Pride Toronto announced on June 23rd that it has passed a resolution to reverse its ban of the phrase “Israeli Apartheid” at all Pride events, which will now be replaced by a policy requiring all participating groups to review and sign the City of Toronto’s Declaration of a Non-Discrimination Policy. In addition, the organization has also proposed to appoint a panel of ‘LGBTTIQQ2SA leaders and friends’ that would oversee the ‘protection’ and ‘advancement’ of the festival’s core values and principles by consulting directly with members of the community. The reversal comes just over a month to the day that Pride Toronto announced it would play censor with the LGBT communities to appease city councilors, bureaucrats and corporate sponsors. Queer Ontario applauds the change in policy, but is raising a series of questions regarding the process that led to this latest decision and how it will be implemented.

Queer Ontario founder, Nick Mulé says, “Although Douglas Elliott, Brent Hawkes and Maura Lawless the three individuals who proposed the resolutions should be commended for assisting Pride Toronto in reversing the ban, the way this was conducted and is being characterized is highly suspect. At a time in which protests in this city are growing in response to G20 leaders meeting behind closed doors the same process being undertaken with this controversy undermines efforts made by the community.” As such, Queer Ontario raises the following questions:
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The Queer Ontario Education Committee is developing the organization’s Think Tank — a space on the QO website where one will be able to find critical writing and analysis about queer issues and its liberationist principles.

We are currently looking for people interested in taking part in these formative discussions to help us determine:

1. how to structure and run the Think Tank (looking at what kind of group would run it and what their decision-making process will be, especially when it comes to selecting, reviewing, and editing items for publication); and
2. how to structure the Think Tank section of the website (looking at what kinds of items we would want to publish and how we would want to present this to the public)

If you are interested in being part of this, please contact me. Do note that this opportunity is open not just to academics, but to anyone with relevant skills anywhere in Ontario.

Thanks in advance for your enthusiasm and we hope to hear from you soon!

Alana
alana.boltwood – at – gmail.com

Joint Book Launch

Pride and Politics: Queer Rights in Canada and
Government’s Role Then and Now

Gary Kinsman & Patrizia Gentile’s
The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation

and

Tom Warner’s
Losing Control: Canada’s Social Conservatives in the Age of Rights.

Where: The Croissant Tree, 625 Church Street, Toronto.
When: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Time: 7:00 – 10:00 PM
*This event is wheelchair accessible.

Gary Kinsman and Patrizia Gentile provide a disturbing view of the history of queer surveillance and regulation in Canada, while Tom Warner documents the progress and status of more recent struggles for queer rights, and sheds a light on the forces of social conservatism that seek to reverse this progress.
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