National Post runs full-page anti-gay, anti-transgender ad

Hate literature in the Nazi Post. How predictable and vile.

The thing is the ad is centred around transphobia... which, in this country, is still legal to disseminate.

Also, the old way didn't work out too well either. I was a girl denied the option of even questioning the faux boyhood I was forced through.

Screw the National Post - what else would you expect from the entrails of scum criminals like Conrad Black

Did anybody capture the original draft of the Pest's apology - the one where they said the ad was offensive because it singled out people whose "choice" of sexuality the group disagrees with?

Because the Pest has now reworded the apology to remove the implication that people "choose" their sexuality.

They remove one foot from their mouth and insert the other.

ETA: from the Comments below the apology, someone has preserved the original wording: "...and in their singling out of a specific group of people who have made choices about their sexuality with which the group disagrees."

NorthReport wrote:

Screw the National Post - what else would you expect from the entrails of scum criminals like Conrad Black

Let's give credit where credit is due. It's owned by Postmedia now, and formerly Canwest. Black hasn't owned the paper for 10 years.

(edit)

And he certainly isn't running the ad department from prison. Thing is, apology or not, the damage is done and they got their money's worth.

What a disgusting ad. Their apology isn't worth shit. I'm more angry at the organization itself, which has disgusting ideas that distort reality.

It's in the Toronto Sun now. Oh, I know, shocking.

[url=http://queer-liberal.blogspot.com/2011/10/hudak-tories-distributing-homo... Tories distributing homophobic literature to win votes...[/url]

The post includes an image of the pamphlet in question. Click on it to see it full size.

Ken Burch wrote:

STR8 MAN wrote:

Look, here's all the sex education anyone needs. Men have penises, women have vaginas. The penis is supposed to go in the vagina. That's ALL there is to it!

Of course, in "STR*8"s case, the question of where the penis is supposed to go is probably hypothetical at this point.

In any case, wow, is he missing out!

Mission accomplished for the troll, who has managed to suck everyone into discussing something other than the topic!

Has the Sun made any comment yet about its decision to run the ad?

M. Spector wrote:

Mission accomplished for the troll, who has managed to suck everyone into discussing something other than the topic!

If only there had been an actual trans person on the thread...

oh, wait.

Iran and Cuba recognize the condition of  transgender individuals and offer free sex-change surgery and transition support for transgender individuals:  two rather different models and perhaps object lessons.

This isn't meant to be a diversion from the topic at hand, but rather a reflection on the roads the right may take in this conflict.

As many rabblers already know, Cuba has come a very long way from the puritanical Communist/Catholic/Afrocuban prejudices of the 60s, and increasingly supports GLBT persons, mainly through the Institute for the study of sexuality headed by Mariela Castro, the president's daughter.   In the past two or three years I've heard quite a bit of grumbling from average Cubans that the state's medical resources, which are severely strapped right now, are being siphoned off for transition treatment and surgery while people with medical conditions are waiting longer for their surgery. (We can surely expect similar complaints in Canada, even though transition surgery is considered elective.)

  Iran, of course, still hangs or stones homosexuals. ( I assume lesbians are subjected to a "temporary marriage" so revolutionary guards can rape them, or perhaps  they're simply forced into involuntary marriage by their family, thus avoiding the courts.)   So in Iran, at least in theory, you can be yourself as a gay or a  lesbian only if you agree to transition and live in a conventional marriage. Wow.  Do we want the Family Values fascists to get hold of this information?  It might become their next objective on the road to a North American theocracy, in addition to their psychological manipulation programs.

This letter has been circulating on Facebook. It's on a public setting there, but I removed the author's full name in case she doesn't want the publicity. I'll insert it back in if necessary.

What a hilarious, smart and necessary response to the hate-filled bullshit the Ontario Conservatives have been shovelling at us this election cycle.

Quote:

An open letter to Tim Hudak, the Ontario PC Party, and the "Institute for Canadian Values"

by Lynna L. on Monday, October 3, 2011

Dear Mr. Hudak and friends,

There seems to be some concern these days about what children are being taught in schools, and as a parent, I can completely understand that. Some people are upset that their children might be confused or "corrupted" by acknowledgement that people whose sexual orientation or gender identity differs from theirs exist. I can completely empathize with this concern, though I come at it from a slightly different angle.

For example, are you aware that, for decades now, perhaps even centuries, innocent children in the school system have been repeatedly exposed to descriptions and depictions of heterosexuals? Shocking, yes, but true! Look through any history or social studies text, and you will see countless references to people who we now know to have been heterosexual. Sometimes their inclusion is justified under the dubious logic of their being "historical figures", but surely they could have found SOME historically significant individuals who were not practicing heterosexuals. Don't they have any concern for those of us who don't want our children exposed to that sort of thing?

