The Day of Action and Canada's Invisible People

I was so happy to see that the National Day of Action unfolded peacefully. I was so proud of our First Nations people. Because after everything we've done to them, it just shows again how great and beautiful they are.

I know some people were inconvenienced and that brought out the racist rats.

But as for me....I just wish MORE Canadians had been inconvenienced....or had joined in the Day of Action.

Not just because it would have reminded more people that a National Disgrace is EVERYONE'S problem.

Or because what's a day of inconvenience a year compared to 365 days of suffering.... bad water, hunger and teenage suicide?

But also because in a country as rich and fat as Canada raising a little shit is sometimes the only way the poorest and most oppressed and most desperate of Canadians can hope to get any ATTENTION.

Deseronto was just one of hundreds of events across the country. But it got ALL the TV airtime because they closed a highway and a railway track....so it was a BIG STORY ...so more Canadians noticed.

So at least for one day more Canadians couldn't shove the National Disgrace out of sight and out of mind.

So at least for one day the First Nations people weren't the Invisible People of Canada. Like these other poor and desperate Canadians...













They are everywhere in Canada. Every year there seem to be more of them. But we don't seem to see them anymore. Or don't seem to care...

Even though homelessness in Canada is now a chronic problem.

Canada's homeless population is somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 people, while another 1.7 million residents struggle with "housing affordability issues," says an analysis of the latest research on shelter.

Bad for them. Bad for EVERYONE.

"The high cost of homelessness in Canada results from the role of homelessness as a proven multiplier of societal ills: malnutrition, unemployment, addiction, mental illness, family strife and lack of income security are all intensified when an individual or household becomes homeless..."

But because so many homeless Canadians are too poor and desperate or ill to fight back...because they have no political clout...because they don't raise shit.... Canadians can easily put THAT National Disgrace out of mind....if not out of sight...
















Pretend they just don't see them...or if they do just shrug their shoulders and walk on. Or pretend it's somebody else's problem...as they hurry back to their comfortable homes...















The sad truth is that because not enough Canadians care enough about the problems faced by First Nations people and the homeless, to force our politicians to take immediate and emergency action, both human tragedies just keep getting worse and worse.

Even if so many of us can't seem to see them...or don't want to...



















Until that changes NOTHING will change.

On the eve of Canada Day I still think this country is the most beautiful country on earth. But until those two national disgraces are history...until those ugly and shameful stains on the Maple Leaf are removed.

For me Canada won't be beautiful enough.

So if it takes more Days of Action to shake things up....





















For me they can't come soon enough...

Summer Days and Owning the Blogging Bigots

Groan. What a drag it is to have to slug it out with the blogging bigots. When it's glorious SUMMER .....and there are so many other things I'd rather do. Like bike, swim, sail, or just lie on the dock soak up the sun...

And wait for Sébastien to come home.

But alas because I'm a poor gay boy I don't have a choice. I really do believe in a kinder, gentler world...where EVERYONE lives together in peace. But I have zero tolerance for homophobia...because it's just another word for murder.

So when I heard that the Alberta SoCon and Uberhomophobic blog the Politic.com was attacking us again....and using the pompous nerd Jason Cherniak as a battering ram....I just HAD to check it out.

And fire off a comment.

I thought it was a pretty good one....considering my state of mind...and the speed with which I wrote it.... But Aaron hated it. At least I think he did

WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?

Yikes !!! Aaron.... Aaron.....relax... it's me Simon...or Tonto, or the Caped Crusader, or Robin... Batman's lover. Or whoever you want me to be. Just admit that you ADORE ME....coz you write about gay men ALL the time. And all is FORGIVEN.

Or WAS until I read Aaron's other disturbing comment:

Come on, George. You’re not speaking this bimbo’s language. Try “HA HA HA hee hee we’re WINNING you suck SUCKA LOL yay we’re winning! and you still suck! lol yay!!”

HA HA hee hee? SUCKA LOL? BIMBO? OMFG!!! He really DOES lust after me!!!! Sébastien !!!!!! Sébastien !!!!!!!

BTW.Do you think he's talking in tongues? Or just talking SHITE...as usual.

Coz he wasn't the only SoCon doing that..... I whizzed off another comment to the Big Blue Embryo .....who ran the Pollies dumb post.

And she didn't like it either....

"Simon, for a guy who spews such hate and bile on your own blog, you have a lot of nerve coming here to call people homophobes. I'm actually glad you have a blog and show how fascist the gay agenda really is..."

Good Lordy!!!! Jebesus in a tortilIa !!!! The Blessed Virgin in a Mexican toilet!!!! Is that CRAZY shit or what?

Hmmm...let's see...I'm a peaceful live and let live guy....who wants gay and straight people and religious and non religious people to live happily together in a society that doesn't just tolerate differences....but celebrates them.

