• Rob Ford attends anti-homophobia event after all
[ Globe & Mail, May 17, 2012]

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford made a surprise appearance at a flag-raising event to support the gay community Thursday, a reversal of his earlier rejection of the invitation.

Mr. Ford received an enthusiastic welcome from a cheering crowd on the green roof above city hall for the event marking the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

"Way to go Mayor Ford!" someone shouted as he took to the podium to read a proclamation. ...

After reading the proclamation, Mr. Ford stayed to listen to speeches, including one from Councillor Janet Davis, whose son is gay. Someone placed a blue flower in the mayor's lapel while a rainbow flag was raised behind him.

• Colleges minister Murray says courts will force Catholic schools to accept
anti-bullying legislation [ Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2012]

An Ontario cabinet minister says new anti-bullying legislation is headed to court, where the province's publicly-funded Catholic schools would be forced to accept "gay-straight alliance" clubs.

Glen Murray, who is openly gay, tweeted this week that the government's contentious Bill 13 "will likely end up in the courts."

"Laws r written to survive court challenges & uphold a student's right (to) name their group," Murray, minister of training, colleges and universities, wrote on Twitter.

The issue returns to the spotlight as Catholic schools waffle on a proposed government law that would enable all students to form clubs promoting tolerance and awareness of homosexuals.

• Majority of Ontarians favour gay-straight alliances and oppose Catholic
school funding, poll finds [ Toronto Star, May 16, 2012]

Ontarians favour the right of students to form gay-straight alliance clubs in Catholic schools by a margin of almost two to one, a new poll suggests.

The Forum Research survey also found more than half of Ontario residents - 53 per cent - oppose the public funding of Catholic schools with 40 per cent supportive and 6 per cent unsure.

As the issue of gay-straight alliances dominates debate around new anti-bullying legislation, the poll concluded people are accepting of the anti-homophobia clubs designed to promote tolerance.

Fifty-one per cent agreed that students in publicly funded Catholic schools should be allowed to form clubs under that sometimes contentious name with 28 per cent opposed and 21 per cent undecided.

• Queer Ontario Submits Amendments to Province's Anti-Bullying Bills
[ Queer Ontario, May 14, 2012]

Queer Ontario submitted today a series of amendments to Bills 13 & 14 that would strengthen the language of the Bill, foster a greater understanding of equity and inclusivity amongst teachers and staff, and establish clearer guidelines of compliance and accountability in all publicly-funded schools.

"A longstanding issue in our work around the banning of Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in Catholic schools has been the reluctance of Catholic School Boards to enforce pre-existing policy, coupled with the Ministry's lack of commitment to enforce its own," says Queer Ontario Chairperson Nick Mulé. "We have continually contended that the Ontario Government's existing Policy/Program Memorandum 145 already compels public school boards to support students who wish to form LGBTQ support groups, and that the lack of enforcement on the parts of the Boards and the Ministry of this Policy is at the core of the current struggle over LGBTQ youth wishing to form these valuable support groups."

Also included within the submitted amendments is language that explicitly establishes the rights of students to choose the name of the LGBTQ support group they wish to form. "As it currently stands, we feel that the language surrounding Bill Provision 303.1(d) regarding Board support of students wishing to form LGBTQ support groups is unclear," says Casey Oraa, Queer Ontario Vice-Chair. "Adding 'as determined by the pupil' to this provision will ensure that naming rights rest in the hands of the students, as opposed to the school's Board or staff."

• Anti-Bullying Bill 13 — CCLA To Make Submissions At Queen's Park Today
[ CCLA, May 14, 2012]

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association applauds the spirit and intention of Bill 13 to protect vulnerable students from the kind of bullying and harassment that can transform an important educational and development experience into a terrifying and traumatic one. While CCLA does not challenge the merit of the new legislation, its submissions will focus on the following areas:

        • The constitutionally protected fundamental rights and freedoms of young people (freedom of expression, freedom of association, equality, the right to life and to security of the person)

        • Gay-Straight Alliances - and the rights of students to choose the names of their clubs

        • The consequences of bullying

        • The definition of bullying - creating a safe space for students that also allows them to engage in meaningful discussions about controversial issues of importance bullying

        • Educational versus punitive approaches to bullying, and the disparate impact of mandatory punishments on minority students

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association's submissions to the Committee will seek to reconcile the pressing and substantial concern of protecting vulnerable students from bullying, with a respect for students' constitutionally guaranteed rights, such as freedom of expression, association and equality.

