Conservitive MP chairs Secret Abortion committee

Whoops...

just what the prime minister Stephen Harper wants as he attempts to position himself and the conservative party for a run at a majority government...

MP wants to reopen abortion debate, globe and mail

I would like to see who else is a member of this "secretive club". I think I may begin a listing of likely members. If you have a name for the list, send it here.

I will put a copy of the list in the sidebar. How many Iggy supporters belong to the club, any of Jack's team part of the caucus?

Leviticus and Paul, so long ago...

One Dad found a way around Leviticus and Paul...

“I am convinced God does not judge a person on the ground of his or her inborn nature,” wrote Dwyer. “God measures an individual by the kind of person he or she is and by the quality of the life that person lives.”

Which parts of Leviticus are you willing to set aside? The one about executing adulterers? The one about not eating pork?

I’ll give you a few minutes. Flip through the chapter if it’s nearby.

Like most Christians, Eddie Dwyer hadn’t given either commandment that much weight. But for most of his life he didn’t question one implication in Leviticus — the one about a man sleeping with a man. And like most Christians he’d been raised to think of God’s destruction of Sodom in Genesis as a statement against such behavior.

It a cool story for Christians needing to find a way to use their bible to love us queers...

Evangelical Cizik out after gay moment

Evangelical Cizik out after gay moment


A very senior Evangelical in the USA has resigned after being taken to task over views he expressed in a radio interview on NPR. Rev. Richard Cizik was on the Fresh Air radio program on December 2, and expressed his support for same sex unions and that he was closer to supporting same sex marriage. Cizak was Vice President for the National Association of Evangelicals, (NAE) vice president of governmental affairs.

"It was time for him to go," Tom Minnery, a Focus on the Family senior vice president, said Thursday. "He no longer represents the view of evangelicalism. He has not represented those views for some time."

It seems Cizek freaked out evangelical activists due to his environmental focus. This they felt was a distraction from more important issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

It seems queers getting married is a bigger threat to the world than global warming ever could be. I just can't believe i could be that dangerous to the world. I'm kinda impressed! It looks like the God fearing pros were just looking for a reason to dump this guy...

see the evangelical set go off their rocker here

more from the Evangelical set ...

QUEERLY BELOVED
Evangelical leader supports 'gay' civil unions
Claims Christians should 'give biblical point of view a different slant'

and the Washington Times says::
Top evangelical resigns over gay-union stance

and then those folks at Salon.com add to the stuff about his environmental stand in 2005...
"A crisis of biblical proportions"A pro-Bush but eco-conscious evangelical launches a crusade against global warming.

876 and climbing

876 and climbing

That's the number of Liberals, Conservatives, LIB-Cons, CON-Libs, ProCons, Independents and Social Crediters that have gone into the Senate. Now I know most of you are thinking Trudeau would have appointed the most.

Nopers, not by a long shot. He comes in a tie for third, along with Wilfrid Laurier, each having appointed 81 Senators.

Mackenzie King appointed 103 of those 876 Senators, tops the list followed by the first Prime Minister, John A McDonald who anointed 91.

The number of Senators will climb to 894 by Christmas this year as Stephen Harper fills up every last empty seat in that red chamber.

Libby Davies accepts Senate seat!

Libby Davies accepts Senate seat!

No, Libby did not accept a senate seat but when you think of all the rhetoric spewed by Harper in the last 15 years or so, you know he hates that place and vowed to see them replaced with elected Senators, Harper's about face is the equivalent of Jack Layton or Libby Davies deciding to accept a senate seat.

Harper has made a career out of attacking what he sees as privilege. He attacked MP's Pensions, then campaigned saying he would never take one, now he has one. He campaigned for electing senators and now he is appointing them.

Life must be hard for Mr. Harper. He is having to backtrack on his promises, some that endeared voters to his cause, if not to him personally. His Open and Accountable government seems to be a lot less open than it was before. His promise not to go into a deficit, as late as this last election, is gone now, as everyone except Harper's cabinet acknowledges a deficit coming for four or five years.

