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Rob Ford's earlier drug scandal

Xtra staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is currently embroiled in a scandal involving drugs. It is not his first. In a June 2010 audio tape published on xtra.ca, Ford, who was also found in possession...

Murder of gay teen subject of new documentary

Xtra staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Fifteen-year-old Lawrence King was murdered in an Oxnard, California, school in 2008. Classmate Brandon McInerney shot King twice, at point-blank range, in the back of the head. King had been exploring his gender identity, wearing makeup and high-heeled shoes. ...

Keep the Village queer: study participants

Andrea Houston — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Residents of the Church-Wellesley Village have been enthusiastically participating in a new study of the neighbourhood and have communicated overwhelmingly that they want the area to stay “queer and sex-positive.” The group working on the study gathered at the 519 Church St...

IDAHOT not eclipsed by Rob Ford's drug scandal

Andrea Houston — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Despite the media circus surrounding Mayor Rob Ford, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) at Toronto City Hall May 17 was not overshadowed by scandal. Members of the media swarmed Ford as he made his way back into city hall after reading the official procla...

Seeking pen pals for queer inmates

Elah Feder — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

When Uno signed up to be a pen pal, he’d been in solitary confinement for more than two years. Alone in his cell for as long as 23 hours a day, he was desperate for a friend and asked his psychologist to connect him with someone. That’s how he discovered the Prisoner Correspondence Proj...

Arbitrators hear two new complaints about QuAIA

Marcus McCann — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Can a fresh complaint be filed about Queers Against Israeli Apartheid's (QuAIA) participation in the Pride parade every year, or is the matter settled? That was the question before a panel of three arbitrators May 15, convened by Pride Toronto (PT) to hear two new complaints about QuAIA marchi...

Toronto hosts first national gay-straight alliance summit

Andrea Houston — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Queer youth from schools across the country are gearing up for OUTShine, Canada’s first national gay-straight alliance summit, which takes place in Toronto this weekend, May 17 to 20. More than 300 GSA members and 100 educators will ...

Toronto Catholic school board moves to ban GSAs

Andrea Houston — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) is trying to ban gay-straight alliances with a new motion that will come before the board May 23. The motion seeks to challenge the Accepti...

Village no more

Matthew Hays — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

As Toronto prepares to host WorldPride in 2014, Xtra takes a closer look at what makes a gay village. In the fourth of a five-part series, Matthew Hays asks if we still need designated gay neighbourhoods. It was a moment that left me a bit taken aback. During a bre...

Parents rally behind teacher who used ACT posters in classroom

Andrea Houston — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Parents at Toronto’s Delta Alternative Senior School have expressed support for a teacher they say is being vilified for using a poster originally designed for gay bars and bathhouses in his Grade 7 and 8 classrooms. Someone complained to the