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  • Wednesday, October 01

    Lawyer for Vancouver gay-bashing suspect says hate crimes charge 'overly harsh'; Coverage sparks tension

    Source: Vancouver Sun , Globe and Mail , The Province , Vancouver 24 Hours , Burnaby Now , Xtra West The lawyer for a man accused of assaulting and breaking another man's jaw because he is a gay criticized Vancouver police yesterday for recommending he be charged with a hate crime, saying the police were "overly harsh in coming to judgment.". "We're overwhelmed by this, we still don't know what the exact charges are," said attorney Danny Markovitz. Appearing briefly in provincial court Tuesday on behalf of the accused, Markovitz asked that the matter be put over...
  • Monday, September 29

    Vancouver gay bashing to be tried as hate crime

    Source: Globe and Mail , Vancouver Sun , Vancouver Province A White Rock man will undergo surgery today after he was swarmed and sucker-punched in a Davie Village gay bashing that police are calling a hate crime. Qnews update: Lawyer for Vancouver gay-bashing suspect says hate crimes charge 'overly harsh'; Coverage sparks tension Jordan Smith, 27, was walking near Davie and Hornby Streets after midnight Saturday when four men accosted him. "It was unexpected. They were saying nasty things -- the worst things you can imagine -- but I didn't think it was going to go to that level...
  • Wednesday, September 24

    Activists claim BC schools reneged on gay-inclusive educational material

    Source: Vancouver Sun ,  CBC News , News 1130 radio Vancouver -- Two gay activists accused the BC government on Tuesday of reneging on a deal it signed two years ago to make school curriculum more inclusive, especially for LGBT students. But Murray and Peter Corren held off preparing a complaint to the BC Human Rights Tribunal after an education ministry employee called and proposed a meeting later this week, Vancouver Sun reports. Murray Corren said he and his spouse were upset about the failure of the education ministry to distribute to all schools a new guide for teachers intended to help...
  • Thursday, August 28

    Gaynews bites: Gay Christians; Ont. hotline; Gay ski NZ; NY award; In The Life

    -- Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund has announced a $1.2 million grant aimed at increasing the number of people of faith supporting equality for LGBT people. The grant money was given to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation's Institute for Welcoming Resources and five partner organizations. Predictably, anti-gay right-wing Christian groups blasted the grant , claiming that gay-affirming churches are "rewriting the Bible". -- Peel Regional Police are establishing an LGBT Hate Crime Hotline , believed to be the first of its kind in North America. Peel is a regional government...
  • Sunday, August 10

    Vancouver researcher to lead large AIDS group; Promotes anti-retroviral drugs as preventive measure

    Source: Vancouver Sun , Xinhua , Wall Street Journal MEXICO CITY -- Renowned Vancouver AIDS researcher Dr. Julio Montaner has been appointed president of the world's largest independent association of HIV/AIDS professionals. Montaner assumed the position of president of the International AIDS Society (IAS) on Friday. He will serve a two-year term. Montaner will actively promote the role of the IAS as a worldwide professional force working to prevent, control and treat HIV/AIDS, Vancouver Sun reports. He will focus on the global expansion of antiretroviral-therapy programs to limit the epidemic's...
  • Monday, August 04

    Social networks like Facebook can help LGBT refugees in Canada prove their claims

    Source: Canadian Press , The Coast OTTAWA -- Canadian courts and immigration panels consider many refugee claims each week from gay, lesbian, or transgender applicants who say they face jail or worse if returned to their home countries. But LGBT refugee claimants often struggle to shed old-world views of their sexuality when making a claim, Canadian Press news service reports. Some immigration advocates now advise claimants to turn to new-age technology to make their case. Facebook, the popular online social network, is being used as a tool by some claimants to help prove their sexual orientation...
    Posted Aug 04 2008, 10:57 AM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Tuesday, July 29

    Judge decides that man applying for refugee status faked story that he's gay

    Source: Winnipeg Sun Winnipeg, Manitoba -- A federal judge agreed recently with an immigration board that a Nigerian native applying for refugee status in Canada cooked up a story that he's gay in order to stay in Canada. The Winnipeg man claims he will be persecuted for homosexuality if he returns to his native Nigeria, but may be ordered to leave Canada after the July 10 decision by a federal court judge, Winnipeg Sun reports. "I'm very, very in danger if I return to my country," the 38-year-old man said yesterday, speaking to the Winnipeg Sun on condition of anonymity. "I...
    Posted Jul 29 2008, 11:52 AM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Saturday, July 26

