Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, and the Gay Pride Parade

For almost ten years Stephen Harper waged a stealthy war against gay Canadians.

He forced a second vote on gay marriage, he voted against every gay rights bill that ever came before Parliament, including those designed to protect gay people from hate crimes.

He cut off funding for all LGBT organizations, he did nothing to fight homophobia, and nothing to protect gay kids from being bullied to death. 

But today Justin Trudeau is about to make history.

The ISIS Crazies Threaten To Attack the Toronto Pride Parade

The other day I told you that I'm planning to attend Toronto's Gay Pride parade, even though I'm recovering from knee surgery.

Because I want to honour the victims of the Orlando massacre, and show the hate mongers of this world that we are not afraid.

Even if I have to hobble through that crowd on crutches, or ride majestically through it on the shoulders of my companion. 

Well now I'm even more determined to go, because it seems some ISIS crazies are threatening to ruin the party. 



By behaving badly.

Toronto police say they are aware of a possible threat from a German pro-ISIS group that identifies the Toronto Pride Parade as an “excellent target” for an attack.

And although I'm not sure whether they will be bringing their favourite goats, and although I know that Justin Trudeau will be marching in the parade, so I'm sure the police will take the necessary precautions.

I'm not taking any chances. I'm sending in the Con Brigade...



I mean they're always talking about fighting ISIS, so this is their chance.

But seriously, what everybody needs to know is that the ISIS crazies are about as Muslim as those porkers. They are the Kafirs or unbelievers. 

They're murderous war criminals, drug addicts, rapists, gay killers, thieves, and cowards. 

And judging from the murderous activities of their latest self declared recruit, they may even be sodomites.

So if they try to rain on the gay parade, they will end up in the hell of their own choosing...



And what those losers, or that loser, needs to know, is that the LGBT community is a fighting community. 

The Gay Pride parade is a celebration of the three-day Stonewall Riots in 1969, and the official beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement...



We hate cowardly religious bigots with every bone in our bodies, and have been fighting them for over forty years.

And what they also need to know is that we are joined every year by tens of thousands of straight people, of all ages, and ethnicities. Who bring themselves and in many cases their children, to join in the fun and celebrate diversity, and tolerance.

Which is what makes us all strong. Or makes us Canada 

And while we're marching on to victory.... 



They're heading for oblivion.

So if I was them I'd stay at home, and shove this absurd message where the sun don't shine...



Before I lose my temper and confiscate that deadly cellphone, and that toy gun. And ask the authorities to administer a random drug test.

But if they do insist on coming, I do hope they introduce themselves to me and my buddy Sébastien. 

Because with more than twenty years of martial arts training between us, we'd LOVE to have a chance to welcome them to Canada.

For one thing is for sure eh?

They are losers.

The LGBT community will honour its dead.

And we are not afraid...



Canada Day and the Gay Pride parade share the same weekend.

So you can't fight for one, without fighting for the other...

Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.

The Fabulous Pride Parade and the Missing Cons

It was as fabulous as I knew it would be, just even bigger than I imagined. 

Downtown Toronto was given a jolt of extra colour on Sunday as more than 1 million people, some toting rainbow flags, marched the city’s streets for the 33rd annual Pride Parade.

Crowds of revellers lined the parade route behind barricades as they cheered on participants -- many of them wearing colourful and festive outfits that have become a hallmark of the internationally renowned parade.

Stephen Harper, Rob Ford, and the Little Canada

As I paddle my way through life I'm sorry to say that so far I don't have much to brag about eh?

Whenever I toot my own horn there is always somebody there, like Seb or my Mum, to gently remind me I'm not perfect. !!@#!!!

But I'm proud to say that I don't have a bigoted bone in my body. I don't just tolerate diversity, I celebrate it. So you can imagine how happy I was to see this story. 

Rob Ford and the Little Farm (Continued)

About six months ago I wrote a post about the little farm on the Toronto Islands that Rob Ford was threatening to close down.

