Over 800 Vancouver protesters gathered this week to protest a new grade 12 course entitled “Social Justice.” The course will include a unit that focuses on gay role models, sparking fears that children province-wide will turn gay. The horror.

Murray Coren, who was granted a role as a consultant on the curriculum, was forced to state the obvious:

There was no information about gay or lesbian people [when I went to school], and having gone through that system for 13 years, it didn’t make me straight. So I don’t know how information about gay and lesbian people is going to turn anyone queer.

The protesters, for some reason, aren’t buying it, and presented a petition with over 14,000 signatures demanding that the government do the ultra ambiguous: “to defend and to preserve parental and children’s rights” and “to stop selling out to special interest groups.”

The kicker: the course is an elective.

• Protesters rally against gay and lesbian issues course [CBC News]
• Gay couple has too much say over lessons: petitioners [Vancouver Sun]

Have you ever wondered how a crazy, anti-gay city councilor would react to AIDS prevention programs? Well, wonder no longer, folks! Rob Ford, a Toronto city councilor, voted against granting city funds toward AIDS education. And while that’s not particularly shocking, his five minute, on-the-record, angry rant is magnificently loony:

There are people dying every day of cancer, diabetes—all the other diseases. Why are we catering to [AIDS groups]? It’s very preventable! If you’re not doing needles and you’re not gay, you won’t get AIDS, probably. That’s the bottom line! And that’s preventable.

The general public does not agree with this [motion]. They think it’s a complete farce, ridiculous! This is so embarrassing!

Uh, yeah, because there’s nothing quite like ranting about the GRIDS to argue against funding for AIDS education.

Anyway, after Robby’s five minutes of angry time, the other councilors cut off his mic. Kyle Rae, the gay councilor whom Robby ridiculed for “condoning” AIDS funding, had this on-the-record response:

I don’t think it is worthy of this council to respond to the comments we heard a few moments ago. There are some who can be educated, and some who cannot.

Good on ya, Kyle. Oh, and the motion to fund AIDS education passed overwhelmingly.

• AIDS Awareness for most [Globe and Mail]
• Don’t spend on AIDS: Councillor [Toronto Sun]
• Grant it to him, Ford in unbowed [Toronto Star]