• Rural Ontario seminar for straight professionals: Workshop aims to educate everyone from doctors to teachers on gay issues [ XTRA, May 11, 2012]

An upcoming seminar in Sault Ste Marie, ON, seeks to educate straight, small-town professionals on how to meet the needs of local queer people.

The Welcome Friend Association is calling on doctors, nurses, social workers, legal workers, teachers, private sector workers - everyone! - to take part in the two-day seminar conducted by Deborah Woodman.

"I teach both the social construction of gender and the social construction of sexuality. One of the things that keeps coming up is how much a lot of the information needs to be presented to wider society," says Woodman.

The seminar will cover the basics of sexuality, gender identity, sexual health and safety, and more complicated issues like understanding the needs of queer people at every stage in life, how to meet those needs, and how to create safe spaces.

• Ontario trans rights bill gets all-party support: Fourth time's the charm for
bill known as Toby's Act [ XTRA, May 11, 2012]

Ontario NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo stood beaming in the Ontario Legislature on May 10.

"Today we have seen the 'progressive' in Progressive Conservatives. We have seen the true 'liberal' values in the Liberal Party," she said.

DiNovo's legislation, Bill 33, finally made it through second reading in the provincial legislature.

• Martin Regg Cohn: How Tories walked into a wedge on gay-straight alliances
[ Toronto Star, May 9, 2012]

It was supposed to be the issue that brought MPPs together, like bringing students together in the classroom.

Instead, anti-bullying legislation has become the biggest single flashpoint at Queen's Park. A bitter debate over gay-straight alliances in schools has driven MPPs apart, opened a wedge in the Tory caucus (possibly encouraging a defection), and sparked a parade of bigotry in public hearings.

Now, the opposition Tories have taken a bizarre stand against gay-straight alliances - voting against a Liberal government bill requiring school boards to back student requests for GSA support groups.

• Ford turns back on support community at flag raising
[ Globe & Mail, May 9, 2012]

When Mayor Rob Ford announced he was declining to attend the Pride parade for the second year in a row, there were Torontonians willing to cut him some slack. Perhaps his family cottage gathering that falls on the same weekend really is sacred to him (though that doesn't explain why he chose to skip all Pride Week events last year). Perhaps, to be even more charitable, he just isn't comfortable with all the bare skin and open sexuality on display at the parade. But his decision not to attend a simple flag-raising for gay rights is unforgivable.

The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia falls on May 17. It is not part of Pride Week, which takes place June 22 to July 1. Participants will raise the rainbow flag on a podium outside City Hall just steps from the mayor's office. There will be no cavorting and no squirt-gun fights.

Brian Burke, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, will be there. His gay son was killed in a car crash. The Toronto police are sending a senior officer. At least three city councillors will go.

• The bullies that you are paying for: How the 'Christian' right is making you
subsidize their hate [ Rabble.ca, May 9, 2012]

We are all likely familiar with the war that our Conservative federal government is waging on organizations with which it does not see eye to eye.

And most of us have heard the borderline hate speech of Ontario Christian fascist Charles McVety, as when he said, in opposition to Ontario's new proposed anti-bullying law, Monday, May 7, appallingly and revoltingly, that:

        Bill 13 "embraces a radical sex education agenda" and children will be taught "about oral and anal sex."

• Globe Editorial: Why won't Mayor Rob Ford raise a flag against homophobia?
[ Globe & Mail, May 8, 2012]

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is creating an annual spectacle in which he parades less than desirable characteristics in front of the people of Toronto. Who knows precisely what those characteristics are - pigheadedness, fears, angst about homosexuality?

Mr. Ford has said he would have no problem attending the annual Gay Pride parade on July 1 that brings thousands of people and millions of dollars in economic activity to his city - except that he and his family have a tradition of being at their cottage on Canada Day. Fine, let the Mayor enjoy his summer reverie. But apart from signing a Pride Week proclamation, he still refuses, in his second year in office, to raise a flag against international homophobia, in the public square in front of City Hall. He went to no events during Pride Week last year. The flag will be raised - he just won't be the one to do it.

A mayor should represent all the people.

• Ontario religious groups blast GSAs at anti-bullying committee: "People came out of
there just reeling today": Horwath [ XTRA, May 8, 2012]

Anti-gay parents and religious groups told the Standing Committee for Social Policy at Queen's Park on May 7 that gay-straight alliances (GSAs) "promote the gay lifestyle" and that Bill 13 is tantamount to "slavery."

More than 20 people spoke against Bill 13, the Liberal's Accepting School's Act, during the first of four committee hearings. The committee is also looking at Bill 14, the Progressive Conservative anti-bullying legislation. Education minister Laurel Broten says the best elements of Bill 14 will be incorporated into Bill 13.