    Surrey man turned away at Blaine crossing cheers lifting of US HIV travel ban

    Source: Surrey Now , Xtra West Martin Rooney of Surrey was turned back at the U.S. border for being HIV-positive. photo by Brian Howell via Surrey Now An HIV-positive man from Surrey, BC who was denied entry to the US last year at the Blaine, WA border crossing cheered a Senate vote last week that is likely to remove the ban on HIV-positive visitors to the US. "It is a great day for those of us living with HIV," Martin Rooney said when told of the Senate vote, Surrey Now reports. Rooney was turned back at the American border last November for being HIV-positive, which in turn sparked...
    Posted Jul 26 2008, 03:03 PM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Saturday, July 26

    Oklahoma high court orders divorce hearing for lesbian couple married in Canada

    Source: Macleans , Tulsa World The Oklahoma Supreme Court early this month ordered a new divorce hearing for a Tulsa lesbian couple who were married in Toronto. Cait O'Darling filed for divorce in Oklahoma in 2006. It was initially granted -- until the Tulsa judge realized her spouse (listed as "S. O'Darling" in court paperwork) was a woman. After being informed of this fact by a local reporter, the judge canceled the divorce. At the divorce hearing, neither O'Darling nor her attorney "gave notice to the bench that the purported marriage was one between two women,"...
  • Friday, July 25

    Judge: Gay rights a legal 'done deal' in Canada

    Source: Halifax Chronicle-Herald In a speech at a Halifax Pride-related event Thursday, and in an interview with the Halifax Chronicle-Herald , an Ontario judge said that the big legal battles over gay rights in Canada are over. David Corbett, of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, said it's unclear what the legal issues affecting gay men and lesbians will be over the next 10 to 15 years. He acknowledged the issue of gay marriage has been resolved, as have many matters related to human rights and sexual orientation, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reports. "A lot of it will be at the human...
    Posted Jul 25 2008, 10:00 AM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Wednesday, July 23

    Montreal's Gay Village takes on extra party atmosphere with street closure

    Source: Montreal Gazette , Xtra The main street through Montreal's gay village is closed to traffic, and open to strollers and cafe tables all summer long photo: by Ralph Higgins for Xtra Montreal's gay village is more vibrant this year than ever before since the city closed St Catherine St -- the main artery of the Village -- to automobile traffic. From June 20 to September 2, over a dozen blocks have been converted to one giant pedestrian mall, Xtra reports. Creation of the pedestrian-friendly, no-car zone has been a resounding success so far, Montreal Gazette reports. The Village is...
  • Tuesday, July 22

    Vancouver measure would promote city to US lesbians

    Source: Xtra West , Victoria Times Colonist Vancouver city councilor Tim Stevenson wants city hall to invest $25,000 into a Tourism Vancouver marketing campaign specifically aimed at attracting US lesbians to the city. Stevenson is planning to introduce a motion in council calling for the investment today, reports Vancouver's Xtra West newspaper. The public will be invited to speak to the motion on July 24. Stevenson says the idea for the motion came about after he saw a report from the gay and lesbian market research firm Community Marketing Inc that ranked Vancouver as the number one international...
  • Sunday, June 15

    Rocky Mountain LGBT Pride celebrations in Alberta: a time to reflect on progress and challenges

    Source: Edmonton Sun , Calgary Herald , Xtra West , Calgary Sun , MetroNews After yesterday's annual Gay Pride parade in Alberta's capital city, Murray Billett, a gay activist and member of the Edmonton Police Commission, recalled for the Edmonton Sun the small crowd on Whyte Avenue, where Edmonton's first Gay Pride parade took place. "I think Edmonton has become a more sophisticated, a more respectful city and I'm really proud to be part of it," said Billett, who was in the parade riding in a police commission's vehicle. Former city councilor Michael Phair told the...
    Posted Jun 15 2008, 12:51 PM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Monday, June 09

    Celebratory mood as 100s of 1000s show LGBT Pride in parades

    Source: KTLA-TV , Los Angeles Times , Salt Lake Tribune , Winnipeg Free Press , New America Media The mood was celebratory throughout North America this weekend as several LGBT Pride parades marched on the streets from Winnipeg, to Salt Lake City, to the biggest festival of all this weekend in West Hollywood. The celebration in Los Angeles was given added meaning since the state Supreme Court struck down a ban on same-sex marriage last month. Estimates of the crowds lining Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood were as high as 175,000 people. They gathered to watch and cheer more than 125 entries...
  • Monday, June 02

    Tory MP who promised to make amends for anti-gay remarks is no-show at Regina Pride parade

    Source: Canadian Press , CBC News , The Hill Times REGINA, Sask. -- A Conservative member of Parliament, who promised earlier this year to spend his life promoting tolerance after a video surfaced of him making anti-gay remarks in 1991, was a no-show Saturday at Regina's gay pride parade. Gay groups said they were disappointed that Regina-Lumsden MP Tom Lukiwski didn't even respond to an invitation to attend the parade. A coalition of groups said they sent Lukiwski a written invitation to attend the Saturday event, but he didn't respond. It was the first event of its kind in Regina...
  • Thursday, May 29

