OK, kiddo! Here are all the fantastically amazing posts tagged with British Columbia
Lesbian Couple Denied Transit Family Fare
A Lesbian couple in Vancouver is complaining to the media after a bus driver told them the city’s Sunday family special didn’t apply to lesbian couples.
Vancouver public transit allows up to two adults and four children to board a bus using a single FareCard, but when Ashlee Gowriluk and her girlfriend tried this, they say they were told this only applied to opposite-sex couples. Even when Gowriluk called the transit authority with her cell phone confirming that the Sunday special applies to any two adults, the bus driver refused to acknowledge the policy, instead driving off announcing that he would never stop for them again.
A spokesperson for Coast Mountain Bus Company, the operator of public transit in Vancouver, said the company is investigating the incident. Not being happy with a mere investigation, Slap Upside The Head is starting a petition demanding that all drivers be replaced with adorable, bus-driving robots.
Homophobic Candidate’s Behaviour Worse Than His Words
Marc Dalton, a candidate in the upcoming B.C. election, has drawn criticism over the surfacing of a homophobic email that he authored back in 1997. The email, which was sent while Dalton was an elementary school teacher, tiresomely equates gay people to adulterers and gamblers:
There are [...] behaviours and acts that most of us would not condone: rape, robbery, assault, drunken driving, pedophilia, incest, and so on. There are other moral issues that large segments of our society do not see eye to eye: gambling, adultery, pornography. I believe that homosexuality fits in this category.
As is increasingly customary amidst elections, the email was revealed by a rival party, accompanied with a demand that Dalton resign for its content. NDP rival Spencer Herbert called the email’s message “disturbing,” adding “to say people like myself and other gay people are the same as pedophiles is an offensive remark.”
In fairness to Dalton, I don’t believe the email equates gay people to pedophiles, and frankly, the whole tone of the email seems like just another woefully misinformed repetition of religious morality talking-points. Still, Dalton, who is also a former pastor, has only provided a meaningless—even snarky—apology, saying “if Spencer Herbert or any other individuals have taken offence in their reading of this 12-year-old e-mail, I extend my unequivocal apology.”
The email is old, but much like the Tom Lukiwski fiasco, I think the age of the offending comments is irrelevant. I also think that all this talk of the email content and when it was made is a distraction from the larger issue.
Dalton’s email wasn’t sent out of the blue; it was sent to a fellow teacher in response to an anti-bullying initiative brought up by the B.C. Teacher’s Federation. The initiative was to protect children who were being bullied and harassed for having gay parents, or for being gay themselves. Not only did Dalton disagree with protecting students from this anti-gay harassment, but he actively started a counter-petition, circulating it among teachers, trying to get the anti-bullying initiative struck down. In Dalton’s words:
There are many, many people who hold homosexuality to be an improper and high-risk behaviour. [...] I am against the BCTF ram-rodding the homosexual motion against the wishes of great numbers of parents (and teachers) in this district and in this province.
This, the act of actively thwarting an initiative to protect children from bullying under the disingenuous guise of somehow protecting parental freedom to oppose homosexuality, is the true vulgarity here. This important character revelation has relevance to the current election, and its in this respect that I agree with Spencer Herbert. MLAs are required to represent everyone in their community, and Dalton, having shown that he is not up to the task, should quietly remove himself from candidacy.
Former Top Judge Pooh-Poohs Polygamist’s Gay Argument
Claire L’Heureux-Dube, a former Supreme Court judge, has predicted that the courts will toss out any arguments linking same-sex marriage to a polygamist sect in Canada.
Two men currently facing charges related to a religious cult in Bountiful, British Columbia have already indicated that they will invoke gay marriage as an argument defending their dozens of wives.
“It is contrary to the equality of the sexes,” L’Heureux-Dube said to the press, noting that in the United States these men would be charged with sexual exploitation rather than simply having multiple spouses. Indeed, the polygamy charges in Bountiful appear to be a blanket charge for greater accusations of incest and exploitation.
So where do the gays come in all of this? Beats me! I’ve only heard the argument from those wacky anti-gay lobbyists, not the actual connection.
