Students forbidden from distributing condoms in frosh kits

Marcus McCann — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

The folks at the St Thomas University Students’ Union (STUSU) have been told twice this summer that they can’t distribute condoms in frosh kits. At campuses across the country, student unions use welcome week to distribute information, giveaways — and tools for safer ...

Police board rejects policy review on HIV non-disclosure cases

Noreen Fagan — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

Brent Bauer of the Gay Men’s Wellness Initiative stood before the Ottawa Police Services Board on July 26 with a policy review proposal to develop guidelines for prosecution for HIV non-disclosure cases. The proposal was rejected without deliberation. The proposal o...

Critics track Canadian fallout from Vienna AIDS conference

Dale Smith — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

Nearly six months after the federal government announced it would not be going ahead with a planned HIV vaccine-manufacturing facility as part of the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI), it revealed where the $139 million would be going.

Unarmed man shot by police in New Jersey cruising area

Mark Sullivan — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

The gay community in New Jersey is lashing out at police who claim an undercover policeman shot an unarmed man in a cruisey area of a park because he feared for his life. The shooting happened on July 16 in Branch Brook Park in Newark, Ne...

Hanging with sexual outlaws at San Francisco Pride

Regan McClure — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

At some point, I’m not sure when exactly, my in-laws started going to the Pride parade without me. The parents marched with PFLAG, the straight siblings showed up for the party with their friends. And the queer daughter and her wife? We went to the Island. As Pride got more mainstream, I got ...

Can Canada's queer community sponsor more queer refugees?

Dale Smith — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

Buried inside the recent bill on reforming the Canadian refugee system was a provision to increase the number of spaces in Canada for refugee resettlement by 2,500 — but only 500 of those would be for government-sponsored refugees. The rest would be for private sponsorship. D...

Fred Phelps' son gets new job: promoting atheism and battling homophobia

Neil McKinnon — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

Unlike his Bible-thumping dad, Nate Phelps likes Lady Gaga’s music and feels sorry for Mel Gibson. Phelps has also been hired as the executive director of the Alberta branch of the Centre for Inquiry (CFI) Canada. CFI is an atheist charity that promotes “skept...

Halifax Pride honours Robin Metcalfe

Simon Thibault — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

In 1975, while standing on the steps of the Peace Tower in Ottawa, Robin Metcalfe was handed a megaphone. Since then, he's never stopped talking about queer rights. This year, Metcalfe is the grand marshal for Halifax Pride, now in its 23rd year. Born in Chester, a small c...

Bike curious? Montreal's queer bike shop can help

DeAnne Smith — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

Originally, Bikurious was kind of a joke. When Marissa Plamondon Lu and Mackenzie Ogilvie took over the small, community-centred bike shop they worked at, they intended to keep the shop's name, Revolution Montreal. They found out, however, that registering the business in their names ...

Cyndi Lauper on the news, blues and her gay fans

Xtra — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

Cyndi Lauper was in town for Toronto Pride, where she performed a free concert for fans at Queen's Park. Xtra talked with the singer, who recently released a new album, Memphis Blues. We spoke to her about her music and her gay fans. "I'm your exte...

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