to lend credibility to the negative generalizations, and uses vilifying and derogatory representations to create a tone of hatred.”

The SCOC also awarded the Saskatchewan Commission "costs throughout, including costs of the application for leave to appeal in this Court."

In the past, I've argued that only speech that objectively "incites violence" against an identifiable and protected group should constitute illegal hate speech. The Supreme Court seems to argue that simply exposing such groups to "hatred" as they define clearly in the ruling is sufficient for finding the speech illegal. This is broader than my own definition. But I see the great wisdom in it. I support today's ruling. It will greatly instruct the ongoing debate about what actions governments may take to prevent the harmful and very real effects of hate speech in our free and democratic society.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Media should re-think term "openly gay", perhaps use the term "out" to describe Kathleen Wynne...

When Kathleen Wynne won the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party in late January, it was historic. Not only would Ontario have its first female premier, Canada would also have its first "openly gay" premier.

They didn't refer to her as Canada's first "gay" premier because, in fact, she wasn't. We know that former New Brunswick premier Richard Hatfield was most likely gay, but not out of the closet. For all we know, there were probably other premiers and even prime ministers in Canada who were gay. We just have no idea as they didn't publicly confirm such things in the past.

Mid-February, the media are using 'Ontario's first woman premier' or 'Ontario's first openly gay premier' less to describe Wynne and simply are calling her 'Premier Kathleen Wynne.' I hope that continues.

A queer colleague and friend commented to me this week that she's getting irritated by the media's constant refrain 'Ontario's first openly gay premier' to describe Wynne. Why can't they simply use the term 'Ontario's first out premier,' she pondered. I agreed with her.

She sent me this article which dealt with the same subject a few years ago. Author Stephen Elliott warned about the persistent use of the term 'openly gay' in quite an insightful way:

“We should take care with this phrase, which is useful in certain limited contexts but unnecessary and potentially offensive in others.

"For starters, of course, we note someone’s sexual orientation only when it is pertinent and the pertinence is clear to the reader. In those cases, we should describe someone as “openly” gay only to distinguish him or her from others who may be gay but are not open about their orientation. For example, it makes sense to say “so-and-so was the state’s first openly gay legislator,” because there may well have been other gay legislators who did not reveal that fact.

"But in most other contexts where sexual orientation is relevant, we can simply state that someone is gay without the “openly.” Using the modifier when it’s not necessary suggests that there is still something surprising about not concealing one’s orientation.”

Do we call Joe Oliver Canada's first openly Jewish minister of natural resources? Do we call Alison Redford Alberta's first "openly female" premier? Then why must we still refer to Wynne as 'Canada's first openly gay premier'? I would suggest that the media soon drop this description and simply, if they must, call her 'Canada's first out premier.'

If readers don't know what "out" means, they can always do a little research to find out.

Special message to state broadcaster Sun Media & Brian Lilley: Evangelicals and Catholics are not the same...

Canada's state broadcaster Sun Media has been going to bat for the Conservative Party this week against their political enemies. Conservative Party spokesman Brian Lilley has been obsessively attacking NDP Leader Tom Mulcair this week for questioning the government's funding of Crossroads Christian Communications.

This evangelical group has been receiving hundreds of thousands of Canadian tax dollars for aid projects in Uganda, a country currently considering killing its homosexuals. The Canadian group has reportedly been providing water to Ugandan citizens. This kind of work is admirable, even in a place as backwards as Uganda.

But Crossroads is an evangelical group that believes some abhorrent things about people who are born LGBT, including myself. Reportedly this group used to advertise on its website that "homosexuality and transvestism" are perversions along the lines of pedophilia and bestiality. This is hateful and completely wrong.

The federal government froze funding for the group for one day after this week's media controversy, but then re-affirmed it as the group's position on homosexuality didn't factor into its work in Uganda. I tend to agree.

But I disagree with Brian Lilley in this column that because Tom Mulcair is a Catholic and his church's catechism condemns homosexuality that Mulcair is a hypocrite for calling the group's opinions "un-Canadian".

Being Catholic (or any other form of moderate Christianity) is not the same thing as being Evangelical. Especially in Canada. Full stop.

Evangelicals take every word that was written by bigoted men centuries ago in both the Old and New Testaments as the unquestionable word of God, Herself. Doing so means that Evangelicals are forced to believe some very strange things, as we know. I won't get into all of them. But of course, these include supporting violence against women, murder, slavery and many other forms of crimes against humanity.

Evangelicals cling to every single word in their Bibles out of fear of eternal damnation. And they condemn the rest of us to hell for not joining them.

Other moderate Christians like most Canadian Catholics take a different approach. They don't believe every word in the Bible. They also don't believe every utterance from church leadership including in the Catholic catechism. Catholics like most religious people form their own conclusions and think for themselves. They can reference the church's beliefs or statements, but they are not beholden to them. They are not forced to believe every single word written by old bigots centuries ago simply because someone in power in their church told them to do so.