• Ford snubs gay outreach event in front of City Hall
[ Globe & Mail, May 8, 2012]

Mayor Rob Ford is passing up another opportunity to support the gay and lesbian community, this time opting to skip a flag-raising outside his office that will be attended by Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke.

The Toronto chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays has confirmed that Mr. Ford turned down its invitation to a flag-raising to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia in Nathan Phillips Square on May 17.

• Ontario anti-bullying bills move forward: Liberals worried PCs will continue to
obstruct supports for gay students [ XTRA, May 3, 2012]

Even though both Ontario anti-bullying bills will head to committee together, Liberal MPP Glen Murray says it's clear the Progressive Conservatives "will continue to do everything in their power to obstruct the process and block GSAs (gay-straight alliances)" in the province.

MPPs in Queen's Park cheered and applauded early in the day May 3 after education minister Laurel Broten's motion to push both Bill 13 and Bill 14 to committee passed with unanimous consent, allowing Bill 13, the Liberal's Accepting Schools Act, to move forward to a second reading vote during Question Period.

But the joyful mood quickly evaporated when Tim Hudak's PCs unanimously voted against Bill 13 when it came back from second reading later in the day.

To this, Liberal MPP Deb Matthews shouted, "shame!"

• Mother of bullying victim says Nova Scotia anti-bullying legislation is weak
[ Globe & Mail, May 3, 2012]

The mother of 15-year-old girl who committed suicide last year after being bullied implored the Nova Scotia government to strengthen its proposed legislation to combat cyberbullying, saying the bill lacks "meat." ...

Ms. Murchison spoke of her despair over the ongoing problems with bullying since her daughter's death and her sense that nothing is being done.

"Should each of you walk two steps in my shoes you would understand the anger and frustration that I have."

• Waterford United Church says 'we do' to gay weddings
[ Simcoe Reformer, May 2, 2012]

Waterford United Church has agreed to create a more welcoming environment for homosexual members of its congregation.

Following more than month of deliberations, the congregation in Waterford voted 70% in favour Sunday of allowing its minister to perform gay weddings both in the sanctuary and in the community at large.

Waterford United Church becomes the second United Church congregation in Norfolk to green light gay marriages. Old Windham United Church in Simcoe adopted a liberal position on the issue several years ago.

The leadership of the United Church of Canada strongly supports gay unions. However, the church has allowed individual congregations to determine their own comfort level.

• Trustee wants Catholic board to support gay-straight alliance groups
[ Waterloo Record, April 27, 2012]

Anthony Piscitelli wants the board to allow for gay-straight alliance groups in Catholic schools and he's hoping his fellow trustees will back him up.

So far, trustee Janek Jagiellowicz says he supports the idea but he's been asked by the board chairperson to not speak about it publicly until if comes before trustees Monday night.

Piscitelli said it's morally right to support his motion. "If you look at how we can best support the students in the system, it's very hard to vote against GSAs in schools," he said.

• The great Ontario GSA hunt: Study will look at experiences of GSA advisors
[ XTRA, April 26, 2012]

Christine Bellini is on a hunt to find Ontario's gay-straight alliances.

She's working with Julian Kitchen on a research project about GSAs in Ontario public schools. Their goal: document the experiences of GSA advisors across the province. Bellini is finding it easier said than done.

"The first stumbling block is just even to find out who are those GSA advisors?" she says. In previous work, the only way Bellini could find information about new GSAs was from newspaper articles. "Every once in a while there'd be an article - and they're not necessarily positive . . . about how one school tried to start a GSA and wasn't allowed."

Bellini says no academic discussion has been undertaken with teachers who've started GSAs in rural or northern Ontario. "There are GSAs in Sudbury, North Bay," she says. "Has anybody ever talked to those teachers and said, "How did you start it, what was the response from the school board, what's the response from parents?"

• Tradition, meet Canada: Ottawa author explores struggle of gay Middle Eastern immigrants
[ XTRA, April 12, 2012]

The winning entry of a national literary contest tells a story that is often lived but rarely spoken about.

In The Lebanese Dishwasher, Ottawa author Sonia Saikaley tackles the taboo subject of homosexuality in Middle Eastern immigrant communities. Her book won the 2012 Ken Konsky Novella Contest.

"The Lebanese Dishwasher was selected because of the elegance of its style and the strength of its story," says Luciano Iacobelli, co-founder of Quattro Books, which runs the annual contest. "It concerns itself with two cultures, Lebanese and Palestinian, and it deals with the issue of homosexuality within these cultures. The book is about a minority within a minority."

