surfing

Remember it’s not his fault, he’s damaged.

the royal we #bornthisway

Just like the scary image of Queen Street during Pride, Toronto’s theatre community would seem odd to say the least if us gays closed up the curtains and then paraded out past the box office for ever… of course you already know that.

I can picture it now, boxes of costumes and the defiant walks accompanied by yells of “fire” and “break this, bitch” no doubt, as one last hurrah.

I feel like I’m already getting carried away in the energy and flamboyance of the gay and lesbian community.  When we pool together or stretch our gaze across a busy street and draw the strength we need from a comrade in arms.  Whether they’re walking with us or in an opposite direction never even turning back, the result is the same.  Can a friendly straight do the same?

Hence, the miracle of cruising, it’s like the sixth sense and an almost untranslatable word.  The ability to let go of in a glance a single feeling that we’ve skillfully learned over a lifetime to hold inside.  Two shared paths, however different they may have been, connect.  Empathy at it’s finest.

Comrade, you ask?  What are we fighting for?  Sometimes it’s hard to remember.  Lost in our own melodramas and the safety net of “Toronto the gay” are we still even fighting?  When the war is over how do we go on?

My sister had an American boyfriend and in August of 2001 he left Toronto to join the army.  He wanted to be a paramedic and couldn’t stay in Canada.  The allure of a free education, some serious bank and experience to work in almost any major American city right out of the gate in exchange for a few years in the army was hard to resist.  On September 11^th I’m sure no one I knew was more surprised then him.  Six years and two unexpected and extended terms in Iraq later he was able to leave the war and now he works in Michigan completely unable to work as a paramedic.  Still an amazing guy but in no imaginable way the person he would have been without those horrible years behind him.  That person could now, never be.

I wonder if he can see that look in another man or woman’s eye when he’s walking through the mall.  Is it always unspoken?  Would he ever ask or does he not have to?  Maybe one day I’ll ask him.

How would I be without my scarred, fucked up life?  Is that what I’m subconsciously thinking whenever I recognize another gay far from the confines of my gay subterfuge.  In addition to all the fucked up things that shape everyone, this person shares my biggest most fundamental flaw.  Not that I am gay, but that I accept it and without doubt carry the damage as proof of a new life in Michigan for everyone.  That raised in this straight world where I could choose to live a lie, I choose to let it be known, I was born this way, gay.

Then, in just a glance of an eye I can get a feeling that I am not alone and that somehow my path has found a crossroad.

Now in Toronto sometimes it’s hard to remember a time when months would go by without that look.  When you would feel so alone knowing you were different and not truly understanding why.

I get what cruising is, don’t get me wrong, I witnessed the changing of the guard first hand.  Old enough to have seen the pre internet, organized, political hard line gays to the post 2000, homogenized, branded gays rolled into the world of the masses.  What cruising once was in now obsolete, except for a generation aging just above the bell curve in technological advancements but just below the poverty line.

As far as the two groups have grown apart and as simply as sex can bridge the gap, it’s not fucking that connects them.  Rather, being born a caterpillar.

We are lucky in Toronto that we have the opportunity to venture out into the masses and be ourselves.  We shouldn’t forget that we are an example to the world.  At a time when gays and lesbians are spreading out through the city from Leslieville to Parkdale, it is more important than ever that we stand together.  That we support each other when we’re braving the straight new world even though it seems we’re getting all the support we need elsewhere.  It’s are unity that needs to shine so that the strength of our community can be that example.   Church street needs to be supported, gay performers need to be supported, gay and lesbian owned businesses need to be supported by gay and lesbian people.

There will always be amazing straight people that stand up for our rights and support us financially and otherwise.  However, we do not have equality and in our lifetimes never will.  We are the world over, struggling and oppressed.  Individually we can thrive in a city like Toronto but individually the majority of us are dying.  Keep our community alive.

hot prisoners

hot prisoners

Jason had to go and murder someone so he’s not gonna be hittin the streets until 2029, but keep your fingers crossed for him he’s up for parole in December 2013.

the freedom train

In less than 24 hours, shortly after we close the curtains on another star studded Academy Awards show, the Iraq people will be heading to the polls.