The Big Blue Embryo on the other hand, wants to ram her rosary rubbing monkey ju ju nonsense down our throats, whether we like it or not, create a theocracy in Canada, deny the humanity of gays and lesbians... and force women to become subservient baby machines...or JAIL them.

And I'M a fascist and she's not? Oooh boy...what kind of TWISTED ugly parallel universe....of pickled fetuses, pervert priests, and chimera monsters... do these SoCon freakazoids inhabit? Scary!!!!

But it doesn't really matter. The MAIN thing....as I told them both... is that we're winning and they're LOSING. Big Time.That's why they're foaming at the mouth.These homophobes like to dish it out but they sure as hell hate it when gay people fight back.

And the BEST thing is....the more people read their hatemongering tripe...the more they know what freaks are.

Which of course was the point of this whole exercise.... Hold the bigots up to the light of day or reason...and they'll shrivel up like vampires.

Yup. Aaron and the Big Blue Embryo may not realize it. But they've both been PWNED. As in OWNED.....

And of course..... I'm LMFAO...

Which means ....Aaron ....I'm Laughing My Fucking Ass Off. SUCKA LOL. Muahahahaha!!!!

Mission accomplished....
















Now back to glorious summer....

Why Religious Schools Should be Closed Down

In my post yesterday about the problem of anti-gay bullying in British schools....I left out something really important. Something that could save the lives of countless Canadian children.

I forgot to mention that other Simon's story. Which is a sad and brutal one.

"Even in class, people would say: 'Shut up, gay boy', but the teachers wouldn't do anything. When I lost my temper and flared up at them, I would be the one who got in trouble."

Eventually, he was assaulted in the local park in the presence of fellow pupils. "I was attacked one night by some 19- to 20-year-olds. I had a burst blood vessel in my eye, a black eye and a burst lip. I nearly fractured my cheekbone and they almost ripped my lip piercing out."

But I also forgot to mention something even worse....if that's possible. The fact that according to the study, the worst and most vicious anti-gay bullying happens in religious schools.

The situation is particularly bad in religious schools, according to the report. Stonewall calculates that three-quarters of gay pupils in faith schools experience homophobic bullying, and they are less likely than pupils in other schools to report it.

Isn't that disgusting. So much for these hatemongering hypocrites. So much for Jebesus. So much for religion in the classroom.

But if you think it is a British problem...think again. These religious freaks are crawling like bugs all over our Canadian schools as well.

Fighting any efforts to make schools better and safer places for gay,lesbian, bisexual and transexual children.

“Christian anthropology teaches that we are created male and female—it does not teach that we are created gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered,” said COURAGE.

“Subjective feelings, thoughts and struggles, while real, do not translate into ‘identity’. Also, these particular labels are often associated with political causes which are incompatible with Catholic moral teaching.”

Can you believe that? These christofascists would put their barbarous and inhuman ju ju monkey ideology before the lives and interests of real Canadian children. As if they haven't raped enough little boys or little girls...now they want to destroy gay kids. Or make their lives hell.

Homophobic bullying has a traumatic impact on young people. More than a third of gay and lesbian pupils do not feel safe at school and the vast majority say it has adversely affected their school work. Half of those bullied said they had skipped school as a result.

I don't know about you but I think it's time decent Canadians told these monsters where to get off. Told them to keep their pervert hands off our kids...and their absurd and twisted life denying ideology out of their little heads. And while we're at it out of OUR lives too.

It should be made very clear to these bigot bishops that unless they can guarantee the safety and integrity of ALL children in their schools, they will not receive a penny in government funds... they will be prosecuted as child abusers to the full extent of the law. And hopefully eventually forced to close.

Now we know what's really going on there....in those christofascist kiddie concentration camps... and what the religious curriculum/satanic agenda is all about....




















There really is no excuse....

If we can't save our Canadian children from these inhuman monsters who the fuck will?

The Mingle Challenge and Bullied Gay Kids

Like so many other bloggers out there I couldn't resist taking the Mingle Challenge.

And I was shocked by the results.




Not just by the rating itself. But by the words they chose to determine it.....

gay (77x)
murder (8x)
dead (5x)
dangerous (4x)
hell (3x)
queer (2x)
asshole (1x)

Yikes! I can't fucking believe I used the word gay seventy-seven times and the word asshole only once.

I mean gay is about me and my brothers and sisters. But what about my enemies? Don't tell me I write seventy-seven times more about us than I do about the homophobes. Fuck me. I'm gonna have to do better than that....

And BTW how the fuck did they miss the word fuck?

Which made me wonder whether it's Mingle's rating system that is fucked....so I decided to give it a little test...

Surely I thought, the gentle and creative gay blogger Mark at Slap Upside the Head had to get a better rating than me. Right?

Wrong.



Based on his use of the following words:gay (16x) slap (7x) gays (4x) lesbian (1x)

Which I think proves CONCLUSIVELY that Mingle's criteria are not just fucked they're HOMOPHOBIC.

