April 2012, Volume 192
FREEDOM TO HATE
It’s enough to make one’s blood boil. The Islamic bloc in the United Nations won’t accept the inclusion of gays in any discussion of human rights. And why not? Because the member nations don’t believe we’re worthy of legal protection. In a letter to UN human rights officials, the Organization of the Islamic Conference says “abnormal sexual behavior” has “nothing to do with fundamental human rights.”
DEATH TO GAYS
Pamphlets call for gay executions • Russian law anti-gay • Harvard denies degrees • Extremist ejected • India moves to ban gay sex • Irish favour equal marriage • Governor vetoes gay marriage • TV campaign investigated
ALBERTA ENTERS 21ST CENTURY
Alberta vows to change archaic law • Judge says no to hate crime • Hate is the real sin • Gay frat boys at McGill • Calgary gay club closes • Feds close loophole
A lot of gay kids have been victims of homophobia but few have launched campaigns to fight it. That takes a special kind of person – someone like Jeremy Dias. When Dias was in Grade 10, his family moved from THE WORLD ACCORDING TO JEREMY
Alberta to Sault St. Marie in Ontario. There he shared his secret with a few friends. Someone let his secret slip and Dias was outed. The backlash from bigoted peers was painful, but it was the school’s official stance and the school board’s subsequent unwillingness to support his efforts to raise awareness about homophobia that really stung.
REPUBLICAN ANTI-GAY MOVEMENT
It used to be said there was very little difference between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. Despite their very different public personas, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy held similar beliefs about most things. Politicians of different stripes could compromise and find common ground for the common good. That has changed dramatically. Today, it’s all-out war between Democrats and Republicans.
TECHNOLOGY: It's a scary new world
Blogs have been around since the earliest days of the internet. From personal diaries to do-it-yourself manuals and yes, even porn. Blogging is a way to express yourself, to share your interests and to rant – for all the world to read. But how can a person choose between the blogging ‘platforms’? How do you know if you should be blogging on Twitter, Tumblr or Livejournal? (Hint: You should not be blogging on Livejournal).
The Canadian University Queer Services Conference (CUQSC) is headed for Regina this year and will hold its seventh national meeting in the city May 2 to 6. It’s more than just a gabfest and will include workshops, an art show, social events, caucus meetings and an open microphone drag show, which should certainly make a nice break from caucus meetings and constitutional matters.
QUEERING YOUR BUSINESS
One way that businesses show they welcome GLBT customers is the rainbow sticker on the door. The problem with this is that this sticker can mean anything from “I’m a business who actively supports the GLBT community” to “My cousin put this on my door 12 years ago and I can’t remember what it means.” While I encourage businesses to show their pride in this way, consumers need to look for other clues to find out just how friendly a business is.
YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE
We all have a “life team” composed of family, friends, mentors and family physicians – people we turn to for advice when we have a difficult decision to make or require health care. Yet, for many, when it comes to making important investment decisions, we try to do it on our own.
PEBBLE PERFECT
It was another roarin’ year for the Bison Cup, the seventh to be held at Winnipeg’s Granite Club. Each year the Bison Cup is held Friday to Sunday over the Louis Riel long weekend in February.
ADONIS AT 40
Its entrance is decidedly unprepossessing, but the building at 1060 Main St. has seen tens of thousands of patrons enter its portals over the past four decades. Like its clients, it has changed a great deal with the times.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PINK
On April 11, we will celebrate the International Day of Pink. It is a day when communities across the country – and across the world – unite in celebrating diversity and raising awareness to stop homophobic, transphobic and all forms of bullying.
THE MIRACLE OF PRIDE
Pride 2012 has been cancelled. Yes, this is the 25th anniversary of Pride in Winnipeg, but there will be no parties, no celebrations and no parade this summer. There is no money to stage it and no one to organize it. It died from lack of interest. It went with a whimper. ...It’s too early to write the obit. But it is not too much of a stretch to imagine it happening. This is our nightmare.
HOW TO DATE ONLINE
Thanks to the technology provided to us in this modern century, gone are the traditional methods of meeting that special someone at a queer club, through friends, at the office or via some other chance encounter. Sure, we all like to believe that fate plays a role in our romantic lives…but when looking for love in a world where we are slaves to work, busy schedules and our own personal activities, a lot of pressure is put on finding a partner—and internet dating sites allow us to ease the process along by putting fate into our own hands.
FASHION - Web exclusive
It has been said that a leopard can’t shed his spots, that a peacock is nothing without his plume and in a season where the powers that be demand nothing short of a print and pattern parade who can blame them. The trickiest task in navigating this season’s cheekiest checker is establishing exactly how bold you want your finger-“print” of fashion to be.
FASHION - Web exclusive
Surgery, creams and treatments, oh my! The quest for eternal youth, reduction of fine lines and the perfect skin care regime has literally changed the face of the cosmetics industry.
COMEDY FEST TAKES AIM AT BULLIES
There's nothing funny about bullying — especially in light of the growing number of LGBTT youth who've been driven to depression or even suicide after being bullied by their peers. But this year, organizers of the Winnipeg Comedy Festival (WCF) hope to add some levity to an ongoing debate that has so far proven pretty serious by assembling a panel of experts on bullying, LGBTT issues and the healing power of laughter.
ANGELS IN WINNIPEG
Endless praise has been bestowed upon Tony Kushner’s Angels In America: A gay fantasia on national themes ever since part one, Millennium Approaches, was first performed in San Francisco in 1991. Kushner uses two familiar narratives, gay men coming out and gay men stricken with AIDS, as a springboard into a God’s-eye view of the way faith, politics and society affect the human condition within a particular segment of American life.
GIO'S
Foam Party • Night of the living dead Halloween Party • Fake Friday, The S.O.M.S presents... A Step Back • New Years Eve 2011 - Night on the red carpet
FAME
Winnipeg comes alive when queers of all diversities dance the night away in a downtown trendy nightclub