Already, Iraqi police forces have discovered and diffused 16 explosive devices that were hidden in polling stations and set to be detonated remotely.  Over the last few days, at least 45 people have been killed including members of the security forces who were targeted while voting early.

Today 4 people were killed and 54 injured in the holy city of Najaf.  When a bomb exploded, tearing through two buses parked in a garage near the Imam Ali shrine.  The third holiest site for Shi’ite Muslims has been surrounded by a protective cordon, so the bomb was detonated 500 metres away in the car park used for the mass arrival of vehicles carrying pilgrims to the shrine from all over the Middle East.

This election will no doubt continue to be marred with violence and corruption.  Already it’s level of democracy has been questioned when in February it was determined that because of alleged ties to the Ba’ath party more than 500 potential candidates would be banned from the election.  Since, laws do not provide the candidates with the right to see or challenge the evidence against them all but 26 of their appeals have proven fruitless.

It is so important, regardless of who wins the election, that international governments and agencies step up and pressure the new Iraqi government to end its countries continued human rights abuses.  Honor killings and genital mutilation of women and girls, the torture and murder of suspected homosexuals and religious minority groups, as well as the harassing, kidnapping and assaulting of journalists is ongoing and brutal throughout the country.  It is still written into Article 128 of the Criminal Code that “honorable motives” act as a “mitigating excuse” for the horrific offenses committed against Iraq’s vulnerable minorities.

Lets come together and let the Iraqi government know that these continued atrocities will not be tolerated.

Please join me and contact your local government officials and tell them to bring this issue forward, use your voice to make a difference in the lives of human beings suffering unjustly.  It doesn’t cost anything but a little time to pressure our governments to force change.  The more people who speak out the more impossible it will be for them to ignore.

hot prisoners

Surfing

the freedom train

In August 2009 the Human Rights Watch released a report detailing the spreading campaigns of violence confronting L.G.B.T. Iraqis.  It is primarily first hand and startling accounts of extortion, abuse and murder at the hands of the Mahdi army and other militia groups under the blind eyes of religious, cultural  and political leaders.  Further, it brings to light ties between the Ministry of Interior officials, death squad killings and the militia groups that act as quasi-independent security forces under the Ministry’s protection.

The report in its entirety can be seen here:

http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/iraq0809web.pdf

Later in 2009, The Observer touched on reports that as security responsibilities were now being performed by the country’s trained police force, these militia groups whose primary function once had been security,  now shifted their efforts to policing moral and cultural boundaries.

In addition, a new wave of hardline Islamic extremists groups are rising throughout Iraq.   Searching internet chatrooms linked to gay websites for potential victims, these groups then arrange brutal attacks where victims are ritually tortured, raped and sometimes murdered.

The violence against L.G.B.T Iraqis is a key test of the government’s ability to protect vulnerable minority groups after the American’s have gone.

Yet, in January of 2010, Christopher R. Hill the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, released on the U.S. Department of State Official Blog “Iraq 2010: A Year of Transformation and Transition”, a posting which highlights the key areas of development in Iraq over the forthcoming year and never once mentions the struggles of Iraqi’s minorities in the face of escalating violence.  Instead he makes it once again very clear where the governments motivations lie, focusing on the return of international oil companies to the country along with the advancement of U.S. Interests.

One thing he does touch on is the importance of the upcoming Iraqi election.  March 7th 2010, Iraqis will be going to the polls to elect a new government in a bid to improve their lives through democracy.  It is crucial that at this formative time in the government’s development the leaders and governments of the world come together with other international agencies to pressure the new Iraqi government to end its countries continued human rights abuses.

Lets come together and let the Iraqi government know that these continued atrocities will not be tolerated.

Please join me and contact your local government officials and tell them to bring this issue forward, use your voice to make a difference in the lives of human beings suffering unjustly.  It doesn’t cost anything but a little time to pressure our governments to force change.  The more people who speak out the more impossible it will be for them to ignore.

out of my head