Or as the Great Old and Very Unrepentant Hippie suggests....the fix is in.

Which kinda pisses me off. Because one of the big reasons I blog is to help gay kids under seventeen. Bullied kids like these.















Almost two thirds of homosexual pupils in Britain's schools have suffered homophobic bullying, a survey suggests.

Almost all of those had experienced verbal bullying but 41% had been physically attacked, while 17% said they had received death threats.

Isn't that a crime? And just remember that in Canada it's worse. We're not doing enough to tackle the problem...because most Canadians don't care enough.

Apart from writing to idiot politicians and school boards, I can't do much for these poor kids either. All I can do is attack their enemies...write about what I went through... encourage them to seek out support groups...tell them to be strong and proud.... that the bullying will end some day ....love will find them ...and everything will be ok. It's not much....pathetically little....but at least it shows I care.

So I hate to see a dating service that turns gay into a dirty word just like the bullies do...

"Ninety-eight per cent of young gay people hear the phrases 'that's so gay' or 'you're so gay' in school, and over four fifths hear such comments often or frequently."

......telling gay kids they shouldn't read our blogs. Huh?

I mean how could I pass on Simon's Little Gay Life Lessons? Like the one I prepared for today...pay attention kiddos...

Always remember..that anyone, or any group or organization, or any church or government, who tells you that gay is bad is not only REALLY BAD...but sicko crazy and should be ignored.

Remember that gay is beautiful. YOU are beautiful. Homophobes and bullies are evil bastards. Having to fight them is our curse.... and our glory.

And of course that Mingle is moronic...and in desperate need of a software overhaul. But you knew THAT. Lesson over.

Class dismissed...

My Gay Pride Video and the Anglican Church

Wow! Talk about a Big Gay Party. I've never seen so many people in all my life.

Talk about a awesome parade.














Hundreds of thousands of people of all ages, colours, and creeds...gay and straight...joining together to have fun...celebrate OUR struggle. And send out a powerful message of tolerance and inclusion to the whole world.

So how sad that that the Anglican Church of Canada would choose that very day to send out a message of hate.

They can qualify it all they want. But by refusing to even BLESS same-sex unions that's the message they are sending out. That we're not human enough...and our love isn't good enough...to even merit recognition..

They bless pets. But they won't bless us. Isn't that nice? Who let these bigot bitchops out?

Of course a religious blessing means just as much to me as a fucking fatwa. It's all ju ju monkey crazy nonsense... and SHITE..... as far as I'm concerned.

But a lot of good gay people are disappointed...and so is my good Anglican mum...so I'm pissed off.

But I shouldn't be... I saw so many loving gay couples...and happy gay families this weekend...who don't need to be blessed because they already ARE...

And so much pride, and energy, and inclusiveness, and tolerance that I know that these religious wackos will never be able to hold us back...or return us to a darker time.

Because they're ugly, inhuman and life denying ....and we're beautiful and full of life and love.

If you don't believe me...just check out this little video I made ....



And that was just a SMALL part of the parade.....

But you see what I mean? Those crazy bigots don't stand a chance.

Whatever they say....whatever they do...our beautiful freedom march just keeps getting bigger and stronger every year. ....coz we're UNSTOPPABLE!!!!!!!

Thank you to the organizers and all the volunteers who made Gay Pride Toronto such a success. And to all the gay AND straight people who made it such a great PARTY.

And a special thanks to my friends and other boys in the Gay Army's Water Gun Brigade...who tried SOOOOO hard to soak me ....even though I was only armed with a CAMERA!!!!

But MISSED....I was too quick for them....nyah nyah nyah...










Only to have a teeny tyke in a school bus carefully aim his water pistol out of the window and get me between the eyes....The little killer.

What a laugh. What a blast.Thank you EVERYONE!!

I'm so HAPPY and PROUD to be gay

See you all next year....

The Dyke March and the Big Gay Party

I went downtown again today to watch the Dyke March. And caught the magic moment when my beautiful sisters roared out of the Gay Village on their bikes...Vroom Vroom...loud and proud. It really made my heart JUMP.

I've never wanted to be a lesbian...I think...but I sure did then!!!

Although it's a relatively small march... tens of thousands of people lined the route. The dirty old straight men and teenage boys were there with their cameras and cell phones hoping to take pictures of boobies.

But instead behind the angry bikes.... came the mighty Dyke Tyke Brigade...











(click to enlarge)

The straight guys must have been disappointed. But I thought it was brilliant.

And cute...













What a great way to show what we are all about. LOVE and FAMILY ...just like THEY are.

Then it was back to Church Street where the party was just beginning...













Believe it or not...

Where the boys were waiting...

And this one invited me to join his Gay Army...

