- Former top court judge doesn’t buy polygamy argument [Canada.com]
Anti-Gay Human Rights Complaint Is A Dud
Kari Simpson, an anti-gay activist, has filed a complaint against the B.C. Education Ministry for not doing enough to help students who “suffer from homosexuality and other dysfunctional sexual orientations.”
The bizarre complaint goes on to allege that schools simply aren’t turning enough gay students straight. As Simpson puts it:
Sexual re-orientation therapies have helped thousands of individuals recover from such dysfunctional orientations. School counsellors are being denied the tools to be effective advocates for students in need of sexual re-orientation help and they should have access to resources and training that will equip them to properly counsel students.
Gee, that’s just awful. Think of all those thousands of poor, suffering gays that were denied their right to re-orientation by that callous school board.
Odd, though, don’t you think, that this human rights complaint had to be filed by a Christian activist instead of just one of those thousands of suffering students who were denied a gay cure. (Though, frankly, the only suffering I’ve ever endured as a gay person is from people like Kari.)
See, what Kari already knows—but chooses to ignore—is that all peer-reviewed research into reparative conversion therapy for gays has not only shown that it’s completely ineffective, but that it’s demonstrably harmful to one’s well-being. That’s why every respected medical and professional organisation has gone on record to condemn the very idea, including The American Psychological Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Medical Association, The American Counselling Association, The American Psychiatric Association, etc., etc., ad nauseam.
If I had to take a gander at it—which I don’t, but it’ll be fun—I’d say that Kari is filing the human rights complaint for two reasons. First, the Human Rights Commission has a history of protecting the rights of gays, and a small subset of religious activists feel it’s at their expense. By launching a destined-to-fail complaint she is setting herself up for some kind of hilarious martyrdom for a tiny, but delightfully obsessed group of nuts, which she can then use to further criticize the commission. Second, she gets a venue in which she can repeat the myth that there’s really no such thing as gay people to begin with: just straight people who need help escaping their sin.
Disingenuous compassion has been a failing strategy for these activists for years. This time won’t be any different. It’s just too bad that she has to waste valuable time from the people who have real human rights violations to report.
B.C. Legislature Welcomes Local Drag Queens, Minus Tiaras
Here’s a cute story to lighten those mid-week blues. The B.C. legislature has welcomed some of Metro Vancouver’s gayest royalty for the first time on Monday in acknowledgement of the community’s efforts—minus one small detail.
The Emperor and Empress of Surrey, accompanied by Mr. and Ms. Gay Vancouver attended Monday’s legislative session at the invitation of NDP MLA Spencer Herbert, who called the royal visit one of many “small steps toward a fuller appreciation of our province’s great diversity.” However, due to dress protocol, all tiaras and sashes had to be left at the hotel.
“The symbol of the crown is usually reserved for one individual,” the Empress said to the press, referring to, I assume, Stephen Harper. “Yes, I would have loved to have had all my regalia,” added Ms. Gay Vancouver, “but I’m still here as Ms. Gay Vancouver!”
Good on all of them! Until Friday, kiddos!
- Drag queens lose crowns in protocol tussle [Globe and Mail]
Polygamous Sect Uses Gay Marriage In Defense
The leaders of a religious, polygamous sect in Bountiful, British Columbia will use same-sex marriage as a court defense in a trial that could see them jailed for having up to 20 wives. Winston Blackmore and James Oler will claim that since gay couples can wed legally, polygamy laws should be struck down as invalid.
Anti-gay groups are already somersaulting on the “I told you so” trampoline, blaming the gays for this whole situation. (I think they’ve also got a “dog marriage” cartwheel mat, “incestuous marriage” trapeze ropes, and other acrobatic devices for each claim in their Hall of Ridiculous Arguments™.)
A pet peeve of mine involves the idea that legalizing same-sex marriage somehow changed the definition of marriage and therefore makes gays responsible for this whole polygamous marriage discussion. Scoff.
The rights and legalities of marriage have remained identical after same-sex marriage. I’m betting the story with polygamy would be a tad different, as virtually every law involving cohabitation would likely have to change. Joint tax returns, pension transfer, guardian rights, maternity/paternity rights, GST rebates, family allowance, employment insurance… I’m no lawyer, but it would be a massive, exhaustive update. Same-sex couples have demanded nothing of the sort, and polygamous sects have been pushing for all this long before same-sex marriage was ever up for discussion.