    Notorious 'gay bashing' killer found dead in Quebec prison

    Source: Canada.com , Ottawa Sun OTTAWA -- An Ottawa man serving a life sentence for his role in a killing that prompted gay-rights activists to call for anti-hate crime legislation has been found dead in his Quebec prison cell. Quebec provincial police are investigating the death of Jeffrey Lalonde, 36, who was serving a life sentence in a Quebec prison for his role in a murder that set off a firestorm of gay rights activism, and spurred the creation of the Ottawa Police Service's hate crime unit. Lalonde, convicted of the 1989 murder of Chateau Laurier waiter Alain Brosseau, was found dead...
    Posted May 29 2008, 12:09 PM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Tuesday, May 27

    Ontario Anglican diocese cautiously backs gay blessings

    Source: Reuters , London (Ont.) Free Press , Anglican Mainstream blog OTTAWA -- A fourth diocese in the Anglican Church of Canada voted this week in favor of a cautiously-worded motion that could lead to blessing same-sex unions. The annual synod, or governing convention, of the diocese voted on May 26 to ask the bishop to consider giving clergy permission to bless same-sex marriages. The margin in favor was 72 per cent in both clergy and lay houses (97 clergy in favour, 36 against; 227 lay people in favor, 87 against), according to a report from Anglican Journal reprinted in Anglican Mainstream...
    Posted May 27 2008, 07:21 PM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Saturday, May 17

    Dozens celebrate ordination of gay Lutheran pastor as 'matter of justice'

    Source: YorkRegion.com , Canadian Press via Globe and Mail , TheRecord.com , CityNews Pastor Lionel Ketola photo: CityNews Newmarket, Ontario -- For Lionel Ketola, Friday evening marked the end of an arduous two-decade-long journey to fulfilling a life-long dream. Despite letters of warning and threats of discipline, Newmarket’s Holy Cross Lutheran Church went ahead with its ordination ceremony for Ketola, an openly gay married man. The 45-year-old is now the church’s associate pastor and will also serve as an ambassador of reconciliation. As the ceremony came to its close, the packed house at...
    Posted May 17 2008, 06:13 PM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Friday, May 16

    Toronto gay & lesbian film festival doc series profiles gay icons

    Source: Globe and Mail Toronto -- The third largest gay and lesbian film and video festival in the world, after those in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Inside Out, Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival opened last night and continues its 18th edition over the next 10 days with several new initiatives -- including the well-curated Icon Documentary Series. The Icon series is a self-contained unit of six excellent films, focused on figures strongly connected to the visual arts. Inside Out director of programming Jason St-Laurent says the series provides a useful niche within the larger event...
    Posted May 16 2008, 11:17 AM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Wednesday, May 14

    Lutherans in Ontario set to ordain a married gay man this week

    Source: Canadian Press via Toronto Star , Holy Cross announcement Despite the disapproval a Canadian bishop, a southern Ontario Lutheran church will take the unprecedented move of ordaining a married gay man. Pastor Dawn Hutchings says about 50 clergy from across the country will celebrate the ordination of Lionel Ketola this Friday at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Newmarket, Ont. In a statement on its website, Holy Cross says their invitation to Ketola to become associate pastor "is in violation of the ELCIC’s discriminatory policy of excluding 'self-declared and practicing homosexuals'...
    Posted May 14 2008, 01:58 PM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Tuesday, April 29

    Montreal gay bar settles bias complaint by woman it kicked out; Can't exclude women

    Source: Montreal Gazette , Canadian Press MONTREAL -- A Montreal gay bar that caters to male clients has settled a discrimination complaint by a woman who was thrown out of the premises. Audrey Vachon, 21, filed a complaint to Quebec's human rights commission last May after she was asked to leave Bar Le Stud because she is a woman. She was sitting at the bar with her father, Gilles Vachon, Montreal Gazette reports. In a statement released today, the human rights commission announced the settlement, but refused to provide specific details. The bar and Vachon agreed to keep the terms of the settlement...
  • Tuesday, April 22

    'Rogue' anti-gay archbishop ignores plea to stay out of Canada

    Source: Vancouver Sun , Globe and Mail VANCOUVER - A South American Anglican archbishop who adamantly opposes homosexual relationships is coming to Vancouver on Friday despite being told to stay away by Canada's top Anglican. Archbishop Gregory Venables, who claims to represent 15 breakaway Anglican congregations in Canada, will speak Friday at a gathering in Delta of the conservative Anglican Network in Canada. Venables, who has been criticized as a rogue archbishop by Anglican colleagues in South America and elsewhere, is recruiting Anglican congregations in Canada and the U.S. that have...
  • Monday, April 21

