In my web travels, I often collect stories that I intend to share, but then become distracted by newer, shinier stories—or feel too lazy to illustrate them. This is what becomes of those stories: a Pile o’ Slaps!

While the Anglicans are battling each other over whether or not to bless gay couples and clergy, the Lutheran Church is facing censure over doing just that. Ooh—Burn! That’ll learn ‘em for interpreting ancient texts relative to cultural understandings!

Tom Lukiwski, the Tory MP who said he would “spend the rest of my life making amends” to the gay community after using homophobic slurs, refused an invitation to join in his riding’s gay Pride celebrations. His rationale: He’s too busy. Interesting, ’cause I’m too busy to believe him.

A television station in Singapore has been fined for showing a gay couple decorating their nursery in a home renovation show. Singapore law forbids images and stories of gay people in the media, lest the country catch a bad case of the gay. Wait a sec… Since this site is accessible worldwide, that makes it illegal. And you, the readers, are now participants in a seamy, criminal underworld. Oh yeah, this site just screams “badass.”

Craig Chandler, the former Alberta Tory nominee who was booted from the party over homophobic remarks and human rights violations, lost his bid as an independent in a landslide victory for his opponent. Funny—he said that he was winning after some in-house polling. Does that mean we can no longer trust the claims of politicians

Finally, over 1500 same-sex couples who were awarded Canada Pension Plan benefits in a class action lawsuit can expect to actually receive their pension after a court decided that the case lawyers were not entitled to $15 million dollars in fees they were planning to take from the award. Imagine that; all those poor lawyers ever wanted to do was charge exorbitant amounts to the public purse for simple justice and equality.

Well, have a great Monday!

Craig Chandler, the Alberta Tory nominee rejected by Premier Ed Stelmach over anti-gay human rights violations, is desperately low on funds for his campaign to run as an independent. Despite extensive fundraising, Chandler says he is $23,000 short:

What we need it for is more signs [...] and for more literature that we want to send to every home in the community

Not that he really needs the money, mind you. According to Chandler’s own closed, in-house polling, he’s already put himself in the lead against his Calgary-Edgemont rivals.

As a former Calgarian, I don’t doubt that running on an anti-gay platform would win votes in the city. But with Calgary’s recent growth, new voters likely won’t feel comfortable voting for someone as radically conservative as Chandler, who has been the subject of multiple human rights violations.

• Chandler short of cash [Calgary SUN]

Concerned Christians Canada, an Alberta-based Christian lobby group, has announced that they will launch a human rights complaint against the Alberta Tories.

The complaint stems from the rejection of a Tory candidate’s nomination back in November. Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach failed to endorse Craig Chandler’s candidacy due to a history of anti-gay human rights violations. Concerned Christians Canada is furious with Chandler’s rejection, accusing the Stelmach government of anti-Christian discrimination.

So, refusing to endorse a bigot amounts to… bigotry?

Lobby chairman Jim Blake called it just that, adding that Stelmach’s actions were “reflective of wartime Germany,” and that it’s all part of a growing initiative to repress Christians:

It’s definitely anti-Christian bigotry. We’re concerned about a growing trend of anti-Christian behaviour in politics and society at large.

If this was done over someone being Muslim or homosexual, there’d be a huge outcry, a riot.

Well, I have to agree with one point: If someone’s nomination were rejected simply because they were Muslim or gay, there would be an outcry.

However, Chandler was not rejected simply for being Christian; if that were true, most of the MLAs in Stelmach’s government wouldn’t be there today either. Chandler was rejected because he repeatedly infringed upon the human rights of gay people. Having been raised Catholic, I’d argue that such views are decidedly non-Christian.

Blake’s faulty justifications aside, this human rights case doesn’t have a hope of succeeding. Human rights statutes prohibit discrimination in services that are commonly available to the public. Having your candidacy rejected because you don’t represent the views of the political party to which you applied does not fall in that category.

Concerned Christians Canada knows that this case is destined to fail, though. Their HRC complaint is a publicity attempt that will gain additional attention once their case fails. At that point, they’ll accuse the commission of having a bias toward gay and Muslim groups and present their failure as a flawed case study in their campaign to have the HRC abolished.

‘Cause opposing human rights is exactly what Jesus would do, apparently.

• Christian group accuses Tories of bigotry [Calgary SUN]
• Religious Group Plans Human Rights Case Against Stelmach, Tories [AM 770 CHQR]

It’s official. Craig Chandler, Tory nominee for Calgary-Egmont, has had his candidacy rejected by Premer Ed Stelmach over anti-gay human rights violations.

Undeterred, Chandler vows to run as an independent.

And with that, an Alberta tory has been ousted over anti-gay views. Do do do do do do do do…

(That was supposed to be the theme to the Twilight Zone.)

• Alberta Tory denied provincial nomination [CBC News]
• Tory linked to anti-gay letter denied nomination [CTV News]
• Anti-gay letter broke human-rights law, panel says [Globe and Mail]

Can I hear a “Whaaaa?”

Alberta’s Conservative Premier, Ed Stelmach, is reviewing a party candidate’s nomination over anti-gay remarks.

Craig Chandler, who won the Calgary nomination of Calgary-Egmont this month, was sanctioned by the Human Rights Commission in January over a hateful, anti-gay letter published on his website and by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council for a libelous tirade against a gay man on his radio program.

Still, something’s askew. For those of you unfamiliar with Alberta politics, being reviewed by the provincial Conservative party for anti-gay remarks is pretty darn odd. Just last year, a private member’s bill that would have permitted civil marriage commissioners to deny their public services to gays and forced teachers to send out parental warnings before acknowledging the existence of same-sex marriage was defeated only through strategic means. Stelmach even awarded the private member that introduced the bill a cabinet position.

Now, I know things have changed in Alberta since the King Ralph days, but am I the only one that thinks this review could potentially amount to martyrdom?

Mind you, I suspect Ed simply wants to strategically distance himself further from Chandler’s potentially party-harming views. I’d certainly still be reeling from what Chandler wrote on his official political blog back in August: “To those of you who have come to our great land from out of province, you need to remember that you came here to our home and we vote conservative. [...] This is our home and if you wish to live here, you must adapt to our rules and our voting patterns, or leave.”

• Stelmach to review candidate who spoke out about gays [Calgary SUN]