Still, ignoring the fact that the polygamy lawsuit is just an ostensible charge for larger allegations of abuse, lack of consent, and sexual relations with minors, the main difference between this situation and the one that brought about same-sex marriage is simple. People do not choose their sexual orientation, but they can absolutely choose their crazy religious sect.
Wait—I thought of another! “Paedophilic marriage” uneven bars.
Gay Magazine Found In Store Display Draws Complaint
A Vancouver woman has complained to the press after discovering a gay magazine while rummaging through a display at American Apparel.
BUTT, a Netherlands-based magazine, was partially sticking out of a backpack in one of the store’s displays when Trina Campbell decided to remove it and leaf through its contents:
I slammed the magazine closed and looked at my daughter in horror. She looked at me and said “What?” I said, “Did you see that?” She said “No.”
I actually started crying.
The magazine, which is available for sale at all American Apparel stores, is not actually pornography; however, it does contain R-rated images, so the store requires proper ID to be shown in order to buy a copy from behind the counter.
Funny. Judging from American Apparel’s all-Lycra stock, I was under the impression that they couldn’t sell anything to minors. My mistake.
Anyway, I don’t think it’s particularly appropriate to have R-rated material stuffed in a display backpack, but then it’s not particularly appropriate to rummage through store displays either. Since the magazine wasn’t very accessible (all sale copies are stored behind the counter), I have a feeling that the complaint has more to do with the fact that a sexually-suggestive magazine was available at American Apparel in the first place. You know, the store where the outfits you buy and the credit card you use to buy them weigh about the same.
Gays At Higher Risk Of Teen Pregnancy
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have found that gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens are at a significantly higher risk of becoming pregnant or causing pregnancy than their straight counterparts.
The study, which was published yesterday in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, suggests that the higher pregnancy rate among gay teens is largely due to overcompensation—an attempt to “camouflage” one’s homosexuality. Another proposed theory suggests that a higher number of gay teens living on the streets may also have contributed to the counter-intuitive results.
Either way, I have a new concern to lose sleep over. All those anti gay marriage people said I couldn’t reproduce—a horrible lie, apparently. I’m not ready to be pregnant, or a father!
- Gay teenagers at higher risk for pregnancy: Study [Canada.com]
- Gay B.C. teens at higher risk for pregnancy [CTV News]
Gay Man Attacked For Singing Christmas Carols
A young man has been arrested in Vancouver after punching a gay man in the face for singing Christmas carols.
The victim, who did not wish to identify himself to the media, was walking past St. Paul’s hospital with a friend when he became inspired by the Christmas lights display and burst into carols. The attacker, 21 year old Christopher Clifford Mercier, suddenly became enraged and punched the singer in the face while shouting anti-gay slurs.
While the victim was not seriously injured, these attacks are serious. This is Vancouver’s second, reported, spontaneous anti-gay attack this autumn. Jordan Smith, another Vancouver gay man, suffered a broken jaw after being assaulted in late September.
The Vancouver police are investigating the attack as a hate crime, a move which I applaud. Minorities are often at a greater risk of assault for no reason other than simply being a minority; this is why hate crime laws are in place. Gay bashing is not a sport and it is vital that the police send out a message that this will not be tolerated.
Lesbian Couple Denied Basement Suite
A lesbian couple in British Columbia have filed a human rights complaint after being denied a basement suite.
College students Kathleen Webb and Liana LeBlanc say that Brenda and Marc Rovner, owners of a basement suite for rental, had assured them they were the first choice of tenants and that the suite was theirs until it was revealed they were lesbians. If that’s true, it will be a violation of the Human Rights Code, and possibly even Canadian law.
In a request to have the case dismissed, the Rovners provided a sworn affidavit claiming that their suite was only big enough for one tenant, contradicting the existence of their previous pair of tenants. But, who knows? It might be shown that the last couple was really just one person who could astroproject and felt like pretending to be a pair in a grand scheme to pay more rent.
Either way, I’ll report on the actual findings when they are released, likely in 2019.