    Vancouver's feisty gay bookstore, Little Sisters, is for sale

    Source: Canadian Press VANCOUVER — They've been bombed three times, received death threats and stood before the red-robed justices of the Supreme Court of Canada. No, Jim Deva and Bruce Smyth are not killers or terrorists. The soft-spoken Vancouver men sell books. And in some peoples' eyes, Deva says, that made the gay owners of Little Sister's Book & Art Emporium dangerous. "Because we were (openly gay) and we were very, very blatant about being open . . . we were threatening to homophobes," Deva says. Only two years after the store opened in 1983, the owners took on...
  • Friday, April 18

    Study: Pink money talks to the marketers who listen

    Source: Financial Post , Exchange Morning Post A new study confirms what savvy marketers have known for years: the gay community has major wallet clout and represents vast potential growth for marketers. That's especially true in Canada according to the study commissioned by the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (IGLCC) where the study concludes The LGBT population in Canada is 2 million people, representing a market of about 100 billion Canadian dollars. The study describes it as a varied population which has a great purchasing power. It found that LGBT consumers are faithful...
  • Wednesday, April 16

    'Brothers & Sisters' regular Luke Macfarlane comes out

    Source: Globe and Mail , AfterElton Luke Macfarlane photo via AfterElton LOS ANGELES -- Next month, in the season finale of his hit television series Brothers & Sisters , Canadian actor Luke Macfarlane will dress his best and say his vows as his character, Scotty Wandell, marries his partner, Kevin Walker. It's an episode the London, Ont.-born actor is looking forward to, on many levels: It's one of the few shows on network television to portray a gay marriage between two main characters -- a feat the 28-year-old actor is quite proud of, from a professional perspective. But the episode...
    Posted Apr 16 2008, 01:04 PM by NewsEditor with | with no comments
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  • Tuesday, April 15

    Canada wants to send gay Salvadoran home where he says police raped him

    Source: Toronto Star , CBC News Joaquin Ramirez is afraid to be sent home to his native El Salvador and face the three police officers that he claims raped him in a sugarcane field two years ago. He said he was picked on by three drunken officers at an Aguilares restaurant on Jan. 13, 2006, and driven to a plantation field where the alleged assault took place. The 39-year-old HIV-positive man said the accused perpetrators have visited his family and threatened to kill him because he infected them with the virus that causes AIDS. Related in Qnews : Experts say Canada needs better rules for gay refugees...
  • Tuesday, April 15

    Vancouver retirement center attracts interest; Assisted living center for gay seniors open in California

    Source: CBC News , NBC News via WBIR TV , Scripps News Service A retirement condo for gay seniors proposed for the East Vancouver neighborhood of Mount Pleasant is still just a proposal, but has already attracted more than 30 people have plunked down a $1,000 deposit since it was first advertised two weeks ago, according to the U.S. developer. The plan is for a condo development featuring living units, a communal dining room, a fitness centre, a lounge and cabaret. Dean Malone, the president of Plum Living Properties, said the proposal for Vancouver will fill a community need. His company has already...
  • Monday, April 14

    Canadian gay hip hop opera heads to New York this summer

    Source: CBC News , Broadway World , St. Catherine's Standard , Calgary Herald Nathan Cuckow, left, and Chris Craddock, as Feminem and T-Bag, are creators and stars of the gay hip hop opera Bash'd. photo: Bash'd blogspot A gay hip hop opera that opened in an Alberta gay bar with a serious look at anti-gay violence first started as a couple of rap parodies about bath houses and parodies. It grew into a rap-operatic love story that toured the fringe festival circuit in Canada and is now headed for the cradle of rap, New York City. Bash'd!, performed by Edmonton actors Chris Craddock...
  • Saturday, April 12

    Pressure rises for Alberta to include gays in human-rights code

    Source: Calgary Sun , Canadian Press EDMONTON -- Alberta has issued more than 600 gay marriage licences since a federal law legalizing homosexual unions came into effect in mid-2005, government statistics show. Alberta's gay community says it's more evidence accepting homosexuality won't hurt civil society -- and Alberta should take the symbolic step of including gays in the provincial human-rights code. It is the only province not to have done it, he said. "The sun came up, life chugged on and royalties continued to chug in," said gay-rights advocate Murray Billett. "The...
  • Tuesday, April 08

    Government response to anti-gay slur not enough: activists and gay senator

    Source: Niagra Falls Review , CJME Radio , Canadian Press (post updated at 1:17 (PT) with information about Regina protest) If the Canada's ruling Conservative party and Prime Minister Stephen Harper had hoped to put the Tom Lukiwski issue behind them, they won't be able to because of pressure from within their own caucus and from lesbian and gay activists in Lukiwski's home district. Senator Nancy Ruth, the only openly gay member of the Conservative caucus, said she plans to raise the issue when caucus meets Wednesday. "Apologies are never enough," Ruth said. "There...
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