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By bazie, on January 21, 2013, at 7:59 pm There is a lot of buzz going on, from all sides, that Obama has used his presidential address as some big pivot towards progressivism. The main debate seems to be on whether Obama is just saying some lofty rhetoric, perhaps to try and cement the kind of legacy he hopes for, or whether this is some hint of a change in how he plans to approach policy and politics in his second administration. For the record, even despite the somewhat more aggressive stance of late, I am sadly very much on the former side of that debate. However, both sides seem
. . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: A not so progressive inauguration speech
By bazie, on November 19, 2012, at 7:48 pm As a follower of both US and Canadian politics, but a Canadian resident, it is a source of national pride that much of the most abhorrent aspects of the culture wars in the US are, thankfully, absent in Canada. For all our faults, our elections don’t seem to have an over abundance of old conservative white men who can’t quite restrain themselves from talking about “legitimate rape” and the “gift from god” that a rape baby presents. Even our socially conservative Prime Minister has, as a credit to his political savvy if not his ideological tendencies, clamped down on debates over abortion (Read more…)
By bazie, on July 23, 2012, at 11:41 pm I recently expressed outrage over the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to continue banning members who were LGBT or atheists/agnostics. Ideally, groups like BSoA would be able to figure out for themselves that this homophobic and discriminatory policy is not acceptable. But there is also a legal question as to how it is that such discrimination is even allowed to continue in the United States while it would not be in Canada.
In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that Boy Scouts of America could continue its practice even in states like New Jersey that have specific laws against discrimination based (Read more…)
By bazie, on July 20, 2012, at 12:43 pm The ever convoluted path towards full LGBT equality took another turn for the worst:
“The Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday said the organization would continue to deny gay people membership, saying that the policy “is in the best interest of Scouting.”
Not to mention its long standing ban on atheists and agnostics. It is hard to know what the appropriate emotional reaction is to a story like this. Anger, disappointment, frustration, powerlessness? I feel all of these. This ban is disgusting, homophobic and unacceptable at every level in a modern society.
This issues strikes close to home (Read more…)
By ihurlyi, on June 12, 2012, at 9:35 pm I am co-organizing this panel discussion event on LGBTQ+ Newcomer issues on June 19, 2012 in Toronto. If you are in this area, come join the discussion!
By bazie, on May 9, 2012, at 4:00 pm Years back, when Barack Obama first told us that his views on gay marriage were “evolving”, I predicted that he would support gay marriage before the next election. That day has now come, and Obama has evolved to join his supposedly progressive base by supporting gay marriage.
Good. For the first time, the President of the United States is now publically in support of gay marriage. However, I am still irritated with Obama on this file, largely because of how incrediably political his move is.
During his presidency, Obama has thrown several bones to his base with things like repealing
. . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: Obama comes out in support of same sex marriage
By bazie, on April 28, 2012, at 1:59 pm I am proud to call myself a feminist. I take it as a first principle needing no further derivation that all people deserve equality of freedom and opportunity, and that it is both morally right and morally obligatory to fight for this in society. Feminism, to me, is simply the subset of this that pertains to women and issues specific to women. I thus don’t consider it a particularly difficult or surprising position to take and feel that anyone who agrees with the above characterization ought to identify as feminists as well.
Surprisingly, not many people self identify as feminists
. . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: On Feminism
By bazie, on April 6, 2012, at 12:35 pm Should there be explicit protection for the freedom of religion in the founding documents of society? This question may at first seem to be an obvious ‘yes’ since almost everyone – including most atheists such as myself – consider it to be abundantly clear that people should have the freedom to believe in and practice whatever religion they like. I would immediately reject any constitution or charter that did not protect such things. The question, however, is whether religious freedoms should be explicitly enumerated and codified in these documents or whether a larger principle of freedom which includes religious freedom
. . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: On unnecessarily codifying specific freedoms such as the freedom of religion
By Orwell's Bastard, on February 12, 2012, at 11:07 pm One Town’s War on Gay Teens | Politics News | Rolling Stone:
“Asked on a radio program whether the anti-gay agenda of her ilk bore any responsibility for the bullying and suicides, Barb Anderson, co-author of the original “No Homo Promo,” held fast to her principles, blaming pro-gay groups for the tragedies. She explained that such “child corruption” agencies allow “quote-unquote gay kids” to wrongly feel legitimized. “And then these kids are locked into a lifestyle with their choices limited, and many times this can be disastrous to them as they get into the behavior which leads to disease
. . . → Read More: One Town’s War on Gay Teens | #uspoli #lgbt
By bazie, on January 27, 2012, at 1:01 pm After a protracted battle over the issue of whether so called ‘gay-straight clubs’ must be allowed in Catholic schools, many LGBT allies thought a legitimate victory had been attained when Queen’s Park ruled that such groups must be tolerated. Delaying far past the required deadline, an associated Catholic think-tank has sent in its recommendations on how these clubs should be allowed to run.
The suggested name? ‘Respecting Difference’ clubs. Groan. Further, the clubs get saddled with various restrictions that ”they are not to provide personal counseling in a group setting“ nor could they present “activism, protest or advocacy of . . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: LGBT clubs in Ontario Catholic schools get neutered
By ihurlyi, on December 7, 2011, at 3:38 pm Here’s a video of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s address at the United Nations in Geneva where she asserts that LGBT rights are human rights. To be honest, I don’t follow US politics that much and I don’t know a lot about Hillary but I commend her for this speech. She’s a well-known politician and I think the LGBT community can only benefit when someone from the White House challenges homophobic laws and policies and talk in favor of gay rights . I think it’s a pretty brave, powerful and eloquent speech.
I took this video from the website
. . . → Read More: Thumbs Up Canada: Advocate.com: The speech you’ve been waiting for
By Orwell's Bastard, on September 5, 2011, at 12:02 am I’m sorry, I just can’t help it sometimes.It’s probably not the most famous or best-remembered scene from Blazing Saddles (and in truth, it’s got a lot of competition), but in light of the Catholic school system’s way of dealing with gay and lesbian st… . . . → Read More: This drama with the Catholic school system reminds me of a Mel Brooks moment
By Orwell's Bastard, on September 3, 2011, at 10:18 pm I’m sorry, I just can’t help it sometimes.It’s probably not the most famous or best-remembered scene from Blazing Saddles (and in truth, it’s got a lot of competition), but in light of the Catholic school system’s way of dealing with gay and lesbian st… . . . → Read More: All this Catholic-school business reminds me of a Mel Brooks moment
By ck, on August 28, 2011, at 4:04 pm Jack Layton’s state funeral service couldn’t have been more fitting. Different kinds of music being played, from classical to Quebecois from Martin Deschamps to pop to a gospel rendition of a 60′s Youngbloods’ classic by Julie Michel. The musical selections also represented something Jack Layton strived toward, besides social democracy; diversity. In fact, not . . . → Read More: Jack Layton’s Funeral, Learning About Jack, The Family Man. A Few Words To Critics, . . . → Read More: Jack Layton’s Funeral, Learning About Jack, The Family Man. A Few Words To Critics,
By bazie, on July 17, 2011, at 2:38 am Which of these sounds like a true leader, a president one can get behind: the man who strongly and emphatically declares what he thinks is morally right and acts accordingly, or the man who tries to make enough small improvements in the right direction… . . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: Marriage Equality, Obama, Jurisdiction
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