Soon after that I thought it had been saved. But now it's on the chopping block again.

Even though just ONE weekend of ferry ticket sales would ensure its survival. And Ford threw away $60 million by canceling a registration fee for cars, in a city choking in its own fumes.

Now to add insult to injury it looks as if the little farm's survival may come at this price. 

Rob Ford: The Man Who Would Eat Toronto

(click pic to enlarge)

They say it's a hard city to love. When I moved here a few years ago my friends in Montreal said I'd absolutely hate it. That they didn't call it Hogtown for nothing eh? And that I'd probably die of boredom.

But actually I've become rather fond of this big old town on the lake, and some of the people who call it home. So I really hate to see how Rob Ford and his right-wing hogs are trying to rip its guts out.

I still can't believe that a grubby homophobe could be mayor of the most diverse city in the world. I can't believe how a crass millionaire could have the indecency to deny help to some of the city's most vulnerable people.

Once again, Mayor Rob Ford was the lone member on City Council to vote against grant money earmarked to HIV/AIDS related programs.

The vote capped two days at council that saw Ford vote against six other community development grants programs that improve the lives of the city’s seniors, immigrants, the poor and the disabled.

I can't believe that in the 21st Century a mayor of a modern city is encouraging people to use cars instead of public transit, and declaring war on bikes. When Toronto is choking in its own fumes. And has the highest rate of car/bike collisions in Canada.

I can't believe that so many people were suckered by the Fordzilla's gaseous emissions about stopping the "Gravy Train." And how he was just the man to do it...
 

When in fact there is no "Gravy Train." And he doesn't know what he's doing.

But that isn't stopping him from trying to change Toronto beyond recognition.

This week’s dizzying blitz of proposed service cuts sets up another round of daily offerings, starting Monday — an orchestrated raid with one main goal: the sacking of Toronto the Good, Toronto the Beautiful, Toronto the Caring, Toronto the Livable.

I can't believe that it has come to that. I can't believe it has come to this.

Chaleff-Freudenthaler wrote in the complaint that Ford “accosted” him outside the council chamber. Speaking in an “aggressive tone,” Chaleff-Freudenthaler wrote, Ford told him to be “prepared” for something Ford didn't identify.

Chaleff-Freudenthaler wrote that he sought to “de-escalate the situation” by declining to “engage” with Ford, but that Ford continued to speak threateningly. Eventually, Chaleff-Freudenthaler wrote, Ford told him that he “should be careful because ‘what goes around comes around.’”

And this from the gang that didn't hesitate to use dirty tricks during the last election. Remember?

Oh boy. As I said before I'm a Montrealer eh? I'm just visiting. But if the good people of Toronto want to save their city they better get cracking.

Take to the streets. March on City Hall. Call in the cops. Sign a petition. Do what they have to do to drive the Fordzilla and his right-wing goons from office.

And if they do I'll be there to help them. Because it's a horrible thing to see a great city dying. This is a Canadian tragedy, and enough is ENOUGH. 

The hogs are on a rampage.

And the lights are going out...

Pride Day and What it Means to Me

I went down to Pride Toronto this afternoon with a few friends, and although it was 30 degrees in the shade and I practically melted, it was an awesome experience.

Every year it seems the event just gets bigger and bigger.













And this year there are more people, more stalls, more of everything.














So much for this controversy.

Although this does seem a bit ominous.

Hopefully, push won’t come to shove this Sunday and things won’t turn out as they did in August 1933, when some foolish young punks unfurled a swastika flag at a baseball game involving a Jewish team in Toronto’s Christie Pitt Park. Perhaps you've heard of Toronto's Christie Pitt riot? The fighting went on for three days.

Or just plain hysterical and CRAZY. Because no gay person is going to hurt anyone. There is no hatred in our parade. Pride Day is about celebrating love and diversity.

