Sunday, July 4, 2010 6:32 PM

Toronto has a new tourist marketing campaign. Tell the world how great Toronto is here:

http://www.torontotourismboard.com/

Sherri

Sunday, July 4, 2010 7:25 PM

john looks so thin!

kevin

Sunday, July 4, 2010 11:39 PM

which middle eastern country has the most progressive gay rights and lifestyle?

kv

Monday, July 5, 2010 2:35 AM

Commenting on the angry reception Bill Blair received at the 519 Rev Brent Hawkes said:

Quote:
"Chief Blair has been one of the community’s greatest allies. “He deserved better,”

I don't know what Blair has ever done special for the Gay community. The fact is ANY police chief MUST recognize and respect the rights of the Gay community as they do with every other distinct community in the city. Even Fantino "reached out" Gay community. It's really nothing more than window dressing. For all we know Bill Blair hates Gays as much as some of his officers who taunted Gay men arrested last week.

WHATEVER HE HAS DONE FOR THE GAY COMMUNITY DOES NOT GIVE BLAIR THE RIGHT TO:

Issue orders to his officers to coral citizens and conduct wholesale illegal arrests.

Illegally detain innocent persons (including underage girls) in conditions where they faced sexual humiliation and in the case of Gay males taunting by Male cops

Issue orders to his officers to not engage the vandals thereby allowing havoc to be wreaked in the largest display of lawlessness Toronto has ever seen. Had the black-bloc been inclined to set buildings on fire we could have seen entire city blocks destroyed and lives lost.

FABRICATE the lie that the repatriation ceremony of Sgt Jimmy MacNeil was disrupted by protesters. He used the body of a fallen soldier to provide political cover without any regard for the hurt that this lie would cause Sgt MacNeils grieving family - DISPICABLE!

Mislead the public on the 5 metre law

Mislead the public by presenting phony evidence as "weapons seized at the G20"

DISGUISE some of his under cover cops in black-bloc garb (seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYnzVxXF6lI

Order his officers to stop and intimidate motorists from Quebec

And on and on.......

For all of these misdeeds Blair should not only be fired, he should be criminally charged for among other things dereliction of duty and he should be held civilly responsible for the Millions in damages that will no doubt arise out of countless lawsuits.

Did Rev Hawkes have his head up his ass this past week?

David Davidson

Monday, July 5, 2010 7:34 AM

David you need to get your head of your own ass instead of worrying about Rev Hawkes, and maybe stop watching all those crazy ass conspiracy theory videos.

Ryan

Monday, July 5, 2010 8:14 AM

Pride 2010 was another huge success. Clearly lots of people having a great time in our city. THANK YOU to Pride Toronto, all your volunteers, other organizers, and especially to everybody who was working the festival in the intense heat, inside or out. This was a big win for festival organizers, a huge turnout, big sales, and most importantly great reviews despite all the bad press. I still cannot for the life of me understand why people must constantly complain about Pride. They criticize it for being too commercial, too touristy, too much of a party, too white, too straight...but ignore the fact that most of those tourists and attendees are queer, that Toronto is a commercial capital, that the local business community needs those sales, and that "the party" is more culturally diverse than anybody cares to recognize. In other words, it is a reflection of us [gay Toronto], and if you don't like it, then you don't your own community.

Ryan

Monday, July 5, 2010 8:09 AM

The atmosphere was pretty good and the recption for our "Pride Coalition for Free speech was excellent. The crown loved the chants: "We are sexy and hot, cenorship is not"
Alas my paetner Jon Lidolt collpased from heat exhaustion after with me for 3 hour sin the group in intense heat (and 2 hour in waiting). I have to say a handsome Toronto cop got us out of the parade barricades and to an AMS ambulance in 3 minutes (cops do good deeds like this all the time whcih is often forgotten in the rhetoric about police brutality (which sometimes does exist too esp in certain part of G2)).
After 4 hours at Sunnybrook be hyrdated by Izv nd tested, Jon is fine now, but we missed the end of the parde (from College) and the fun after parade walkabout and concerts. Congrats to the Pirde Colaition & QUAIA organizers/marshals for keeping it a peaceful upbeat celebration despite some provocations. Again the police helped us by continually having the provcatuers leave our area during the hours wait to march.

james dubro

Monday, July 5, 2010 10:04 AM

@David, I mean no offense but were *you* even there? I was one one of the Indie media covering the riots - and one of the last 50 blockaded on Spadina. Do you know what it *actually* get teargassed? get a baton on the head while focusing a lens? No complaints, no whining, thats my job. But at least I try to cover *both* sides of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03AvnWA1LhQ

So stop watching "conspiracy videos" (LOL even if many were quite true), and listen to ALL sides.

Personally, our Police did a great job yesterday, they were in good spirits, they know they have ALOT of work ahead in rebuilding public trust. I won't be an apologist for them either.

They might have done all that you say, in fact I saw it for myself, but lets ratchet down the rhetoric.

Mark

Mark

Monday, July 5, 2010 2:04 PM

Al-Fatiha — which calls itself the principal international organization promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Arabs — is located not in Beirut or Cairo, but in Washington, D.C. And no wonder: The international movement for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people hardly exists inside the Muslim world.

Arab human rights organizations sometimes advocate for gay rights, but they do so sotto voce. In fact, the only country in the Middle East in which gay people may safely leave the closet is Israel. Which is why, for gay Palestinians, Tel Aviv is Mecca.

Gay Palestinian men flee to Israel because they are not safe in the West Bank and Gaza. They also have no place else to go.

Brian

Monday, July 5, 2010 3:32 PM

I have one question? I understand Gay Palentinians flee Gaza and the West Bank but Israel will not grant them refugee status for being gay. Is this true? Like all of us here, we do not live in Israel, Gaza or the West Bank and rely on media reports, which are often so biased, distorted and censored that they are unreliable and are just propaganda. There was a report on this in the Economist, of all magazines.

Bill

Monday, July 5, 2010 4:58 PM

There is a gay organzation in Lebanon. People forget that it was really tough for us here 30 years ago, not to speak of 50 years ago. The difference our community made in just a few decades was incredible. I do not support dehumanizing or creating racism towards muslims because of this. Specially since such a tactic is never due to people trying to fight for our rights as homosexuals, but it is for their own battles with arabs and muslims. And, there are queer arabs and muslims who do not agree with such portrayal of their culture and who see, with reason, such portrayal as propaganda to justify attacking them.

Tam

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 8:20 AM

Haven't been to the parade for a few years but it was great this year and a nice change of pace from last weekend at the G20 riots. Well done Toronto that's how we know how to act up.

Daniel .. Toronto
http://tiny.cc/c7noi

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