But I declined. I have to admit the offer was inviting. But I've never heard of the GAY TROJAN ARMY have you?

So instead I decided to cool down.... by sitting under a tree in a garden.... and watching this brother from a Gay Asian support group perform a graceful dance.

















And he was beautiful...

But then so was EVERYONE else. The gay and straight people who keep making the Big Toronto Gay Party such a mega event..

Yup. Even as the religious crazies keep coming after us. (You can read more about the sicko and Christian terrorist Bill WhattheFuck here. )

Even as these hatemongers try to make as ugly as they can. So that they can whip up hatred against us and keep trying to ruin our lives. Over and over again.

We just keep showing them...over and over again. That as this year's Pride slogan says

We're UNSTOPPABLE!!!!!!














But now I've got to scoot.... The night is young. I've got to get out there again...party until I drop...and still make it back to bed not TOO late... so I can wake up in time to catch the parade tomorrow.

But if I don't make it ...feel free to blame the Trojan Army...just don't tell Sebastien...

Oh yeah I forgot... the video....well if you want to see this year's Best Gay Video Choice you have to go here.

But I'm submitting this old fave by Erasure. Again. Because to me it speaks for the spirit of our Big Gay Party....


For why I fight. Who I love.

And the kind of world I want to live in...

Happy Pride everyone!!

Gay Pride, True Colours, the Bigot, and L'Amour

I went down to the Gay Village this afternoon. The beautiful rainbow flag was starting to appear everywhere. But it was still REALLY quiet. Which made me feel a little guilty because I didn't sign up to be a volunteer like I did last year.

Oh no. What if gazillions of people show up for the Big Gay Party. and we're not ready? And it's all MY fault!!!!

But then my friend told me the real work begins tomorrow.

And I noticed that at least the bars are ready...


















Whew! That's the main thing. Disorganization and events that don't ever start on time is just a GAY fact of life. But a Big Gay Party without any beer....that's a RIOT!!

Seriously though....with Sébastien away...and the bad news in Afghanistan... and the hot weather... I have been dragging my ass. The fabulous Gay Pride Week is more than halfway over and I haven't done ANYTHING. Which almost makes me feel like I'm not gay enough. Which of course is horrible.

Maybe I'm just changing...growing older...less angry. Or just lazier...if that's possible. Or maybe I just figure that I blog all year round for the gay cause...standing up for my brothers and sisters all over the world...like these brave ones.

Or handing out pamphlets urging people not to go to Jamaica. Or writing politicians to demand more anti-bullying programs in our schools to protect gay kids.

Or playing whack-a-mole with homophobes. Like I did today with this old coot. By firing a comment at him about his bigoted and ignorant post....

So I can afford to take a few days off while others do the work....and just enjoy the show or go some place far from the madding crowd... chill out....dream of other things. And wait for my guy to come home....

And besides I did take in a FABULOUS gay concert.

It wasn't really my kind of music.... But it's such a great cause.

And Erasure was just AWESOME!!!!!!

I love their song "I Could Fall in Love with You." I've already posted the video once. You know the one with all the straight and gay couples kissing. And I may play it again soon.

But tonight I thought I'd just play this other Erasure song...not just because it's gayer....and I need to feel gayer myself.

But because .....I don't know....it just seems so right....



Yup. That's gay enough...And as for WHAT NOW ?

No problem. Just wait three weeks for my most loved one to return...and fall in love all over again.

And of course keep whacking those bigot moles.

And as for the Big Gay Party? I'm ready. Just like they are...















Who KNEW our people lived there?

Oh boy do I love my beautiful brothers and sisters!!

The old coot bigot may never understand that.

But for me that's what gay pride is really all about...

The Pentagon Plan to Save Iraq's Past

A while back I wrote a post about how armies of looters were being allowed to swarm all over Iraq's precious archaeological sites ... reducing them to rubble...literally wiping some of them off the map.

And how the Americans were not only doing nothing to stop them, they were contributing to the problem. By turning the Hanging Gardens of Babylon into the Hanging Gardens of Halliburton.

Well now the Pentagon has apparently decided to do SOMETHING. By running off a brand new set of playing cards

Now they're not trying to capture and kill Saddam. They're trying to save the Cradle of Civilization.

Good Luck.

A majority of these illicit digs are far more than small holes dug by local families with picks and shovels-they are massive quarrying efforts carried out by organized teams often involving hundreds of workers and mechanized equipment such as backhoes and bulldozers, sometimes financed by foreign dealers.

Why is everything in Iraq too little and too late?

What does it say about humanity when we were only prepared to save the Cradle of Civilization with a deck of playing cards? Or by telling pilots not to bomb the precious ruins. Unless of course they HAVE to...

Not much.

But at least it does give us all a hint of which card trumps all others in this latest Pentagon card game....












While reducing the rest of the country to rubble. What a joke. What a tragedy. What a crime...