Now perhaps, some of you may be thinking that this is all right for older children, but if you look into the material that is being taught today, you will find to your horror that even kindergarten students are being exposed to this sort of corrupting filth. There are reading primers that contain GRAPHIC depictions of heterosexual family life, completely with one mother, and one father and NO other co-parents. There are even fairy tales in which the prince and princess end up married - MARRIED! Now, you may justify that by pointing out that these days marriage is open to almost anyone, and should thus be less controversial, but there is no denying that for many years marriage was an exclusively heterosexual institution. Many of these books date from that time, and even in those that don't, these "fairy tale marriages" are EXPLICITLY portrayed as being between a prince and a princess. Were YOU warned that this sort of contentious material might be covered in kindergarten? I certainly wasn't.*

Not only that, but the VAST majority of people depicted in the children's books being used in the school system are cisgendered - which is to say, not transgendered. And this isn't just implied - in some cases, babies are blatantly identified as being "boys" or "girls" at birth and then growing up to have that as their EXACT GENDER IDENTITY! Clearly, that has considerable potential to confuse children, particularly if they have been raised in families where the normal range of gender identity/expression is acknowledged. It must be stopped at once, or at the very least, parents should be notified and given the ability to keep their children home on any day when cisgendered individuals are going to be mentioned in any way.

But even this isn't the whole story. Looking over history and social studies textbooks in particular, but even many adventure stories and the like, a truly horrifying pattern begins to emerge, which I feel shows the possibility of a truly dark agenda at work here: in book after book, a substantial portion of the individuals most prominently featured are... WHITE, HETEROSEXUAL, CISGENDERED MALES. Think about that for a moment. What population is known to be made up predominantly of white, heterosexual, cisgendered males? That's right, SERIAL KILLERS! THIS is what the normalization of heterosexuality leads to! You may well argue that some white, heterosexual, cisgendered males do not go on to become serial killers, but clearly, the potential is there, and shows just how seriously this issue must be taken.

I hereby suggest that the optimal solution to all of this is for every parent to be given the full ability to opt out of their child being in any way exposed to any reference to anyone who is in any way unlike them. Each family will receive a checklist on which they can indicate exactly what types of people, in terms of gender, orientation, ethnicity, religion, occupation, ability, etc. are present within their own family and immediate circle of friends, and at any point in school when it becomes apparent that someone not covered by that checklist might have to be mentioned, an alarm will sound and a specially trained educational assistant will rush over to provide that child with earplugs and a blindfold, to be worn until that segment of the curriculum is over. Clearly this is the only way to make sure that no one's child is exposed to anything that might be considered confusing or controversial in any way.

Alternatively, given the state of the economy and the fact that the above solution might be expensive to implement, each child might be sent home on the first day of their school career with a single, standard note saying something to the effect of "Dear parent: over the course of your child's education, they may be exposed to references to people who are gay, straight, bisexual or asexual; male, female, transgendered, cisgendered, intersexed and/or any combination of foregoing; white, black, Asian, Latin, aboriginal or any of a variety of other ethnicities or combinations thereof; able-bodied, disabled or various degrees in between; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Wiccan, atheist or of any of a variety of other religions or non-religions; and varied in many other ways as well. This is due to the fact that the world contains all these people, and the purpose of school is to prepare children to be part of that world. Deal with it."

Sincerely,

Lynna. L.

* Of course, this may be because he hasn't actually started school yet. BUT STILL...!

Note: the default setting for my Wall posts is Friends, but I've set this one to Public in case people want to share it. Bear that in mind if you're thinking of commenting but don't like your comments to be publicly visible.

Red Tory Tea Girl wrote:

Hoodeet, transitioning does not allow cis gays and lesbians to 'be themselves' and, for that matter, they hate trans lesbians like me in Iran... that and the genital essentialism which NEVER gets mentioned.

 

The hard right is not going to enact the plot of "The Gendercator," alright? I know that somewhere in one's theoretical world we trannies are the source of all the homophobia and private healthcare in the world, but the facts don't bear out the supposition.

 

Honestly, once again an issue regarding TRANS people has been made all about cisfolk. This is pathetic.

Apology for having spoken from ignorance of the circumstances, Red Tory Tea Girl.  Of course transitioning does not allow gays and lesbians to be themselves - that was the point. And  I certainly did not say trannies are the source of  homophobia in the world -- to clarify:  I meant that in ultra-religious societies transgendered individuals would be encouraged to transition, undergo surgery and live as "normal" heterosexuals (is that what you mean by "cisfolk"?), but basically   homosexuals will continue to be persecuted.  In Cuba it's very different, at least under current official policy. 

And yes, of course, the religious fascists who are pushing for a theocracy aren't anywhere close to reaching such an extreme goal, so it's a very dystopian idea.  Yet within their sects and cults and even mainstream churches they encourage repression of self in GLBT persons.

Thanks.