Stats Canada: Vancouver first again in reported gaybashings
2012-05-21 22:00:00


Sex store crackdown likely in Vancouver
2012-05-17 22:00:00
A city crackdown on Vancouver's sex shops may be on the way as a result of a discrimination suit brought against the city by one of the Lower Mainland's biggest sex retailers. An affidavit from a city licensing official filed May 7 in BC Supreme Court threatens to enforce zoning bylaw...

Why is Surrey lagging on anti-homophobia policy?
2012-05-16 22:00:00
Seventeen school boards have now passed explicit anti-homophobia policy in BC and six more are considering it, but Surrey, the province’s largest school district, has yet to develop its own. This, almost 10 years after the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the Surrey school board t...

Support your queer staff, says trans EA employee
2012-05-16 22:00:00
Sexual and gender diversity in the workplace is good for business, say organizers of an annual anti-homophobia breakfast in Vancouver. A crowd of more than 350 people filled a Vancouver hotel ballroom Thurs, May 17 to celebrate the eighth annual International Day Against Homophobia Bre...

Gay input sought for new West End plan
2012-05-13 22:00:00
Vancouver city planners say they will visit pubs in the gay village to gain community input for the new West End plan they’re drafting. “The nightlife in the Davie Village is important to the whole LGBTQ community across the city and we want to talk to people that hang out ...

'Government-controlled' consultation on policing?
2012-05-13 22:00:00
Normal.dotm 0 0 1 724 4127 Pink Triangle Press 34 8...

Invasive and ineffective: BC's first responder bill denounced
2012-05-07 22:00:00
Health and privacy rights advocates are lambasting a controversial bill that would force blood tests on patients whose bodily fluids come in contact with first responders. HIV/AIDS groups, the BC Civil Liberties Association, the provincial privacy commissioner and the provincial health...

Invasive and ineffective: BC's first-responder bill denounced
2012-05-07 22:00:00
Health and privacy rights advocates are lambasting a controversial bill that would force blood tests on patients whose bodily fluids come in contact with first responders. HIV/AIDS groups, the BC Civil Liberties Association, the provincial privacy commissioner and the provincial health...

Vancouver hosts biennial Sexual Health Conference
2012-05-06 22:00:00
About 130 health-care professionals, educators, students and individuals attended the 10th biennial Western Canadian Sexual Health Conference, held in Vancouver May 3-4. This year’s theme was Building Sex-Positive Communities: Inclusion For All. “I think the conference is a...

'Revolutionary' gay rights group formed in Haiti
2012-05-03 22:00:00


Full slate and financial stability
2012-04-29 22:00:00
Vancouver’s Dyke March has a full slate of directors and is preparing for a successful year, says the organization’s president. Last year, financial instability and a lack of community interest and participation put the organization’s annual women-focused march and fe...

Repressed sexuality or insincere pride?
2012-04-26 22:00:00
Two recent studies may offer more clues into what triggers homophobia, but neither one conclusively explains why some people hate gays and lesbians. Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have authored a study that examines the effects of authentic pride versus arrogan...

Delta chair opposed to anti-homophobia policy
2012-04-25 22:00:00
Delta school trustees were reluctant to commit to a student request for an anti-homophobia policy on April 24, with board chair Dale Saip stating that he does not like the idea of singling certain groups out for protection. “From a personal perspective I’m probably more pro...

Mpowering young gay men
2012-04-24 22:00:00
One of America’s most successful programs for reducing new HIV infections among young gay and bisexual men comes to Vancouver this June. “We’re going back to an empowerment model which is what the HIV movement was built on,” says Michael Reid, YouthCo&rsqu...

Homophobia just a 'made-up' slur: Simpson
2012-04-23 22:00:00
Conservative activist Kari Simpson says she has filed a human rights complaint against the Vancouver School Board (VSB) for fostering hate against Christians by “advocating the use of slurs like homophobe, homophobic, homophobia and heterosexism.” In the complaint dated Ap...

Ivan Coyote launches new book
2012-04-22 22:00:00
Award-winning storyteller and recently retired Xtra columnist Ivan Coyote launches her new book of short stories for young adults on Thurs, May 3 at the WISE Hall with a talent show for youth. Doors open at 7pm, all ages welcome. Here is an excerpt from her introduction to On...

Supporting South African lesbians
2012-04-19 22:00:00
“I’m a softball player first, and lawyer second,” says Morgan Camley, co-chair of Vancouver’s fastpitch Mabel League, which recently announced a ,000 donation to the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW) soccer club in South Africa. “We are the larges...

17th school district passes anti-homophobia policy
2012-04-18 22:00:00
West Vancouver became the 17th school district in BC to embrace policy that specifically addresses homophobia on April 10, taking only three months to proceed from conception to final, unanimous board approval. “This is as good an outcome as we could hope for,” says school ...

Interest lost in OUR Spaces
2012-04-16 22:00:00
 Reduced to just 12 members - nine of whom attended April 15's annual general meeting (AGM) - the three-year-old society tasked with creating a new queer community centre in Vancouver is struggling to attract and maintain a critical mass of support.

Accessing HIV post-exposure drugs
2012-04-10 22:00:00
Gay men in Vancouver will soon have expanded access to a drug therapy that can prevent them from becoming HIV-positive after exposure to the virus. Next month the Ministry of Health and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) will implement an 18-month pilot project called n...