What is making Harper do all these nasty things? Well, he likes power and all the perks! Look at all these Lottery winners being beholden

18 Tories are about to win a lottery, a lottery you and I can't even buy a ticket in. How big is the Lottery, think a super cash for life scratch and win ticket. If you collect that you get $48,000 a year for 20 years. A Senator gets $75,000 each year until age 75. It hurts my head to think what these lucky winners will get...

What marriage would look like

What marriage would look like

Markos passes along a comment about what the law would say if we had traditional Biblical marriages like the Mormons and their buddies on the far-right are demanding:

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)

B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

and several more here... at Americablog

memo to michael ignatieff - Don't drop the Ball

memo to michael ignatieff - Don't drop the Ball

So it's Iggy to the rescue.


Now that the coalition knows who their leaders are its full speed ahead. Lets send some fan mail to Iggy. You can reach him at michaelignatieff.ca or by email at info@michaelignatieff.ca

Tell Iggy why you want the coalition, why Canada needs the coalition and why he needs to support it!

If you want some help to do this, read "Don't drop the ball" in NOW magazine.

Prorogation is only the first step

Prorogation is only the first step

Murray Dobbin's column at Rabble.ca points out that prorogation is only the first step in the Conservative Action plan to reshape Canada. The Conservatives if given a majority will gut the CBC, open medicare to further privatization, devolve more power to the provinces and further cut federal taxes to the wealthy and large companies.

In a nut shell, this plan will make it impossible for the federal government to increase spending on anything other than Defense. The reduced tax base will mean fewer dollars available for medicare, child care, education and the environment. The federal government will have lost its ability to influence provinces, to demand national standards, to maintain equalization payments, the list goes on and on.

read Murray's column here

H/T to The Cylinder

Word Warrior for Canada

Its time for Canadians to step up to the plate. I found this great idea at The Cylinder blog on how we all can become Word Warriors.

Gene has several tips for us,

Some pointers on sharing with friends & neighbours

Drop photocopies of the column in your neighbours’ mailboxes (nearby or around the block);

Add an eye catching button or banner to your blog that links to Murray’s column;

Cut what you think may help from this post & paste into your own Word Warrior for Canada blogpost;

Use all the technological bells & whistles that you know of to spread the word;

Be creative & build your own personal Word Warrior for Canada campaign & share your ideas and insights with us either by leaving a comment below on this blogpost or through some other means that you think would be more efficient.

Ben-Ami says Harper is Disingenuous

Ben-Ami says Harper is Disingenuous

Harper is attempting to make short term political gain for long term damage to Parliament.

No need to take my word for that when you can take it from one of the most Conservative voices in Canadian public discourse, one Joseph C. Ben-Ami is the president of the very conservative think tank, the Canadian Centre for Policy Studies and he is none too proud of Stephen Harper these days...

...It’s a little disingenuous for them (Conservatives) to rely on the rules of parliamentary procedure to claim and defend their right to govern, then cry foul when opposition parties use the very same rules to try to form a parliamentary coalition with not only an equal constitutional right to govern, but perhaps an even stronger moral right based on the aggregate support they received in the recent election and the discrepancies between that support and the current seat distribution in the House of Commons....- Harper must defend conservative policy, not play political games, December 7, 2008

Ben Ami's article goes on with respect to Mr. Harper's charges of treason and sedition against Stephane Dion, Jack Layton and the coalition...

...Mr. Harper’s government was only able to survive for more than 2 ½ years during the previous Parliament because it too had worked out a responsible modus vivendi with the BQ, as any prudent minority government would do. Remember the declaration that Quebec is a nation within Canada? By characterizing the Liberal-NDP willingness to cooperate with the BQ as incitement to treason – which is what sedition is, after all – Mr. Harper and his supporters are not just being insincere; they are engaging in their own brand of incitement. It may serve them well in the short term, but politics has a funny way of exacting revenge on those who practice it with such calculated cynicism. As the Prophet Hosea warned, “Those who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind.”...

Vatican casts its Cloak of Hate

Vatican casts its Cloak of Hate

The Vatican is opposed to a UN resolution launched by France in May for the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality.