How ironic they should be hauling out the playing cards again.

When it's almost time to fold 'em....

The Pope and the Vatican Driving School

Holy Gotterdamerung!!! It's bunker time at the Vatican. The Nazi Pope must be getting desperate. Nobody cares what he has to say about anything anymore. N So he's trying to reach out to the masses..... by opening a driving school.

The Vatican (has) instructed its followers to take the high road issuing 10 commandments calling for those behind the wheel to drive with as much moral purpose as they live their lives.

Uh oh. That sounds dangerous. Not only do the guidelines strongly suggest that if you have to choose between picking up a hooker...or running over someone...you should mow the pedestrian down. Death is always horrible ....but sex with a hooker is worse.

Unless of course you can park your car in a nearby restaurant..... like this drunk priest did.

But even more disturbingly... the Papal Drive and Sex guide also includes this bizarre instruction...

It also praises the benefits of making the sign of the cross before turning the ignition key and reciting the rosary on the road, as its "rhythm and gentle repetition does not distract the driver's attention."

Oh sure. Maybe it wouldn't distract THEIR attention...but it sure would distract MINE. I mean if I'm stopped at a red light ....and I look over and see the driver next to me mumbling some crazy mumbo jumbo while feverishly fingering some ju ju beads....I'm OUT of there!!!!

Just like if I was in Baghdad and saw some sweating Muslim fanatic driving a large truck start doing the same thing...I'd get the hell out of there too.... or hit the ground.

With the Christian Taliban on the march. Or being jailed for murder You can't be too careful...

And even if these rosary chanters turn out to be harmless...if talking on a cell phone in fast moving traffic is dangerous...isn't having a conversation with an imaginary being while driving under the influence of Jebesus the same thing? Or worse?

Which makes me wonder...who on earth gave this Nazi Pope the right to open a driving school? When I can think of several good reasons why he shouldn't...

(1) Hasn't driven a car since his golden years in Nazi Germany...I mean how can you talk about something you haven't done for ages? What's he going to talk about next? Sex?

(2) Probably can't tell the difference between a stick shift and a dick..like so many of his priests. And if he mixed them up in heavy traffic that could be catastrophic. How would they EVER cover up that?

(3) Might if placed behind the wheel again have a distressing tendency to drive straight at gay people....liberated women.... abortion clinics...and condom ads. As well as of course ALWAYS driving in the far right lane.

(4) If given half a chance would probably keep the car permanently in reverse and try to steer it.... using the rear-view mirror....all the way back to the 12 th Century.

You see what I mean? Our roads are already dangerous enough. And BTW who does this Nazi Pope think he is issuing those 10 Commandments? Moses of the Autobahn?

Yup. If they know what's good for the franchise, the castrati at the Vatican should tell the old homophobe to shut up about EVERYTHING. And keep his ridiculous driving instructions to himself.

There maybe a Highway to Hell. But we ain't going there.

He is...

Harper's Con Car and the Racing Bubbahs

You know how I love racing cars....so when I heard that Stephen Harper's Cons were going to sponsor a racing team I was naturally intrigued. Only to almost shit myself laughing when I found out who they were actually sponsoring.

A Dodge Charger stock car driven by news whore Pierre Bourque....on the Canadian NASCAR circuit. OMFG how low can they go? First Stockwell Day and his Skidoo...now this amateur act.

The federal Conservative party is moving forward with a new strategy...by sponsoring a stock car in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, as it tries to win over the estimated one in five Canadians who counts himself or herself as a NASCAR fan.

"This is a great opportunity for them to get some facetime with a huge segment of the Canadian electorate," Bourque told CBC news on Monday. "It's a natural fit for them."

Oh please. Don't make me laugh. Somebody please let some hot air out of this guy's tires before he goes pop.....or pfffffft....

Many Canadians may be addicted to the American NASCAR circuit...or at least the television show....a wild and vulgar mix of yankee militarism, country singers, corn roasts, big boobs, drunk rednecks with confederate flags, and ugly souped up road cars.

But almost NOBODY follows the Canadian NASCAR circuit. It's so dinky and far down the racing ladder...it's the next step up from bumper cars. No serious racing fan would be caught dead at one of those bush league rumbles. To enjoy one of those rube races you'd have to be plastered on moonshine.

And.....alas for the Big Blue Con Car's sponsors..... despite Alberta's outstanding contribution....there just aren't THAT many rednecks in Canada...















But of course....it's not even a Canadian idea. Just another American one.

The so-called NASCAR dad fully emerged as a targeted political constituency during the 2004 presidential race between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Political strategists heralded the primarily Southern voter as a conservative counterweight to the more liberal "soccer mom."

"If you blend it with the evangelicals, you pretty much have the White voting bloc, ages 21 to 55 and predominately male, though not exclusively ....And it is a potent voting force, especially among the Republicans."