The vast majority of Canadian Catholics have beliefs that contradict the beliefs of outgoing Pope Benedict. The core of their beliefs are to be found in their interpretations of the Gospels and the loving, inclusive, socialist messages of Christ.

This feeble attempt by Lilley and others to equate Evangelicals with other reasonable, thoughtful Christians simply won't wash.

Mulcair can call himself a Catholic, go to church as often as he wants and still call the hateful comments of Evangelicals "un-Canadian". Because they are.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Ontario News Watch Op Ed: Backroom Negotiations By Party Elites Chose Wynne As Liberal Leader. But Is That Really The Best Way To Choose A Premier For All Of Ontario?

I was very proud to be asked by ONW Editor Susanna Kelley to write today's op ed piece on the recent Ontario Liberal leadership election process. Please check it out here today or read below:

Op Ed: Backroom Negotiations By Party Elites Chose Wynne As Liberal Leader.

But Is That Really The Best Way To Choose A Premier For All Of Ontario?

The recent Ontario Liberal leadership convention won by Kathleen Wynne, who is being sworn in today with her new cabinet, was a classic example of the delegated leadership selection process in which the elites of a political party determined the outcome.

The backroom negotiations between the candidates and their senior advisers played a pivotal role in deciding who would be governing Ontario.

Sandra Pupatello is on record saying she had expected rival Eric Hoskins to endorse her after the first ballot (based on a conversation she had with Hoskins and his wife at their home earlier that week).

But something happened to change Hoskins' mind on the Saturday and he endorsed Wynne instead, giving her crucial momentum.

While Harinder Takhar's endorsement of Pupatello gave her a bit of a boost, once rival candidates Charles Sousa and Gerard Kennedy endorsed Wynne, the final result was sealed. Their delegates largely followed them en masse to put Wynne over the top.

The drama made for great television and got a lot of public attention on a cold Saturday in January.

But is this the best way to choose a Premier?

The elites would say yes.

I'm sure the leadership candidates who fell off the ballot early would also say yes.

After all, such candidates spent weeks traipsing across the province meeting party members, spending money and raising their profiles.

After all that, they probably thought, should they not emerge victorious, they should at least have the right to help determine the eventual winner.

If doing so helped ensure a nice promotion in the winner's cabinet, all the better.

But does a political party belong to its members, or to those who happen to put their names forth for the leadership?

Contrast the 2013 Ontario Liberal race with the 2012 federal NDP leadership race, which used a much more open and democratic process.

All federal NDP members got a chance to vote to determine the final outcome, unlike the Ontario Liberal process, which only allowed elected delegates and about 400 party elites to attend the convention and make the final decision.

However, the NDP process was not without its drawbacks. Most votes in the NDP race were cast by members across the country using a preferential ballot in advance of the final convention in Toronto.

Thus, when NDP leadership candidates gave their big speeches to the convention, they had almost no impact on the final results.

Many argue that candidate Nathan Cullen had the strongest convention performance while eventual winner Tom Mulcair had a lousy presentation in which he rushed through his speech.

Indeed, Pundit Guide determined that amongst the votes that were cast live at the convention that weekend, Cullen led on every ballot on which his name appeared. But the votes already cast for Mulcair and Brian Topp outflanked him.

Most of the NDP leadership candidates declined to endorse any rivals after falling off the ballot probably because they knew such moves would have no impact. The power of elites to determine the outcome in the NDP race was completely undermined.

The federal Liberals have also opened up their leadership race this year, with members and even supporters making the final choice.

But instead of repeating the NDP's mistakes, the federal party has wisely decided to showcase the candidates' final speeches on April 6th, with all voting taking place after that date with final results announced on April 14th. The exciting drama of a convention will be lost, but the result will include all Liberals across the country, not an elite of elected delegates and party bigwigs.

While I supported Pupatello, I am now quite happy to fully support Wynne's leadership. Her performance leading up to and since the convention has been stellar and she has won me over. I'll be fighting to ensure she gets re-elected with a majority.

But as a democrat, I'll also be fighting to make sure Ontario Liberals open up their leadership process to allow all party members to have a say in the final result.

For me, delegated leadership conventions make politics more about the insiders and less about the people.

The public hopes and expects political parties to run themselves in open, transparent and fair ways.

It's unfortunate the Ontario Liberals failed to modernize their leadership process in recent years.

I suspect that was largely due to Dalton McGuinty's preference for the system which allowed him to move from fourth place to first with the help of fellow candidates.

The big question now will be if Kathleen Wynne, who was once shunned by party elites and generally is known for her love of fair process, but also benefited from the current system to win power, agrees to keep the status quo for next time, or chooses instead to bring her party into the 21st century.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Great day as British House of Commons votes in favour of legalizing same-sex marriage.

Britain's Parliament voted today 400 to 175 to legalize equal marriage in the United Kingdom.

The government-proposed bill would enable same-sex couples to get married in both civil and religious ceremonies, provided that the religious institution consents. The bill bitterly divided David Cameron's ruling Conservative Party, but enjoyed huge support from the opposition, allowing it to pass handily in the House of Commons. The bill now goes to the House of Lords.