The primary advocates of Gay rights in Italy held a sit in at St. Peter's Square, within the walls of the Vatican.

The Vatican says the resolution might eventually allow gays to get married. Bruce has more at Canuck Attitude!

The Catholic Church's efforts here will see more gays persecuted, more dead gays and humanity disgraced.

Young people speak out at Toronto Rally

Young people speak out at Toronto Rally...



I was excited to see a large number of young people attend the rally for the Coalition in Toronto on Saturday. I managed to get three of them to tell me why they were there. It was a big day and spirit of these three was infectious.

Santa Claus supports Coalition

Santa Claus supports Coalition

Stephen Harper is likely to find a lump of coal in his stocking this Christmas. Check out what Santa has to say about cooperation...

Mary Walsh emceees rally in Toronto

This is the first of several videos of the rally in Toronto today. I have a short video exclusive to Queerthoughts with Mary I will post later tonight.

Here Walsh addresses the hired choir that greets Prime Minister Harper each morning

IKEA or Direct Democracy

IKEA or Direct Democracy

Sometimes people just want others to do it.

I just talked to a very, very dear friend, reminding him of the rally at city hall today at noon, here in Toronto. I asked if he was planning to attend. Now before I go on, my friend is supportive of the coalition and would like it to replace Stephen Harper.

So my friend, who holds progressive views, may not be able to attend the rally today because he needs to go to IKEA. He is a busy guy, has a demanding career. He is very dedicated to ensuring his clients get the best product from him, so he has to get his IKEA FIX in today.

Now the troubling thing for me is this. I could accept he can't go out today because he was ill, had a doctors appointment at noon, had to pick a friend up at the airport, or Mom was in town and he had prearranged brunch with some of his best behaved buddies, to put on a good show.

But IKEA! Noppers, that's pretty lame.

Now my friend may still come, especially if he reads this post in time, if only to tell me he is pissed at me.

Imagine

With all the vote rigging in the USA in Florida, Bush won by 500 some votes because at the very least 5000 gay boys went shopping, went to IKEA (do they have IKEA in Florida) instead of voting.

Today's rally is vital. We need to have a good number to maintain momentum, momentum that will sustain the IKEA crowd's ability to continue shopping!

Harper kissed Duceppe lots

Harper kissed Duceppe lots...

Stephen Harper as leader of the opposition...

Seems Mr. Harper can not remember what he did in 2004. Back then he was opposition leader and Paul Martin was the PM. Back then he wrote the GG and requested that she not allow a snap election if Paul Martin asked for one. His letter to the GG was supported by Mr. Layton, leader of the NDP and Mr. Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Québécois.

Apparently, Mr. Harper didn't mind kissing up to the Bloc then, it was no different then than now. Was Harper sleeping with the devil in order to be PM?

talking to Evan Solomon...

Solomon: But providing an Opposition in this case is very different from what Canadians have understood because your opposition could bring the government down. Are there trigger points that would bring the government down?

Harper: Well there are lots of things that could bring the government down, but my opposition can not bring the government down. The government can only be brought down because it alienates several parties in the House. And the first obligation in this Parliament, if the government wants to govern, it has to come to Parliament and it has to show that it can get the support of the majority of members, through the Throne Speech, through legislation, and through budget and supply, and the government to this point has made no effort to do that, but that's its first obligation.

and then there is this...

Solomon: So why did you write that letter to the Governor-General with Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton saying in the event of a confidence vote situation do not call a snap election - are we to assume that therefore you're working to form a coalition?

Harper: There seems to be an attitude in the Liberal government - that they can go in, be deliberately defeated and call an election - that's not how our constitutional system works. The government has a minority - it has an obligation to demonstrate to Canadians that it can govern. That it can form a majority in the House of Commons. If it can't form a majority, we look at other options, we don't just concede to the government's request to make it dysfunctional. I know for a fact that Mr. Duceppe and Mr. Layton and the people who work for them want this Parliament to work and I know if is in all of our interests to work. The government has got to face the fact it has a minority, it has to work with other people.

want to read more, go to the Globe and Mail...

and the entire CBC interview can be found here

Homo for Christmas

Homo for Christmas

For something a little lighter check out some crafty homo tree decorations you can download and make from Xtra.ca

Here are a couple of them. You can download the PDF on Xtra's website.

