At the completion of the third public panel hosted by the (Pride Toronto) Community Advisory Panel, Xtra's Andrea Houston asked panel member Michael Went if the results of the panel's online survey could be manipulated by a single user completing the survey multiple times. Went responded that multiple contributions from the same IP address were specifically allowed, but he wasn't concerned since “Survey Monkey has many tools to track that sort of thing.”
A quick glance at the Survey Monkey FAQ reveals that he's correct; the service allows users to filter results according to IP address. However, a stroll through some of Canada's most popular anti-gay blogs makes one think they might want to look into a tool that can also filter out homophobes.
In a recent post titled "Here's a little survey you should take…" the Canadian blog Blazing Cat Fur urged its readers to fill out the panel's survey. Several months ago this same blog referred to Pride as Toronto's "Bitchy Flamer Parade," and a quick glance at the responses to "Sodomy - it's a Canadian Value" reveals that most of BCF's readers are neither fans of Pride nor gay.
In another post, the blog's author condemns our own
fab magazine for its "denigrating content" (for the naughty bits - eek!) and blasts InsideOut for
screening a "pedophiliac wish dream" (watch
Pat Mills's charming Babysitting Andy and judge for yourself).
Maybe the A (for "ally") in Pride Toronto's revised mission statement needs a subcategory? Feel free to post your suggestions in the comments section below.
Went also told Houston the panel had received 760 completed surveys. We're wondering how many of those were filled out by Blazing Cat Fur's loyal readers, or by those who share BCF's contempt for Pride?