- Gay couple file human-rights complaint over being denied B.C. basement suite [Globe and Mail]
- HR tribunal to hear lesbian case [Xtra West]
Vancouver To Host 2011 OutGames
Here’s some good news for all the gay althetes out there. Vancouver has been selected as the host city for the 2011 North American Continental OutGames. Canada’s third-largest city, which is also is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, will be well-equipped to accommodate the events and athletes with some brand-new facilities.
Canada’s no stranger to the OutGames. The first World OutGames were held in Montréal in 2006, and the first North American Continental OutGames were held in Calgary. Vancouver’s announcement means Canada will have played host to exactly half of all OutGames thus far, including those in which it’s ineligible to host (The Asia Pacific Continental OutGames). Just another plus to living in an officially homosexual country!
- Vancouver to host Outgames a year after Winter Olympics [Times Colonist]
- Outgames mix sport and diversity [24 Hours Vancouver]
Small Town Fights To Stop Gay Pride Parade
High school students in Abbotsford, British Columbia, have run into opposition for their plans to hold the town’s first gay pride parade in November. The idea for the parade was prompted in part by the local school board’s decision to turf a social justice course over gay content.
Drawing quotes from a Facebook Group called 1,000 People Against the Pride Parade for Abbotsford, The Province reported that opponents criticized the parade as being an “attention-seeking gesture rather than a legitimate social cause.”
Yeah, so here’s the thing: If a minority group’s small-town, cultural parade is drawing enough criticism to prompt Facebook opposition groups and media attention, then it’s a freakin’ legitimate social cause. Gee whiz.
- Gay parade runs into opposition, red tape [The Province]
Social Justice Course Yanked By Religious Groups
Religious groups in Abbotsford, B.C. have successfully lobbied to gut a high school social justice course of all gay rights content, and even cancelled the course altogether in most of the district’s schools.
In a letter to the B.C. Ministry of Education, the Abbotsford School District ostensibly suggested that the optional course was “too challenging” for senior high school students, saying it would be “more suited for second- or third-year sociology students.” More revealing, the board said they were concerned that teachers might inject a “personal bias” in their lessons, causing students to be “more biased and less tolerant of opposing beliefs because of misinformation.”
Anti-gay lobbyists had protested the course since it’s inception, first falsely informing parents that it was a mandatory subject (it’s an elective) and later encouraging parents to sign a petition to get the course pulled. The controversy was due to content on the topics of homophobia, heterosexism, and other gay issues.
While most of Abbotsford’s schools cancelled the course before any students were able to sign up, W.J. Mouat Secondary didn’t get the memo in time and had to gut the course of gay content instead, leaving the 90 students that had signed up to take the course confused and angry.
A spokesperson for the ministry of education said that schools aren’t required to offer the course, but disagreed with Abbotsford’s assessment, saying that no other schools had a problem with the subject matter and that last year’s trials of the course were successful.
Abbotsford will reportedly replace the ministry’s course with a new, environmentally-friendly one that teaches kids how to recycle diversity books into bibles.
- Gay rights cut from studies [Edmonton Journal]
- New social justice high school course ousted from Abbotsford, B.C. [National Post]
Parents Can’t Censor Curriculum: School Board
The Vancouver Board of Education has outlined rules in which parents may pull their students out of class due to familial religious beliefs. In a formal policy, the board said that while parents may request that students be pulled out of lessons dealing with gay issues in Health class, this does not apply to other classes—and any missed material still must be learned through either home instruction or self-directed studying.
Some parents have expressed concern that these regulations are too strict and infringe upon parental rights to pass personal values onto their children. I don’t believe that’s the case here; parents are absolutely free to teach what they believe to their children. The issue, instead, is whether parents have the right to censor the curriculum taught at school and prevent students from hearing parts of controversial topics that parents disagree with.
Having gone through a Catholic school system where gay issues were never addressed, I know what it’s like to be in the dark on gay health issues and have personally felt the effects of a blind-eye to homophobic bullying. Independent of what parents choose to teach their children at home, it’s extremely important that these are dealt issues with in schools. Gay students exist and often do not feel they can ask questions that concern them directly for fear of outing themselves.