• More than 300 rally for gay rights in Oshawa: 'We will not put up with derogatory terms anymore,' PFLAG Durham [ XTRA, April 19, 2012]

More than 300 rainbow-covered people marched silently through downtown Oshawa April 18 to protest a homophobic rant that appeared in a local paper.

Organizer Jayme Harper, from PFLAG Durham, was elated with the turnout. "It says the community is ready to move on to the next step. We will not put up with derogatory terms anymore." ...

The Oshawa/Durham Central newspaper had printed an inflammatory story that referred to a PFLAG fundraiser as a "freakshow," equating England's drag performance in it to blackface.

• Political infighting at Queen's Park stalls anti-bullying bill
[ Toronto Star, April 17, 2012]

There is fear an anti-bullying bill created after two high-profile suicides won't be in place for the start of the next school year due to bickering among the parties.

For weeks, the Progressive Conservatives have blocked debate on all new laws, including the act that expels students who bully, to protest the government's handling of the ORNGE air ambulance scandal.

PC House Leader Jim Wilson insisted they are not picking on the Accepting Schools Act.

• Gay man murdered in Halifax: Police arrest one in connection with attack
[ XTRA, April 17, 2012]

According to the Chronicle, Police were called to an area near gay bar Menz and Mollyz in Halifax at about 2:30 am this morning. There they found Raymond Taavel injured and bleeding. He died there. A man was seen fleeing the scene. Police arrested a 32-year-old man a short time later in connection with Taavel's death.

• Alberta premier shocked at Wildrose candidate's anti-gay blog post
[ Toronto Star, April 16, 2012]

The Wildrose party went into damage-control mode Sunday after one of its candidates' anti-gay rants raised the ire of many voters and prompted Premier Alison Redford to warn Albertans about who they want to run their province.

The controversy stems from a blog written by Allan Hunsperger, a pastor who's running as a Wildrose candidate in Edmonton South, in which he warned against accepting gays and lesbians for who they are.

In his comments, written in June, 2011, Hunsperger criticized the Edmonton Public School Division's views of accepting students for who they are and used Lady Gaga's album, "Born this Way" as part of his analogy.

• Pride Toronto issues invitation to Rob Ford
[ Toronto Star, April 16, 2012]

Mayor Rob Ford will receive his official invitation to Pride Toronto 2012 festivities on Monday or Tuesday, but he has already ignored an olive branch from a prominent gay member of council.

Kristyn Wong-Tam wrote to Ford on Feb. 7 offering to host receptions for him to mark International Day Against Homophobia on May 17 and Pride, which begins June 22 and ends with the big parade on Canada Day.

"I do not believe that the media fully grasps the complexity of the positions held by yourself and other members of council," she wrote. "To that end, I think we could work together to get past these very superficial impressions" with a reception "where a respectful and representative group can speak to the most essential principles of equality."

• Oshawa councillor subject of homophobic rant in local newspaper: Amy England was helping raise money at PFLAG event [ XTRA, April 9, 2012]

England says the reaction afterward was immensely positive. "It really showed and highlighted how progressive our community actually is," she says. "And how inclusive it can be."

But not everyone was happy.

A long-winded headline on the front cover of the Oshawa/Durham Central newspaper proclaims, "Amy England takes dollar bills from lesbians [sic] mouth during performance at parents/family of gay/lesbian gala many are left demanding disciplinary action be taken by city Oshawa has been shamed!!!"

• Globe Editorial: Wildrose Party's idea of "conscience rights" is discriminatory
[ Globe & Mail, April 9, 2012]

Alberta's Wildrose Party says it would implement a law to protect the "conscience rights" of health professionals, apparently to include marriage commissioners, who would not have to solemnize marriages involving gay or lesbian couples.

It is unclear in what ways health professionals are being denied freedom of conscience at the moment. Are doctors being required to perform abortions against their will? If so, no public complaint has been made that we are aware of. Would doctors have the right to swear off treating patients of the opposite sex? Would family physicians be entitled to refuse to prescribe birth control pills, or could they insist, when faced with a teenage girl, on counselling abstinence only?

Party Leader Danielle Smith has explicitly mentioned "conscience rights" for marriage commissioners, who perform civil ceremonies. Each commissioner would in effect be handed a licence to discriminate. Gay and lesbian marriage is the law of the land - but gays would have to go to the back of the bus and wait for someone willing to serve as driver, if Wildrose has its way. And nothing would prevent a marriage commissioner with a sincere religious belief from refusing to marry an interracial or interfaith couple.