And EVERYONE is welcome to join in the fun.





















It is and always will be a political event. One that marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots when gay people finally said enough is ENOUGH.

















It marks how far we've come. And how far we still have to go.

And this year it's also a humungous gay/straight/whatever wild but gentle street party... in a city that badly needs one.

But for me it is and always will be mostly about the kids...














Because I remember my first  Pride Parade in Montreal, when two shy 15-year-olds marched down the street holding hands in public for the first time.

And how it felt like we were walking on air, that we weren't alone anymore, and that we had a big gay family that would embrace us even if others didn't.

And how after that I knew that I would fight bullying and homophobia and all other forms of bigotry FOREVER.

You know the big American gay blogger Joe My God ended a recent post about Stonewall, by quoting an old Jewish joke.

They tried to kill us, we won, let's eat.

And then going on to say this about gay people.

They wish we were invisible. We're not. Let's dance.

And so we SHALL...
















Because whatever they say, or however they try to divide us.

We ARE family.



Gay, straight, or whatever, see you at the parade.

Happy Pride Day everybody !!!

The Gay Community Reclaims the Pride Parade

I'm glad to see that the organizers of the Toronto Gay Pride parade have decided to reverse their ban on the words "Israeli Apartheid."

Although I'm not surprised. Because gay people have too many enemies to waste time fighting each other.

Just like I'm not surprised that Jonathan Kay is spewing this kind of hyperbolic garbage.

Because anyone who calls the gay parade a hate parade is either an idiot or a homophobe...or just plain CRAZY. 

And before he tries to inflict collective punishment on the gay community, maybe Kay should first ask Frank Dimant of B'nai Brith  what he's doing hanging out with this ugly collection of religious extremists and homophobes.

Or ask the Canada Israel Committee why it's insulting gay people, and hanging out with bigots like Kathy Shaidle.

Talk about HATEFUL. How dare these right-wing Israeli lobbyists try to intimidate the gay community? 

And while he's at it, maybe Kay can also ask Dimant why he's isn't  planning to challenge Pride Toronto's  Solomonic decision.

This means that when (QUAIA) fly their banners with the words Israeli Apartheid, they leave themselves open to a complaint from B'nai Brith, the group that originally pressured Pride to take action against QUAIA. That sets up the possibility of a fascinating legal hearing in which pro-Zionist groups will have to articulate exactly why the words Israeli Apartheid are anti-Semitic or, at least, discriminatory.

By taking QUAIA to court.

"We're disappointed in Pride's recent decision," he told NOW. "We thought the organizers acted courageously and that there wasn't going to be any hurtful words that would cause tremendous pain to the Jewish community.

"But we don't want to involve ourselves in a confrontation with the gay community."

Right. Victory is sweet. It was a good fight.

But I'm just glad it's over. So we can concentrate on some of these other gay issues.

Like this one. Or this one. The ones that threaten or diminish our lives right here in Canada. 

Oh yeah. And one more thing. Judith Timson can stick her stilettos where the sun don't shine.

“You've got to give us some time,” Rev. Hawkes pleads. “The gay community needs to wrestle with what this parade is all about.”

Better hurry. The forces who are licking their chops at a chance to discredit and dismantle not just the pride parade, but gay pride itself, aren't going to let this opportunity go by. And that really would be a tragedy.

Because I don't wear stilettos or plead for ANYTHING. Nobody is going to discredit or dismantle our parade, let alone our gay pride.

The Gay Pride Parade will ALWAYS be political, part of our long march to freedom. And the march to freedom of all other oppressed groups.

But this year I'm marching with Brian for Brendan

“It’s a real problem in our schools,” says Burke. “It’s a problem for gay kids, for small kids, anyone different. I hate bullies . . . I didn’t realize the magnitude of the problem. What Brendan would have wanted was for me to continue some of these things.

The gay community has reclaimed the pride parade.

And NOBODY will intimidate us again. Or tell us what to do with OUR parade.

