To read Elle Flanders's story Healing the gay-Jewish divide in Canada, published simultaneously, please click here.
Pride Toronto has reversed its original decision to ban the words Israel Apartheid (and hence the group, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid), after an enormous community backlash from Free Speechers; old time politicos; interest groups that have felt marginalized by Pride for some time; and a young generation that doesn't jibe with Pride's corporate drag.
Freedom of speech has been trumped by politics this year at Toronto's Pride Festival.
Thanks, or no thanks, to certain politicians and Zionist lobbyists and defamatory editorials and columns by a national newspaper that has never championed queer rights, Pride's raison d'etre has been corrupted.
To them, Pride should be about nothing more than partying. They believe we should ignore the hard-won rights for which those who have come before us fought, rights that were earned after centuries of oppression.
All of this over a group which marches under the banner Queers Against Israel Apartheid.
Since this article was written, the federal government has cancelled $397,500 in support for Pride Toronto.
The hysteria created around the inclusion of a group called Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) in the Toronto Pride Parade this year can be justly attributed to the ongoing Brand Israel campaign backed by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and most recently by Irwin Cotler's Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism.
Each year, in the lead up to Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), organizers expect backlash and attempts to shut down events. IAW 2010 was no different. The Ontario Legislature condemned IAW, The Toronto District School Board banned IAW from its premises even though no events were scheduled there, and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff slammed IAW for the second year in a row.
*Lecture*
Palestinian author and academic Samar Habib comes to Toronto for the first time to deliver a compendium of her various talks on Middle Eastern queer cinema. She has lectured on wide-ranging subjects that include Lesbian Representation in Arab Popular Culture and Some Like it Lukewarm: A Brief History of the Representation of Homosexuality in Egyptian Cinema. Inside Out is thrilled to be a part of Samar Habib's Toronto debut.
On Feb. 28, award-winning Canadian filmmaker John Greyson will be present in Montreal for Cinema Politica Concordia's special screening event Sex, Song and Segregation. Bringing together penguins, protest, megaphone choirs and Elton John in a politically explosive combination, the event aims to celebrate Greyson's contributions to art and activism, charting 25 years of films exploring South Africa, Palestine, race, sex, politics, and music.
Dear Sasha,
I have the unfortunate enjoyment of a very painful fetish. I enjoy being kicked/kneed/otherwise struck in the groin by women whom I find attractive. I don't mean CBT, with its overly gentle flicks and pokes. I mean doubled over or down on my knees and/or making funny noises because some hot thang let loose on my manhood.
If she does it in the new shoes we picked out together, all the better.
As mentioned in this babble thread, Pride Toronto was considering a censorship policy to prohibit groups like Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from participating in the annual parade and dyke march.
Pride Toronto has since backed down due to community backlash, but a leaked letter now reveals that the policy emerged as a result of pressure from City Councillor Kyle Rae:
Free speech is to be encouraged, but free speech of this nature is not in keeping with the expression of Pride. (link)