• Conservative MP links trans people and sexual predators: Bathroom issues raised during second reading debate for Bill C-279 [ XTRA, April 5, 2012]

On April 5, during the second reading debate for trans rights Bill C-279 in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Dean Allison said the bill would give "special rights" to "sexual predators" caught lurking in women's washrooms.

NDP MP Randal Garrison, who submitted the bill, blasted Allison's comments as "a throwback to some other decade."

Allison, who did not return Xtra's request for comment, said the bill should not pass because there is still a societal concern that transgender people are a risk to the public.

• Anti-bullying bills spark protests at Ontario legislature: Debate likely to
continue into April [ XTRA, March 30, 2012]

Approximately 200 Catholic and evangelical parents, led by several anti-gay religious leaders, decried Bill 13 and "homosexual sex clubs" on the steps to Queen's Park March 29.

About 20 feet away, a small group of smiling, rainbow flag-waving people chanted and cheered, "Bullying is mean so vote 13." The quickly organized counter-protest consisted mostly of students, who held up colourful handmade signs in support of Bill 13 and gay-straight alliances (GSA).

MPPs are currently debating two anti-bullying bills: the Liberals' Accepting Schools Act (Bill 13) and the Conservatives' Bill 14. Bill 13 would make it law that schools establish welcoming environments for queer youth and provide supports, such as GSAs, if requested by students. Second-reading debate for Bill 13 will likely continue in the first week of April.

• Preparing for a GSA showdown at Queen's Park: Religious groups reject Bill 13 and plan a rally for March 29 [ XTRA, March 25, 2012]

While politicians and religious leaders prepare to duke it out at Queen's Park this week, Catholic students are caught in the middle, vowing to continue to fight for their right to start gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in their schools.

If passed, the Liberals' new anti-bullying legislation, the Accepting Schools Act (Bill 13), will make it law that schools establish welcoming environments for queer youth and provide supports if requested by students.

• Catholic students demand right to name clubs 'gay-straight alliances'
[ Toronto Star, March 21, 2012]

Trevor James, a straight youth from Peterborough, got up at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday and took a two-hour bus ride to Toronto to talk about school clubs for gay students.

Flanked by Leanne Iskander, 17, who self-identified as queer, and Christopher McKerracher, 16, a bisexual man, both from Mississauga's St. Joseph Secondary School, James asked the province to strengthen its anti-bullying bill to ensure queer students' rights aren't just tolerated but recognized and respected.

At issue is what some critics call weak language in the Liberal government's Bill 13, which would allow Catholic school officials to deny queer students from naming their clubs 'gay-straight alliance' as their public school counterparts do.

• Baird warns of Russian 'homosexual propaganda' law
[ CTV.ca, March 17, 2012]

Canada is warning gay and lesbian travellers bound for Russia's historic St. Petersburg to be wary after the city enacted a new law banning what it calls homosexual propaganda.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has told the House of Commons he is deeply concerned by the legislation, which he says runs counter to core Canadian values of freedom of speech, human rights and the rule of law.

The warning comes after the governor of St. Petersburg signed a law that makes it a criminal offence to publicize acts of sodomy, bisexualism or lesbianism.

• Homophobic group to help award Diamond Jubilee Medals: REAL Women of Canada website states that bullying may be justified [ XTRA, March 7, 2012]

A Canadian group whose homepage currently states that one of the biggest threats to families is the "homosexual lobby" and "the media" has been appointed to help government decide how to award Diamond Jubilee Medals to honour Queen Elizabeth's 60 years of service to Canada.

REAL Women of Canada, a socially conservative, anti-feminist group that often acts as an intervenor in court cases that oppose queer rights, will recommend medals under the social and volunteer category.

An article on the group's homepage also dismisses bullying as a justified reaction on the part of youth frustrated by the "special treatment" granted to queer or non-Christian youth in schools.

• Ontario parents object to language in new equity pamphlet: 'I don't expect the Catholic Church to change overnight, but it's wrong to teach that to children'
[ XTRA, February 29, 2012]

A gay Catholic mom in Bowmanville says she doesn't want her children to be taught that she is "disordered" -- a word used to describe gay people in a new Catholic school board equity pamphlet.

Ann Michelle Tesluk wants her local Catholic board to remove this controversial passage from the pamphlet, which will soon be distributed to students.

Tesluk's two children attend St Joseph Catholic Elementary School, part of the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board (PVNCCDSB).

The 28-page "Colour of Equity" pamphlet, which was recently presented to the school's parent council, is a colourful and visual explanation of the board's equity and inclusive education policy, which Tesluk says is by and large a positive step in the right direction.

But Tesluk, who is in a same-sex relationship, says she is very uncomfortable with the language used to discuss sexual orientation.

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