Because we are the gay people of Canada.

And we are FEARLESS...

Gay Pride and the Apartheid Controversy

Oh boy. Sometimes it's not easy being a gay guy. First  my beloved Montreal Canadiens get hammered by the goons from Philadelphia. Which depressed me deeply.

Then I read this story.

An outgoing gay rights activist is recovering from a vicious mugging that police describe as having “overtones of a hate crime.”

Chris Rabideau, 26, suffered a concussion, a broken nose, a swollen right eye and bruising on his face and neck when two male robbers beat him unconscious on Friday morning.

Which made me really angry.

And then I read this one.

And I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 

Let me get this straight... if you'll pardon the expression. A motley group of scummy politicians, homophobes, and Greater Israel lobbyists puts pressure on the Pride Committee, and they cave because they can't afford to lose any more sponsors. How humiliating ....and INFURIATING.  

Gimme a break. I love the Israeli people as much as I love the Palestinians. I hate anti-Semites as much as I hate homophobes. But criticizing the brutish and un-Jewish policies of  the Israeli government is not anti-semitic. 

And anybody who says that this parade has ever been hateful against ANYONE...



Should get his or her head examined. Because if these bigots and fools lose any more I.Q. points we'll have to WATER them.... with our super soakers.

On the other hand I'm not too impressed with the Queers Against Israeli Apartheid group either. I recognize that the Israeli-Palestinian struggle is the central event of their lives. I identify with their oppression. Just like I identify with the Jewish struggle for survival. 

But Gay Pride Day is the day when we remember OUR cause, and OUR martyrs.Like the millions of gays who live in fear in Arab countries, and the ones who are routinely butchered by the thugs from Hamas. And this group doesn't. Not even for ONE day.

You know there is a tendency in some progressive circles to downgrade our gay struggle, to stick us at the back of the bus. Even though we are the most persecuted minority on earth. I don't accept that horseshit  from straight groups, so I'm not about to accept it from a queer one.

Not when gay people are being attacked right here in Canada...















And Stephen Harper's foul Cons are waging war on the rights of gays and women.

Oh well. At least this pathetic controversy has convinced me of one thing. I'm going to have to be a volunteer.

Great eh? There goes my Pride Weekend. Bye bye party, hello garbage detail.

First the Canadiens fold. Then the Pride Committee caves. Then the homophobes celebrate. Now I'm condemned to wield a broom instead of doing a glamorous job like security because Sébastien says I like to fight too much?

Oh boy...I mean oy vey. As I said in the beginning.

Sometimes it ain't easy to be a gay guy.

And sometimes it's FABULOUS ...

Gay Pride and the Gay Con Stooge Award

Uh oh. I think I might have made a terrible mistake. Remember when I told you the other day that I thought John Baird was a shoo-in for this year's Gay Con Stooge Award?

For faithfully serving his master Stephen Harper like a yappy doggie. And for not speaking out against his homophobic government's war on gay people.

Or the theocon conspiracy.

“I just want people to know the facts,’’ says McDonald. “It is the connections, the depth of the organizational roots, that these organizations have put down in Ottawa. These are not known. Four years ago, they were not being catered to, they weren’t being invited to VIP receptions, they weren’t being asked for special election events, they weren’t having special letters read out their rallies, they weren’t getting (security) passes to Parliament Hill.

“And I am talking about fairly radical groups.’’

That would destroy his own community.

“Without the same-sex marriage debate, I don’t think this movement would be as strong, it wouldn’t have come together, it wouldn’t have been galvanized,” notes McDonald. “American groups wouldn’t have jumped to fund or to send in their rhetoric here practically prepackaged because they were afraid the infection would seep over the border. So why should we be surprised when Gay pride is defunded?”

And how after that I figured Bairdy HAD to be the winner of the Gay Con Stooge Award. Right?

Well ...um... now I'm not sure.