66,000 jobs lost in Ontario

"He seems to be more interested in protecting his job than your job" -Jack Layton after Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper get the Governor General to shut down the house before a non confidence vote could be held.

That's it. November was the worst month since the 1982 recession. 66,000 jobs alone lost in Ontario. Ontario manufacturing lost 42,000 good paying manufacturing jobs. How much more do we have to lose before Stephen Harper does anything.

Support the Coalition!
Attend the rally at Nathan Phillips Square,
Saturday, December 6, 2008
12 to 1pm

Only in Canada eh? Pity

Only in Canada eh? Pity


At the recent Join The Impact rally here in Toronto Ontario, I came across a gay couple that immigrated to Canada in order to stay together. The couple have been granted landed status and are making their home in Toronto.



The couple were together several years in the USA but were not able to continue there. Faced with a choice of separating or both of them moving to Zimbabwe they chose to try Canada. They made it!

Same-sex marriage is legal in Canada and Canada's immigration polices are little kinder to queer applicants than those of the USA. The American could not sponsor his Zimbabwian boyfriend, in large part due to the lack of recognition of gay relationships by the US Federal Government.

In the US, marriage remains a state jurisdiction as far as granting marriage rights. The federal government however holds jurisdiction over who receives federal tax rights and benefits and who can immigrate to the USA and who you can sponsor. Gay couples are not entitled to spousal benefits, marriage rights, immigration sponsorship and a host of other federal, state and municipal laws and regulations that bestow rights and benefits to straight couples.

Want to continue supporting our friends south of the border?

Join the Impact!

Only in Canada eh? Pity.

Black Dems and White Repubs

Black Dems and White Repubs

You heard the joke before, a black Democrat and white Republican go into a voting booth and ask for...

If this weren't real, you might say it was ironic...

31% of black Democrats in America say homosexual relations are morally acceptable, roughly the same as the 30% of Republicans who agree, while very much different from the 61% of nonblack Democrats who say homosexual relations are morally acceptable.

If you look at the poll numbers, black Democrats ought to be with the Republicans. Poll data shows they are opposed to sex outside marriage, having a baby outside marriage, same sex marriage and abortion. The only significant difference between black Democrats and white Republicans (oddly enough there are not many black republicans) is on capital punishment.

Yes you guessed it, black Democrats don't like it and white Republicans love it.

In May this year I was in North Carolina helping Jim Neil on primary day. I was one of about ten people handing out info to voters as they went to cast their ballots. The other ten folks were also Democrats supporting a variety of candidates from dog catcher to local district attorney to Obama for president.

My guy was Jim Neil, a gay white man, running against a straight white woman with a religious pedigree, for the Democratic ticket for US Senator. Neil didn't stand a chance.

Now there is more. All the other Democrats there that day with me (a small white queer from Canada) were black. They all supported the white lady for senate because she was a family person, went to church. Now Jim goes to church too, has two kids and a successful business guy. He is a Carolina success story, millionaire, supported tons of progressive initiatives by advocating and funding them. The white lady was a State Senator and not quite as progressive in my eyes. Ironically Neil likely spent more time, effort and money in addressing issues affecting black voters with more success than the white woman, but he was gay.

I knew I was not going to win any of these folks over. So the next thing was what to talk about. We talked about the Presidential race, all were for Obama. Some said if he lost they would vote for the Republican, (I couldn't understand that, that's biting your nose off for sure).

Lastly I figured since I was in the most "progressive" part of North Carolina, I would ask about capital punishment. Hey you know the poll numbers, black democrats are opposed to the death penalty. That ought to be a winner for me.

Now they were all supporting a black Democratic woman who was running against a black republican woman. I was horrified to say the least. To a person, they supported the death penalty. Now here in Canada, the subject doesn't come up often, the death penalty was last used here in 1962 at the infamous Don jail in Toronto. I expect the population here is split 50 - 50.