The Vancouver Board of Education is right. These programs do not infringe upon or contradict parental rights, and should not be censored. Violence and harassment are never acceptable, regardless of one’s beliefs on homosexuality, and preventing the distribution of health information to those that require it would be irresponsible.
- No skipping gay-friendly classes, schools tell parents [Vancouver Sun]
Catholic Group Protests Teacher’s Diversity Guide
The Catholic Civil Rights League has launched a protest against a draft teacher’s guide in British Columbia. The guide, entitled Making Space, Giving Voice, was introduced by the Education Ministry to encourage discussion about diversity and is part of a larger review to ensure discrimination isn’t promoted by schools.
So what’s the Catholic League’s beef with the guide? Well, according to a press release entitled Resist, Counter and Protest, the guide is all about the B.C. Education Ministry’s “drive to introduce non-heterosexual realities in all classrooms.”
“Non-heterosexual realities?” Hey, I think that’s a new entry for my still-growing Dictionary of Obtuse Lobbying Terms! (Though, it is a little unusual for a lobby group to flat-out admit they’re protesting reality.)
At any rate, Glen Hansman, the president of the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers’ Association, was confused by the protest, saying that these guides are nothing new, and are only an optional resource:
The new guide will assist teachers in addressing social justice issues, just as a similar guide some years ago helped them incorporate aboriginal content across the curriculum.
The ministry is putting out this document as a suggestion; it’s not mandatory, but I think it’s pretty solid.
Lobby groups often oppose the discussion of diversity in schools. In November, the anti-gay lobby group Defend Traditional Marriage and Family successfully banned a teacher’s resource on diversity from the Waterloo Catholic School Board, saying that the booklet could have “[encouraged] students and teachers to view the gay lifestyle as being morally neutral.”
- Parents urged to protest teacher guide on diversity [Vancouver Sun]
Gay Bashers Skip Out On Court Date
A father and son who beat a gay man in Lake Cowichan have skipped out on their court date last Tuesday, securing arrest warrants. Mark Edwards, a 21-year old gay man, said he was called slurs, punched, kicked, and choked by the pair because he was gay, and the attackers remain unrepentant. (I guess family bonding activities have changed since my childhood.)
Members of the gay community were appalled by the beating, and have organized a Safe Harbour Respect for All event which takes place on October 17th. The event, aimed at businesses and community members, will discuss anti-discrimination steps in an effort to build a more tolerant community.
First step: Encourage fishing instead of, say, pummeling.
- Charges advised in assault of gay man [News Leader Pictoria]
- Cowichan needing lesson in tolerance? [News Leader Pictorial]
House Refused To Gay Couple
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has agreed to hear a case from a lesbian couple who claims they were refused a house because they’re gay. Although the couple had signed an offer for the property, they say that the seller, Alexander Berry, backed out once he discovered they were lesbians. Berry said he didn’t know the two women were a couple and changed his mind because of the short time limit on their agreement. The property was sold to a young family two days after the gay couple had signed the offer.
While the case isn’t scheduled to be heard until the 15th, Berry tried to get the complaint dismissed, arguing that he didn’t fall under B.C. human rights jurisdictions because he’s Albertan. The tribunal rejected his request.
So, knowing how these things normally work, I think we can expect a decision to come as early as November, 2014.
- Rights body will hear pair’s case [The Province]
- Man refuses to sell Vancouver home to gays, couple alleges [Xtra]
Gay-Friendly Churches To Ignore Blessing Ban
Despite last month’s decision by the Anglican Church to ban same-sex blessings, several brave churches are going ahead with the practice anyway.
Toronto’s Holy Trinity Church and Victoria’s St. Saviour’s Church have both declared their intentions to continue to bless same-sex couples against the rules of the national church, the latter saying that they even plan to full-out marry gay couples should the opportunity arise.
Of course, the hierarchy isn’t too happy. A senior Anglican official, under the protection of anonymity, said priests will be disciplined if they are too liberal with their blessings. And I think they mean business: Antonio Osorio, an Anglican priest, was issued a warning this month after blessing four same-sex couples, even though the blessing was simply a general blessing of members of the community. In the past year, two Anglican priests have even been ejected over the practice.
- Churches to defy same-sex ban [CBC News]
- Anglican priests set to defy same-sex blessing ban [Canada.com]