Because anyone who would allow the hideous homophobic haggis Barbara Kay to put down his own community. While fawning at her feet like a lap bitch.

Or clutching her like a whining chihuahua...

















Must surely be in the running. 

But who to choose?

I just can't make up my mind. So maybe what we need  is a drag show doggie show stooge contest.

Where they both dress up in evening gowns black face.

And may the best stooge WIN !!!!!!!

Should the Gay Pride Parade be Cancelled?

OMG. Pass me a towel. I see that the hideous Con nerd Tony Clement is still spitting out the Big Lie that his decision to cut funding to Toronto's Gay Pride Festival is not buh buh buh bigotry.

The Conservative government defended its decision not to grant money to Toronto’s Gay Pride festival this year, saying the event is a victim of its own success, not social conservative ideology.

And that the fags can puh puh puh pay for it themselves. Because you know gays are loaded eh?

Even though it is bigotry. Even though many gays are poor. Even though as the homophobic haggis Barbara Kay points out, the festival stands to lose even more funding.

Under pressure from voluble anti-QAIA city councillors, taxpayers' associations and activist Jewish gays rightfully offended and discomfited by QAIA's hateful messaging, Toronto may cut its funding to Pride - we'll know in a few days - and it's unclear whether the Ontario provincial government will contribute the same $350,000 this year that they gave in 2009. Apparently several sponsors already have quietly dropped their endorsement over the QAIA issue, as the Pride Toronto website as of May 9 shows only two corporate sponsors, TD Bank and Labatt Breweries. Proctor and Gamble and Pepsi Cola were there a month ago, but seem to have decamped, along with others.

And the Cons gave more than one-million dollars to the Calgary Stampede for the second year in a row. Even though it charges admission and has a list of sponsors as tall as an oil rig.

While the Gay Festival has almost none.

And it's expensive to hold a free party for a million people...most of them straight.





















When you don't get any money, but the city does.

“(The) Pride (festival) leaves a $100 million economic footprint, creates 650 jobs and generates $18 million in tax revenue.

But here's the thing eh? For me the Gay Festival is about more than a parade. It's a week-long gathering to celebrate our very survival in the face of the brutish bigotry that seeks to diminish or kill us. A chance to showoff our artists, and show closeted seniors or kids that they are not alone.

So maybe we should cancel the parade. Or hold it in a closed stadium and charge admission.

Or maybe this is enough.

















A  week-long private party just for OURSELVES.

And if the city doesn't like it tell them to blame the Cons or THEMSELVES.

I'd be sorry not to be able to entertain all those straight people in Toronto. Or soak them with my water gun.

But since so few of them have come to our defence. No editorials, almost no blog posts from those who should know that this not just a parade. Just a torrent of hateful comments in all the Toronto newspapers. About how  it's so PERVERTED. 

Maybe they don't deserve it.

Maybe it's time to let everybody know that we are fighting for our survival.

We can only count on ourselves.

And we are not a PARADE...

The Cons Go After Gay Pride Week

Stephen Harper and his grotesque AmeriCons are already waging a brutish culture war against the women of this country.

Now they're turning they're guns on the gay community. Again.

Organizers of Toronto's gay pride festival were surprised and angry Friday at the Conservative government's decision to drop the lucrative and popular event from its tourism stimulus package.

And lying their bigot asses off.

In a statement Friday, Industry Minister Tony Clement said there are 20 new beneficiaries this year, and the fund's second-year goal was to "ensure regional fairness by making sure every corner of Canada benefits from this temporary stimulus program.

Because does anyone seriously believe that these creepy homophobes from Alberta will cut funding to the rednecks and pancake flippers at the Calgary Stampede?

Right.

So why do they HATE Ontario sooooooo much? 

Pride Toronto officials said last summer's Pride Week contributed more than $100 million to the province's economy.

And when do WE get to wage war on those good ol' boys? The dirty bastard bigots who would turn our democracy into a theocracy. And Canada into Amerika.