The American contradictions are many. Why would blacks in general be opposed to gay rights and marriage after being the victims themselves of such awful systemic discrimination. Why could they not see they were doing the same thing to gays. Why would I find so many black Democrats supportive of capital punishment, why would so many of them vote for a Republican President rather than a woman who has an impeccable history of fighting for black people.

America is both wonderful and disturbing. It remains the one western country which still feels its okay to kill as a punishment, to deny gays rights, to discriminate against people because of sex or colour, invoking the lord's blessing is expected of politicians, and unfettered capitalism trumps all, except when they want a bail out.

I almost feel that I have to tell you that not all Americans are like this, that some of my best friends are American. Will i ever understand them? No , but you know what, Obamaism gives me hope that one day things will change. Obama may not bring the great change during his term, he has however opened the door, (remember Obama supports capital punishment and says gay marriage is a State issue). Americans of progressive making, need to storm the opening and demand change.

Link: Blacks as Conservative as Republicans on Some Moral Issues

some American opinions

public opinion in the USA

Americans generally think sex is ok outside of marriage as long as your not doing it with someone who is married, its okay to kill people convicted of murder, abortion is not ok, gambling and testing on animals is kosher, and same sex marriage is becoming more acceptable.

That was a snapshot way back in May by Gallop.

What the heck happened then in California and Prop 8? I guess the voters there did not read the polls and or too many gays were out getting Obama elected leaving fewer folks fighting to defeat Prop 8.

Then again, who could resist the beautiful smile of those young Mormon missionaries...

Check out the cool Prop 8 Musical video at Bruce's place, the Canuck with Attitude blog!

2008 Sex Now Survey

BC Queer Guys do the Sex Now Survey NOW...

The work at Sex Now is almost done! They're trying to get as many guys as possible in BC to participate in the 2008 Sex Now Survey before the end of this year. Sex Now is about 250 guys shy of the goal of 1500 men!

If you haven't had a chance to do it yet, they promise it won't take too much of your time. Three to five minutes, actually. Not bad for a survey. :-) You'll find it at www.SexNowSurvey.com.

Please forward this info to your friends in BC since it would really help get more guys to do the survey. The more surveys, the better information is from guys in the community to build better community services. In addition, the more information they get this year, the more we'll ALL know about what kind of porn we all like and what kind of sexual styles we all have.

And that just means better sex for everyone.

The Sex Now survey is a project of the Community Based Research Centre. CBRC.net is the online home of the Community-Based Research Centre. The CBRC is a non-profit community organization that conducts community-based research. It upholds and advocates for the principles of community-based research. The CBRC specializes in applied research in the areas of HIV/AIDS and gay men’s health. CBRC.net is community-based research in action. Visit each of our sub-sites. Learn about community-based research and explore different approaches to CBR as exemplified by the CBRC’s projects.

Time for AIDS orgs to speak out!

Time for AIDS orgs to speak out!

One more reason to support the Liberal-NDP coalition...

Prime Minister Harper has been sitting on a Gay Men's HIV/AIDS prevention campaign for a year now. The campaign was sent to his office for approval last spring. The campaign was designed by gay men using federal funding. That indicates to me that the designers already took steps to tone the campaign down to be as unoffensive as they could be in order that the PM would sign off on it.

It did not work. The campaign, ready to go, sits and grows older and out of date as each month goes by. There is a good chance the campaign would have to be trashed and all the money spent to date lost, the opportunity to educate queers lost, queer voices lost, queer lives lost.

Why did the people that developed this campaign not tell us about it. Why have they sat on this for months. Did they think questioning the Prime Minister would kill the campaign. That he would never approve it if they demanded action?

The silence of those who spent months of time and taxpayers money developing the campaign is a slap in the face to our community. We have received very little from government when we have sat back silently, politely wishing for it to act. That has been especially true with the Harper Conservative Government. So why the silence?

Harper was never going to approve the campaign, no matter how nice you played. The nicer you play with him, the less you will achieve.

The time for action is now. Queers need to tell the community how the governmment is fighting against our efforts to educate and protect our community. There is a slogan that seems to have lost favour but was popular a decade or more ago.