But not in Canada... Great Fat Leader may have the evangelicals by the short and curlies...just like they have their voices in his head....but he still can't tell the difference between Americans and Canadians. He always forgets that what works there....usually doesn't work here. That's why we're still an independent country.

Just like these dum cons forgot one other thing...because of the rube nature of the NASCAR races... going round and round on small and dinky oval tracks...they have a nasty tendency to crash into each other.....on into concrete walls.

Or lose their wheels....or explode....or fall apart....













Just like the Harper government...or what's left of Pierre Bourque's credibility...

Wow!! Talk about a great metaphor...and so many many more to come....limping into the pits...blowing a gasket....losing a gear...or just running out of gas...... and going pfffftt...

And what a way for Bourque to go. I take back all I said about this rube bumper car circuit....and the Big Blue Con Car. Vroom. Vroom. Go Bubbahs go!!

I think I'm going to LOVE this show....

Does Toronto Really Need a Gay Pride Parade?

I dashed down to Toronto City Hall today to watch them raise the gay flag...to mark Gay Pride week. But by the time I got there.... sweating like a pig in the 34 degree heat...the rainbow flag was already flying on the "courtesy pole "....and people were already leaving.

In the square below a couple of hundred mostly older gays and lesbians mingled with city poobahs and and other VIPs. Others lined up to get free roast beef sandwiches. The Mayor was in a corner answering questions from a horde of reporters....about property taxes. It all seemed a little ho hum.

Then I read this slap in the face post about how they almost cancelled the Gay Parade in Montreal. Because the pride/beer ratio wasn't right. And I was shocked. I leave my city for a few years and this is what happens. Yikes....I mean tabarnac. As if we don't consume enough beer. As if we don't have enough drunks.

But then I couldn't help but wonder whether Toronto really needs a Gay Pride Parade anymore. Because they may not be selling enough beer in Montreal....but the one here is a corporate carnival. It sells EVERYTHING.

OK......OK..... I KNOW I had a good time last year.











But what if we scrapped the parade.....saved all that money spent for floats and security.... and put it into projects to help gay kids or seniors or people living with HIV...or to promote anti-bullying programs in our schools?

And just kept THE BIG GAY PARTY.

After all.... only thirty-eight years after the Stonewall Riots created it. ....that's all Gay Pride has become. Once it was a march that followed a riot. Now it's just a parade. Although the group that organizes New York's Pride Celebrations still insists on calling it a march.

Heritage of Pride, Inc., like its predecessor the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee, has always called this event a March. HOP feels that until the day all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people can live their lives without violence, harassment, and discrimination, they must continue to march openly and proudly.

But everybody LOVES a parade. Don't we have the right to celebrate our victories in our long and hard struggle for equality?

Oh boy do we ever...

But only as long as we remember that the struggle is not over, and the biggest battles are ahead of us. The Christian Right is growing more desperate and extremist in its views. If you haven't read this excellent but scary post. You should.

The Christofascists are on the move. First they'll come for us. Then they'll come for the others. Now may be the time to celebrate. But it's also the time to fight back. Show them that we are not afraid. Time to put a little riot back in the gay parade.

Which just happens to remind me.......ahem......my FAVOURITE Canadian band Billy Talent won the best video at the MuchMusic Video awards the other night for a song called Fallen Leaves. It's awesome and you KNOW I'll find an excuse to run it.... But not tonight.

Tonight I thought I'd just run my second favourite BT video...after Nothing to Lose.... the one about bullying.

Just to give you an idea of what my Gay Parade might look like....


Just add a few rainbow flags of freedom to the red ones of revolution ...and that's what I call a March/Riot/Parade!!!

In the meantime a million people can't be wrong. There is something during Gay Pride Week for everyone. And EVERYONE gay or straight is invited.

So I guess I'll just drag my sorry gay ass down to THE BIG GAY PARTY AND PARADE.(sigh) All those concerts...all that food and drink...all those half naked men. That is going to be REALLY hard.

Having a wild and crazy time....without Sébastien.

While waiting for the war to begin...

Afghanistan and the Enemy Within

I was helping a friend with his yacht the other day.... when along came this little army chopper and put on quite a show in front of me. Dropping a frogman into the water, and then coming back to pick him up.

I was quite impressed. Until I realized that it was probably just part of General Rick "Kurtz" Hillier's new propaganda offensive to win over the home front. By taking the army to the people. To try to build up support for our doomed mission in Afghanistan.

I got a chopper. The kiddies got a tank.

But then the military is everywhere these days. The Van Doos are being sent to cities all over Quebec, and even a CFL game...before they go to Afghanistan in August. Wherever young Canadians gather these days the Forces are sure to go. There were so many troops at the CNE last year looking for new recruits, I'm surprised we didn't lose the war.

So I can't really understand what this blogger is so steamed about.