The good news? I get to fight for the women of this country, for my own tribe, AND for Ontario.

What more can I ask for eh?

Oh yeah. The Toronto parade may be a little less fancy this year. But it will be a lot more political.

Because we will fight these fascist Cons, who have declared war on Canada and its values.

Until the day they are DESTROYED...

Pride Day, The Stampede, and the Real Scandal

Now that the Calgary Stampede is over, and we know how many people ...apart from Great Ridiculous Leader... attended the Cowboys and Pancakes animal show.

Total attendance to date at the conclusion of Saturday is 1,070,197, nearly 41,000 down from a year ago.

After the figures were...um....adjusted.

And we know that Toronto's Pride got about the same number of people just for the PARADE, and hundreds of thousands of others attended other Pride Week events.

And that Pride celebrates freedom and human diversity.

Pride is for everyone who doesn't hate gay people. Or parades, I guess.

.... And I do hate parades, but I make an exception for Pride because, with the good-natured police officers and the army recruiting booth and some members of Canada's armed forces marching and the hotels full, the bars brimming, the DJs playing and people celebrating, it makes me feel blessed to be Canadian now.














While the Stampede celebrations include animal torture.

And drunken orgies.

I can't believe people seriously say you're lucky if you get through Stampede week without losing either your wife, your job or your driver's licence.

OK I don't mind the orgies just the hypocrisy. But what I really want to know is why did the Stampede get $2 million from the Cons, while Pride got only a lousy 400-thousand?

Because that's the REAL scandal. First they discriminated against gay people, and then they discriminated against them AGAIN by reviewing their miserable grant.

But that's OK. It's a small price to pay for exposing the bigotry of these Cons, revealing the theocon conspiracy in the PMO, and how much they HATE Ontario. You know, the place where they were hoping to pick up votes in the next election.

Hee Haw. Flip me a pancake. I think we've got these Cons where we want them. Down on their knees with their rabid base in the toilet of homophobia. Praying up a shitstorm of hate. Dumping on Ontario. Scaring the Jebesus out of Canadians.

Or as the great Montrealer Bloodshot Bill would say.

Just lickin' the toilet bowl...


Hee Haw. I mean Yee Haw!! Isn't Bloodshot Bill great ?

Aren't the Cons DISGUSTING?

My Gay Pride Day and the Stonewall Kids

Well I have to admit it was my strangest Gay Pride Day ever. Hanging with some friends on a pile of rocks sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean. Trying not to talk about Michael Jackson.

Or feel guilty about missing the Gay Pride Parade.

Or celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots..... in a seafood joint with the sign "Happy Birthday Mr President (Bush)" over the doorway.















But then as I explained in my last post I desperately needed a break. So did Sébastien. He needed a break from the real world. I needed a break from the blogosphere.

Because I'm tired of having to waste so much time fighting homophobic wingnuts, who have been bombarding me with the most disturbing creepy messages I've ever seen

Like this gem accusing me of being responsible for the Toronto garbage strike:

Toronto, leftie dominated, garbage collectors refuse to bend over to pick up faggots' trash. They are claiming increased risk of getting sodomised and contracting HIV/AIDS while they are doing their jobs.

Raging faggot Montréal Simon still denies his own involvement in leftie movement that is behind this fiasco and tries to blame Conservatives for this latest development.

Yikes. What do you do with stuff like that? It's so easy to demolish their crazed arguments. But the stench of their twisted bigotry lingers, disturbs and distracts me from writing about other things. Which really pisses me off.

But then I read a story about the gay people who started the Stonewall Riots.
















A prominent Stonewall myth holds that the riots were an uprising by the gay community against decades of oppression. This would be true if the “gay community” consisted of Stonewall patrons. The bar’s regulars, though, were mostly teenagers from Queens, Long Island and New Jersey, with a few young drag queens and homeless youths who squatted in abandoned tenements on the Lower East Side.