The coalition will listen to us. Harper will never be in our corner.

Silence = Death

Queering the agenda...

Queering the agenda...

There is much that queer communities have on the agenda for government to address. We have all been patient. I think the time is over for this.

See the list from EGALE Canada. This is only the beginning in my opinion. This is the easy stuff...

see Egale Canada on facebook

Egale Canada’s Top 10 Priorities for a Coalition Government

1 Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to explicitly add “gender identity and gender expression” to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination?

2 Add “gender identity and gender expression” as protected categories under the hate provisions of the Criminal Code?

3 Reinstate the Court Challenges Program?

4 Lift the reproductive restrictions which prohibit women without a male sexual partner from seeking accessible fertility services to use known sperm donors, including gay men?

5 Lift the ban which prohibits men who have sex with men from donating blood, organs, sperm, and bone marrow?

6 A review of Immigration Refugee Board (IRB) guidelines when making decisions based on sexual orientation, expression and gender identity.

7 Support the Yogyakarta Principles, a set of principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity?

8 Adopt official foreign policies and programs to support human rights of LGBT people in other countries.

9 Provide information and training on Canadian LGBT rights to every Canadian embassy, high commission and other diplomatic post around the world.

10 Canada to take a leadership role in advancing LGBT human rights on the international stage.

Conservatives set to attack the GG

Conservatives set to attack the GG

It didn't take long but the Harperites have their folks ready to attack the Governor General should she refuse to call an election or let Harper shut the house down. David Frum, the decider of evil, has decided that Madame Jean is a partisan appointment.

"If there's any one person in Canada entitled to be outraged by the choice of Michaelle Jean as the new governor-general--and there are many--it is surely Adrienne Clarkson.

Like Clarkson or dislike her, there's no disputing that she was a large figure in Canadian life for more than three decades when Jean Chretien named her. That she was also the first non-white and first immigrant governor-general was a wonderful extra.

But the selection of Michaelle Jean casts a brutal retrospective light on Clarkson's elevation. Whoever picked the new G-G gave one order: "Find me a non-white francophone woman!"--and so you have to wonder whether they did not similarly regard the accomplished Clarkson as nothing more than a non-white anglophone woman. The only pleasure we can take in the Michaelle Jean selection is to watch Canada's exquisitely correct reporters tripping over themselves to avoid reporting the most super-abundantly obvious truth." - Once a Prestigious Post, Now a Refuge for Partisans - David Frum

Its news to me that the Governor General (GG) was above partisan politics when they were appointed to the job. Its seems to me that every GG to date has been appointed by a Prime Minister and he (Kim Campbell never got to appoint a GG) has usually picked someone that was at the very least familiar to him, (that's diplomatic speak for, sharing the same values or party membership).

I didn't hear Mr. Harper complain when Madame Jean was appointed. Now of course with his Government in peril, he is leaving no rock unturned in an effort to discredit the coalition.Being relegated to the opposition benches will be a huge insult to Harper's ego.

Most GG's grow in the job, they have served Liberal and Conservative Prime Ministers. It serves no one in this situation to be attacking the credibility of the GG whom must act according to precedent. She has some good guidelines to follow. Whatever her decision, it will be well 'canvassed' among constitutional experts prior to announcing it.

I would hope the GG asks Mr. Dion to attempt to govern. Most Canadians do not want an election so I believe the GG will not go that route. She is left with two options, asking Mr. Dion to form the Government or two, allowing Mr. Harper, should he request it, to close the house down until the new year. This may be the least controversial decision. The Coalition can still defeat the Government budget or use a non confidence motion and the GG is back where she is today. Either allow an election or ask Mr. Dion to form a Government.

The best decision would be to give the coalition the next few weeks to get to work. The time would be very valuable and vital to the success of the coalition.

Neo cons will soon be singing the tune written by the Decider of all Evil.

CBC : Gov. Gen. rushes home to deal with political turmoil

Overheard on Yonge Street

overheard on Yonge Street in Toronto

"We're in downtown
Toronto honey,
it doesn't get any
better than this!"