OK, kiddo! Here are all the fantastically amazing posts tagged with Vancouver

Right On Schedule: Olympic Commentators Make Anti-Gay Figure Skating Jokes

February 24th, 2010

Claude Mailhot and Alain Goldberg, two commentators for RDS, Canada’s French-language sports network, have issued a public apology over homophobic comments made during the men’s figure skating competition at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The comments were made in reference to a performance by three-time United States figure skating champion, Johnny Weir, and came just after two Australian commentators landed in hot water for similar, but tamer comments about the same athlete.

“This may not be politically correct,” Mailhot began in French, “but do you think he lost points due to his costume and his body language?” Goldberg agreed, saying that Weir’s performance reflected badly on male figure skating: “They’ll think all boys who skate will end up like him. It sets a bad example.”

“We should make him pass a gender test at this point,” continued Goldberg, with Mailhot joking that Weir “should compete with the women.”

Franchement!

It’s kind of like clockwork, mind you. Male figure skaters are often criticized for being perceived as too feminine, and it’s a form of misogyny that’s getting pretty tired. It’d probably take a decorated figure skater to cure such a lack of creativity.

Weir is as much an artist as an althlete. If you ask me, the only “bad example” here is the suggestion that some forms of art should be dismissed instantly due to the gender of the performer.

Honte à vous deux, Claude et Alain.

Olympic Organizers Ignore Homophobic Abuse

February 19th, 2010

A man who was harassed with homophobic slurs and physical assaults by a woman at the Vancouver Olympics opening ceremonies is wondering why the venue’s ushers, security, and organizers have ignored the whole incident.

The unidentified woman mistakenly thought Tyler Sheppard and his friends were in her seat, prompting her to launch into bizarre tantrum, calling them gay slurs and kicking.

The abuse didn’t stop even after an usher confirmed that the seats were correctly assigned. Mr. Sheppard is now looking for answers as to why the usher and police at the venue didn’t do anything about it. Days later, the organizers have yet to return calls about the incident.

In an interview with Xtra West, Sheppard called the whole ordeal “demoralizing.” “My friends heard it; a lot of people heard it,” he said. “She kicked me in the back with her foot which left a red mark.”

Yikes! I guess the ceremonies didn’t charm everyone. I mean, I know the torch lighting incident didn’t go as smoothly as planned, but this is a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?

Landlord Fined For Abusing Gay Tenants

January 15th, 2010

Edmund Bro and Keith Scott, two gay, physically disabled, HIV-positive tenants in West Vancouver, have won their case with the Human Rights Tribunal over an abusive and homophobic landlord. Each tenant was awarded $15,000 to compensate for their year-and-a-half of relentless harassment from Michael John Moody and his son, Guy.

The Human Rights Code in British Columbia forbids, among other things, discrimination based on disability, sexual orientation, and source of income. Moody, being the sampling type it appears, decided to violate as many of these as possible. In addition to constant verbal harassment, he physically assaulted the two disabled men, demeaned their reliance on disability benefits, and even refused to conduct repairs on the property.

Bro and Scott moved out, of course, leaving Moody free to rebuild his property as a summer spot for anti-gay lobbyists.

Lesbian Couple Denied Transit Family Fare

August 19th, 2009

Payback for all the Wheels On The Bus songs?

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.

Gay Magazine Found In Store Display Draws Complaint

January 16th, 2009

Where you can go to look like a Koodo ad

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.

Gay Man Attacked For Singing Christmas Carols

December 3rd, 2008

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.

Vancouver To Host 2011 OutGames

October 29th, 2008

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 Bar Evaculated After Anti-Gay Bomb Threat

August 25th, 2008

The Pumpjack Pub, a Vancouver gay bar, was evacuated after a caller left several homophobic messages, including a threat to blow up the bar at 6pm, last Wednesday.

Vince Marino, a co-owner of the bar, said that they received nearly 8-10 calls from a male caller, and whenever no one answered, he would leave a homophobic message. After one message included a specific bomb threat, the police were called and the bar was evacuated. The messages, which Marino described as involving “derogatory comments toward the gay community,” were also turned over to the police.

There’ll be no additional snarky comments on this story, kids. Death threats are serious and have no place in a civil society.

Parents Can’t Censor Curriculum: School Board

June 25th, 2008

Lesson Interuption

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.

Vancouver Study: Gays More Likely To Be Attacked

May 21st, 2008

New attack method

Gay men are twice as likely as heterosexual men to be victimized by violent crimes in Vancouver according to a nine-year study on the subject.

Researchers at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS surveyed 500 gay men as part of an effort to document the rate of physical violence in the Vancouver area. While the gay statistic wasn’t particularly surprising considering the continued persistence of homophobia, researchers were struck by the age of the victims. Gay men who came out of the closet before the age of 24 were attacked more frequently.

Dr. Thomas Lampinen, one of the researchers, said that the age findings highlight the importance of tolerance initiatives in schools:

In schoolyards all across the country, if ethnic and racial slurs were being uttered at this rate, it would be tolerated for about a New York minute. And yet, somehow, it seems OK for kids to be saying daily, “Oh, that’s so gay,” or calling people “faggot.”

Anti-gay and religious groups routinely oppose anti-homophobia measures in schools. One group called Defend Traditional Marriage and Family successfully pulled an optional teacher’s resource booklet on diversity from teachers lounges, and the Catholic Civil Rights League has launched a similar, grassroots assault against draft guidelines in B.C. Three Catholic School boards have even refused to let researchers distribute optional student surveys designed to measure the extent of homophobic bullying in school.

With such an organized assault on anti-bullying initiatives, it’s no wonder some people get the message that violence against gays is OK.

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