Although several older activists participated in the riots, most stood on the edges and watched. Many told me they were put off by the way the younger gays were taunting the police.... They believed the younger generation’s behavior would lead to even more oppression.

Which made me laugh and feel better... even a little ashamed. WTF am I complaining about? I should be honoured those crazies are after me. Because when you're gay you only have two choices: fight for or surrender your humanity.

And if those kids could start the gay freedom struggle, then our generation will FINISH it.

Which is a long way of saying I'm back. It was a good break, although I am sorry about missing the Big Parade. Especially since my friends said it was the best one EVER. It actually started and ended on time *gasp* and for once it wasn't too hot. Just my luck eh?

But then for me gay pride day is every day. If my role in the blogosphere is to attract homophobes.... like a light attracts bugs to a zapper.... so be it. The stench of scorched bigotry will be EVERYWHERE.

But I can handle it. As long as you know who covers my back.

And no matter where I go.

I take my rainbow with me...

The Gay Pride Parade and the Jewish Controversy

In two weeks it will be time for Toronto's Gay Pride Parade

And thousands of volunteers are working their asses off to try to make it a big success. So I think it's fair to say the last thing we need is this ridiculous controversy.

Jewish groups are outraged that the Toronto Pride Parade could be hijacked by anti-Semitic protesters.

Organizers have angered some Jewish groups by letting Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) be among the 164 registered groups in the Sunday, June 28 parade.

Jewish groups say the parade included growing anti-Israeli sentiment in recent years and accuse Toronto lawyer El Farouk Khaki, the 2009 parade marshal, of being anti-Semitic.

I wish I could ignore this story. But since the opinion and feelings of Jewish Canadians matter to me, as do the ones of Arab Canadians, I think I better set everybody straight...if you'll pardon the expression.

(1) Nobody tells gay people how to run their parade. And certainly not the Jewish right-wing group that first complained... Frank Dimant's B'nai Brith. Because he's friends with some of the worst homophobes of the Christian Right.(PDF)

So he can just fuck off.

(2) The Gay Pride Parade is NOT a venue for anti-semitism. I didn't even notice the queer Arab group last year. Our parade is overwhelmingly pro-gay and anti-bigot. Period. And if any ugly anti-semite ever turned up, and our security didn't confront them, I would. Trust me.

(3) El Farouk Khaki is not an anti-semite. He is a distinguished human rights lawyer who ran for the NDP in the last election. And is being honoured for his work with gay refugees....including Alvaro Orozco.

(4) Nobody should hijack our parade...like some nudist group sometimes does...by insisting on the right to parade naked down the street in front of children. And grossing me out because what does that have to do with gay liberation?

So I wish the QuAIA group would concentrate on the desperate plight of gays in Arab countries... on OUR and THEIR day.

And stop claiming that Israel isn't a much much better place for gay people to live in. Because if you tried this in most Arab countries...




















They'd KILL you.

On the other hand the brutal Israeli occupation is a central part of Arab life so how can they ignore it? Resistance is a human right. The gay family is the most diverse one on earth and whatever they decide to do is OK with me.

(5) The Gay Pride Parade was, is, and always will be POLITICAL. And this year more than ever, because it marks not only the 40th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada.

But the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

And my problem with the parade is that it's too commercial and not political enough. Because sure we have a lot to celebrate. But so many gay people are still suffering all over the world.

For every victory there are a hundred defeats. And we still have so far to go. Like my poor brothers and sisters in California.

Where hope turned to disappointment...



But still they keep on marching. And that's why I'll be marching on Pride Day.

For them and all the others. Israelis and Palestinians and ALL my beautiful brothers and sisters.

With my party hat ....and my fightingdancing boots.

Now if only they could do something about the parade music...coz it usually SUCKS.

OK OK I know...you can't have EVERYTHING.

See you at the parade...