Not content to pollute the public discourse with their shameful distortions of the Afghan mission and the CF's part in helping that heretofore forsaken country rebuild itself, they've decided that intruding upon the lives of the soldiers involved and that of their families - and not of the politicians who decide what missions the CF takes on, mind you - is the most productive use of their time that day. So they're scheduling "une marche pacifique" - riiiight, let's see how that turns out - for the same day.

Like our soldiers and their families don't have enough stress to deal with as their deployment date approaches, without worrying about a confrontation with a bunch of uninformed, loudmouthed, belligerent nut-jobs on the streets of Quebec City. Asshats...

Blowhard....

First of all if you can read French the peace activists make it clear that it will be a peaceful march and that it WON'T interfere with the parade.

Secondly...if the Forces are so eager to get their message out to Canadians....don't Canadians have the right to get their message out as well?

As for the fuss over the letter campaign well that's as ridiculous as the mass mailing itself.

French Canadian soldiers like English Canadian soldiers are in the forces because they want to be there. They love what they do. They want to do a good job. And they want to believe in the mission. The letters will end up in the garbage along with other junk mail.

But Canadians who don't support the war in Afghanistan have every right to be heard. ... along with those who do. Because in the end THEY all get to decide whether the mission is a good one or a bad one or a hopeless one. And whether it's doing Canada more harm than good. Not the generals or the soldiers.

And the right-wing chickenhawks have no right to call Canadians who disagree with them traitors. Or the enemy within...

Or frame our teeny weeny hunt and kill mission as a grandiose crusade to save the world from terrorists....or even save little girls....

How many guns does that little exercise in moral masturbation take out of the hands of the misogynistic thugs who kill little girls for the crime of becoming literate?

Give me a break. This is Afghanistan the barbarous and corrupt Islamic Republic we're talking about....... NOT the fucking Second World War!!!!!

You know ASSGHANISTAN....where little girls get taken out of school by their parents at the age of twelve. Where young women are jailed for running away from their 80-year-old husbands. Or burn themselves alive rather than suffer that fate.

Or are forced to marry three-year-old boys.

And gay kids are forced to service dirty old straight men....or jailed.

And prisoners are tortured or murdered. Is that ever going to change? No. So what the fuck are we doing there?

But then this mission was never about the Afghan people. Or reconstruction. Or if it once was it isn't anymore. It's just a way to keep NATO on life support now that the Cold War is over, please George Bush, bloody our troops, and militarize our culture to make us more like the Amerikans.

Stephen Harper and his Cons are a far greater threat to Canada as we know it than the ignorant Taliban barbarians are now or ever will be. They are the real enemy within....

As for the soldiers .....if they don't want Canadians to call them Harper's Army...or Chimp Bush's little bananas..... they should get off their high horses....and stop treating their countrymen like traitors. Or when Harper gets planted face first in the garbage can of history their little army might get even smaller.

They'll be lucky if there are enough soldiers left to guard the Governor General and fight forest fires.

Coz we need an army that considers Canadians THE ENEMY like we need a hole in the head. And at the going down of this yankee-loving traitor government WE WILL REMEMBER...

Oh yeah. This little rescue mission ended well...
















But who will rescue Canada...and our army.... from these chickenhawk Cons?

Real Reggae and Murder Music

I didn't like the dance hall music of Sizzla and Beanie Man and others long before I found out they were singing anti-gay murder music. Most of it is just stoopid sexist crap.

But I've always loved REAL reggae music with its message of struggle and universal brotherhood. So I had to love this story.

Three of the world’s top reggae/dancehall singers have renounced homophobia and condemned violence against lesbians and gay men. Beenie Man, Sizzla and Capleton had previously released anti-gay hate songs, including incitements to murder lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

It's not much. I doubt they've really changed their minds. Just feeling a pain in their wallets. But every Long March begins with a first step. Especially on the homophobic Zombie Island of Jamaica. And the message is a good one.

“There’s no space in the music community for hatred and prejudice, including no place for racism, violence, sexism or homophobia”....

Now somebody go and tell that to the monstrous bigot Buju Banton...who incites his audiences to shoot gays in the head, pour acid over them, and set them on fire...

“The other five murder music artists – Elephant Man, TOK, Bounty Killa, Vybz Kartel and Buju Banton – have not signed the Reggae Compassionate Act. The campaign against them continues...

Sometimes when I think of Buju Banton I get REALLY angry. I wish someone in the Gay Army would just take care of him. Pump two caps into his reptile brain. Or give him an acid bath. But then I remember that's not the GAY way, and it's not the REAL reggae way either.

And that the best way to keep hurting that homophobe and all the other Murder Musicians is to keep FUCKING their bottom lines.

Boycotting their shows. And cancelling their ass.
















And that if you want to hear REAL reggae don't bother to go to Jamaica. When Bob Marley died it died too.

Just go to South Africa and ask Lucky Dube to play this old song for you......