Congrats to Great Britain on this great step toward equality! Here's a video of the moment the bill's passage was announced today:




 





Sunday, February 3, 2013

My short film 'The Golden Pin' plays with 'A Silk Letter' at Carlton Cinema this week...

A few years back, I co-produced and co-wrote the award-winning short film The Golden Pin with my friend, director Cuong Ngo. It won Best Canadian Short at the 2009 Inside Out film festival in Toronto and then went on to screen at over 40 international film festivals, as well as on HBO in the U.S. and OutTV. The story concerned a young Vietnamese-Canadian swimmer who struggles between the expectations of his family and the demands of his heart. We are working on turning it into a feature-length film over the next 1-2 years.

I'm happy to say that The Golden Pin is playing this week in a special screening along with the Korean 50-minute drama 'A Silk Letter' in Toronto. The films screen together every day at 1:45 pm and 6:40 pm at the Carlton Cinema in Toronto at 20 Carlton Street just east of Yonge until Thursday Feb 7th, 2013.

A Silk Letter profiles the character of "Sungwoon (Sung Hojun) who lives in Seoul in a small apartment that he shares with his teenaged, high-school dropout lover (Choi Jinhwan) and their cat, Louie. They may be living in Korea’s largest city, but huddled together on a mattress on the floor, they’re on their own private island. And as the movie opens, escape is very much on Sungwoon’s mind. He’s introduced in the middle of burning his draft card, in a brilliantly composed long shot that isolates him within an urban landscape." You can read the rest of Adam Nayman's glowing review in the Globe & Mail here.

Here's the official Facebook event page for this week's screening with more information.

For those in the Toronto area looking for some artsy, award-winning, Asian-themed queer shorts to check out, please check the screening out this week at the Carlton!

Friday, February 1, 2013

Former New York mayor Ed Koch dies at 88

Closet case! Coward! We've heard all these words today and long before to describe Ed Koch, who served as New York City's mayor during the 1980s.

According to the folks who made the 2012 documentary "How to Survive a Plague", his "callousness...at the very epicenter of the AIDS crisis...failed," so many even as it ravaged thousands of gay men just like him. Koch was apparently gay but never admitted it publicly. The best we got, when once asked about his own sexuality, was the following: "My answer to questions on this subject is simply, 'Fuck off.' There have to be some private matters left."

He took that official secret to his grave when he passed away earlier today.

I came of age just after the worst of the AIDS crisis. But that terrible decade in 1980s remains in our collective memory. It's true that Koch could've done much, much more to help combat the disease in those early years, provided more help to those struggling to survive and help others fight the disease. It was an epic failure of leadership from somebody who should've known better.

Regardless, I hope he rests in peace. This clip below from the feature film 'Shortbus,' by director John Cameron Mitchell features an elderly male character who is clearly based on Koch. Not seen in this clip, the character introduces himself to the young man as a former "mayor" of New York City and proceeds to try to explain away his terrible record on the issue. It's quite moving and worth a watch (as is the entire movie if you haven't seen it yet.)

For more on Koch's record on gay issues, read this Huffington Post article or this new piece out Feb 4, 2013 by Michelangelo Signorile.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Xtra journalist accredited to attend Ontario Liberal convention,misleading Xtra story gives different impression...

This story caught my interest as an accredited blogger at the Ontario Liberal leadership convention. 

I just had a chat with the party's media person, Bradley Hammond, about it.  He told me that Xtra reporter Andrea Houston (who has often been seen recording video while covering news stories) is among the list of accredited journalists at this weekend's convention.   So Xtra should be able to cover the convention as well as they cover all the events they cover.  Houston is a great journalist, after all. 

This story however omits the fact that Houston is present and is covering the Liberal convention.  She even quotes Gerald Hannon, never a friend of the Liberal Party, as saying, “You would think they would want Xtra to be there,” he says. “Do you detect a whiff of homophobia in there?”

Except of course, Xtra is here.   Hopefully I can run into Andrea Houston and find out why that fact isn't clear in her story.  

Space is at a premium inside the Mattamy Centre for sure.  The arena is currently packed with people and signs between ballots.  So I was glad to be a queer blogger accredited to attend, along with 7 other bloggers.  It will be an historic day with Ontario's first woman premier elected. 

First ballot results were fascinating with Sandra Pupatello leading with 599, Kathleen Wynne with 597, Gerard Kennedy with 281, Harinder Takhar with 235, Charles Sousa 222 and Eric Hoskins with 150.  

Hoskins endorsed Wynne.   Then before his name could be removed from the ballot, Takhar endorsed Pupatello (but he told his supporters to vote for her.)  The second ballot results will be coming out shortly. 

Update:

As most have heard by now, 2nd ballot voting was Pupatello 817, Wynne 750, Kennedy 285, Sousa 203, and Takhar 18.

Then Sousa and Kennedy pulled out early and both endorsed Wynne. Sousa's was a surprise. Now we await the final ballot. I'm scrutineering as I write for Pupatello (7:00 pm). We'll see how it goes.