December 2011, Volume 189
EDITORIAL
The tricky issue of coming out has become even more complicated with the recent deaths of gay teens in Canada and the U.S. In September, a gay Buffalo, N.Y., teenager killed himself after being bullied online. In early October, gay Ottawa teenager Jamie Hubley took his own life after being bullied in school. These were only two of a string of suspected gay teen suicides, but they were the most...
1. WEBSITE VIEW
2. FLIP/PRINT VIEW
Lesbians booted from Timmy’s • Mourners pack church for Jamie • Casey House to see major upgrade • Homophobic MLA touts cure site • Human rights complaint goes forward • AIDS committee digs in heals • Designer catered to queens
Churches preach prayer over HIV treatment • Euro gov’t says TG folk not mentally ill • Gay pioneer Kameny dies • Hope for AIDS vaccine
CRIMINAL TO HAVE HIV
World AIDS Day is often a time of reflection on the many lives lost to the disease that has been challenging researchers and scientists for three decades. Much progress has been made in treatments and more is being made but there is no cure on the horizon. What can be said is that it is no longer a death sentence. It’s a treatable, manageable disease.
BAT MITZVA FOR TWO
After finding a home at Temple Shalom, one lesbian couple has taken a spiritual plunge together, and it doesn’t involve saying “I do” It’s a bat mitzvah.”I think that a Jewish lesbian couple having a joint bat mitzvah is not the norm, and what we want to do very quietly is to show the community that it can be done,” says Sara Raymond, who had a joint bat mitzvah (known as a b’not mitzvah) with her partner, Neire Mercer, on November 19.
CONNECTION COACH
Should you attend the office party? Before you hit the “Not attending" button you might want to ask yourself some questions.
WINNIPEG BIDS FOR RAINBOW LAMBDA
What if Manitoba’s licence plate reflected what was possible for tourism in this province? The size of the Canadian LGBT travel market is substantial. According to the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, this market is valued at $7 billion annually. To put that number in perspective, that’s about the size of Canada’s pharmaceutical market. So Manitobans should be asking themselves: how many of those dollars are they capturing? Just how “friendly” is Manitoba?
TECHNOLOGY - WONDERFUL WORLD OF WORD
Microsoft Word has become synonymous with what used to be known simply as “word processing”. Where it once competed with Wordperfect and later Apple’s iWork, today Word has by some estimates up to 90 per cent of the market share in word processors. The remaining 10 per cent may be professionals using Wordperfect for a specialized market, low-income families and students using free services such as OpenOffice or Google Docs and Apple fanatics sworn to iWork.
OUT ON CAMPUS
For some students, moving on to university can seem like the light at the front of a very deep, very dark closet. It can be a different story once students reach university. Setting foot on campus allows many students the chance for a more comfortable step out.
THE CHURCH NEEDS TO SPEAK OUT
In the past few months, an avalanche of internet postings have sought to give bullied gay teenagers hope through the “It Gets Better” campaign. Many celebrities, politicians, business professionals and a few brave people from the sports world post short video clips reassuring gay youth that despite the bullying and insults that are hurled at them by their schoolmates, it gets better as they move into adulthood. The message conveyed is “Just hang in there. It gets better.”
DALE EVANS RIDES TO THE RESCUE
I never had a chance to tell her or to see her reaction about bringing a gay guy back to God. Before I tell you that story, let me tell you another.
My spouse, John Robertson, and I are foster parents. We are also United Church ministers. Years ago, in a discussion with two of our sons, one of them asked me, “Why do you keep talking about this church stuff? I’m not going to join the United Church.”
TRANSFORMATIVE MUSIC OF THE WSO
From the time his mother sat him down at a toy piano when he was three years old, Richard Lee has spent his life immersed in music. Formerly Conductor-in-Residence of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Assistant conductor of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, Richard is currently Resident conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, conductor of the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra, as well as Music Director of the Korean Canadian Symphony Orchestra, based in Toronto.
THE DARK SIDE OF FIRE & SMOKE
In the dim warm lights of the stage, one can almost see the embers dancing and the smoke curling as the duo Fire & Smoke share their stories of love unfulfilled, restless hearts, and the pull of the open road. With Claire Morrison’s rich voice and Daniel Peloquin-Hopfner’s stirring melodies, the music takes you. “Performing is the most terrifying and comfortable experience all at once,” Morrison says. “It’s where my soul and the souls of others are most visible.”
THE POINT OF GIRL/GIRL SCENE?
If you were a young talented lesbian looking for the perfect way to show off your creative works, what would you choose? For Tucky Williams (pictured centre left), the writer, actress and producer of the Internet serial Girl/Girl Scene, there was only one choice. “The web is really the only place to put new content,” says Williams. “It’s where entertainment is moving to – being specialized. We can see the future and what’s happening. People are really going to find what they need.”
GENDER BY DESIGN
A photo essay by Chantele Fry
HOWIE DOROUGH TAKES THE BARBS IN STRIDE
To say Howie Dorough is a busy man would be an understatement. Famous as one of the Backstreet Boys, he just wrapped up the North American leg of the NKOTBSB tour, and is embarking on a South American Tour opening for Britney Spears before NKOTBSB hits Europe. He manages the Canadian band Neverest and just released his first solo album Back To Me. The question has to be asked, why release an album amidst so much going on?