Oh yeah! Reggae in the bathroom...reggae in the bedroom... nobody can stop REAL reggae.

Coz it's for EVERYONE...

The Great Bob would have loved that. And so do I.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Stephen Harper and the Elephant Man

Like most decent Canadians when I first read Stephen Taylor's smarmy and cowardly attack on Stephane Dion's family, I was revolted.

But then I was amused. It's obviously just the latest campaign by that tool of the PMO to portray Great Fat Leader as a human being...and an ordinary Canadian. Which of course is laughable.

But then it was no coincidence that the Tory Tool published his absurd post on the same day that this poll came out.

Muahahaha! The Tory No-Brain trust must be desperate. The writing is on the wall. Canadians viscerally distrust and despise Stephen Harper so much he's falling apart like a wet paper bag. And dragging the Cons down with him. So the the panic is on to try to remake Harper's image. But since you can't put lipstick on an elephant man....they've resorted to attacking Dion. Again.

As a Quebecer I'm not a supporter of the wacky professor. But I can tell you one thing... Stephane Dion is a far more decent human being and better Canadian than Stephen Harper can ever hope to be. Or like the yankee stooge monster he is... would probably ever WANT to be.

But let's examine the evidence. And you be da judge...

HOW MUCH OF AN ORDINARY CANADIAN IS A MAN WHO:

(1) Was raised in the sinister Calgary School, and has spent most of his adult life as a nerdy policy wonk for right-wing freakazoid organizations like the Fraser Institute, the National Citizens Coalition, and the Reform Party. Right. You can't be an ordinary Canadian unless you've gone to neocon school. Like you couldn't be a Good German unless you joined the Hitler Youth.

(2) Is a secret religious fanatic who belongs to a weird sect known for its rabid missionary zeal, talking in tongues, and faith healing. And for its crazed beliefs that daddy knows best, gay people are evil, abortion is murder, and the end of the world is imminent. Oh yes that's a really ordinary sight in Canada. Gazillions of Canadians on their knees everywhere mumbling "Jebesus Jebesus" and looking up at the sky. Or is that Alabama?

(3) Pretends he's a family man but uses his children as props in a most disgusting way. He flies his kid to a hockey game but not before he tells the media he'll be there so the little prop can't enjoy the game because he's got so many cameras shoved in his face. Or when he drops his children off at school he shakes their hand instead of hugging them. What kind of a Canadian dad would sacrifice his kids for a photo-op?

(4) Speaks in a strange and creepy monotone voice, which coupled with his obvious inability to show any empathy, is characteristic of a clinical psychopath.

Imagine - if you can - not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame, not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken.

And pretend that the concept of responsibility is unknown to you, except as a burden others seem to accept without question, like gullible fools.

Sound familiar? And you thought Stephen Harper doesn't ever admit he is wrong because he doesn't WANT to.

Believe me I've known a lot of psychopaths and that's how they talk. They can be very successful...or pitiless killers...but nothing can hide the deadness inside....
















(5) Is a demented control freak who tries to muzzle everyone around him. And lies ALL the time. A man who believes he OWNS the truth. And when he's told he doesn't...like Preston Manning told him years ago...sulked and stamped his feet like a crybaby...had a kind of nervous breakdown...and became a born again religious fanatic.Scary. But really ordinary...

(6) Lets another man...the screamer pitbull bitch John Baird ...act as his eunuch and his wife's consort...and take her out on the town. Oh yeah... I'm sure "ordinary" Canadian married men do that all the time. I happen to believe that Mrs Harper is a pretty cool woman...just like Mrs Dion. But how many ordinary Canadians have GAY men take their wives out?

(7) Never travels anywhere without his personal psychic and makeup artist....












So she can put on his mascara and smear pancake makeup all over his porky features...while comunicating with the dead. Oh yeah that's REALLY ordinary. First we guys line up at the bar...and then we line up at the beauty parlour to get our fortunes told. Huh? Wot?

(8) Hates Canada and its beautiful values with a passion... and wants to turn it into Ugly Amerika. And doesn't care if Canadian soldiers die for nothing. As long as he can blow George Bush and sell our country out. Yup that's what ordinary Canadians talk about over their Timbits. How to fuck Canada and become a Mini-me Amerika. Brilliant.

Or don't make me laugh.... Stephen Harper is about as ordinary and as Canadian as a three dollar yankee bill. He's nothing more than a neocon monster, a liar, a divider, and a psychopath who has turned our Parliament into a septic tank. And the political process into a sewer.

Good luck with remaking THAT image. Canadians aren't THAT stupid. They know a freaky fraud when they see one.

And when the time comes to choose between Stephen Harper's ordinary...and ANY OTHER political leader.... I'm pretty confident they'll vote for better than ordinary.

Choose Canada rather than the United States.

And vote for a REAL Canadian....