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Posts Tagged ‘censorship’

Queer Ontario’s Nick Mulé on Rabbletv

May 27th, 2010 Comments off

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_wp7l3sxao&w=600&h=375]

Queer Ontario’s Nick Mulé is interviewed by rabble.ca about the history of attempts to censor LGBT activists at Toronto’s Pride Parades.

Queer Ontario Opposes Censorship by Pride Toronto at 2010 Pride

May 26th, 2010 Comments off

Toronto: Members of Pride Toronto’s staff and board held a news conference in front of their office at 14 Dundonald Street in Toronto yesterday to announce formally its board’s decision to ban the term ‘Israeli apartheid’ from being used in the Pride festivities this year. Gathered across the street were members of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA), whom this is very much directed at, Queer Ontario, long time queer activists, artists and community organizers of all generations concerned about free speech.

Based on the rationale provided by Pride Toronto at the news conference, Queer Ontario is deeply concerned about the process that is unfolding. Essentially, Pride Toronto is conceding to threats by discredited City Council member and mayoral candidate Georgio Mammoliti, as well as the maneuverings of City Councillor Kyle Rae and fellow City bureaucrats. Queer Ontario founder and spokesperson Nick Mulé states “It appears Pride Toronto has opted to appease some City officials applying pressure based on misinformation regarding QuAIA and the use of the term ‘Israeli apartheid’, rather than work directly with the community in educating the City to develop a nuanced understanding of the human rights and discrimination issues at play.”
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Queer Ontario Denounces City’s Threat to Pride Toronto’s Funding

April 24th, 2010 Comments off
Toronto: Queer Ontario, a provincial queer liberation group, denounces recent actions taken by City of Toronto bureaucrats issuing a warning to Pride Toronto regarding the participation of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) in this year’s pride parade.

We are particularly concerned about how the word ‘apartheid’ is being interpreted as ‘hate’ and the implications of such on free speech.  We are disturbed that such a warning was issued based upon mere reports from unidentified city councilors and unspecified ‘members of the public’, without proper research being conducted first.  The LGBT communities are highly sensitized to issues of discrimination given our history and the ongoing oppression of our communities in Canada and many parts of the world.  We also consist of vastly diverse communities with viewpoints, world views and political perspectives that are far from monolithic.  As such, we have exercised our Charter-guaranteed freedom to express our diversity oftentimes to the discomfort of others (i.e. early Gay Day celebrations, participation of drag queens, leather folk, nudists and those that challenge conventional political thought).  We are concerned that issuing such a threat against Pride Toronto will reverberate across the province creating a chill in smaller communities organizing their respective pride festivities, who now might find their municipal officials withdrawing support over unqualified and vague concerns about discomfort.  This is not about Pride Toronto violating the City of Toronto’s anti-discrimination policy, but about the City of Toronto issuing an unfounded threat, in the form of censorship, to cut funding to a community organization that hosts one of the city’s largest annual parades.

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