Toronto’s Gay Pride parade will exclude contentious group

[Ognir]

I wonder what group the Jews don't want this time
Oh those people  :down:

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Anna Mehler Paperny

Globe and Mail Update Published on Saturday, May. 22, 2010 3:00AM EDT Last updated on Saturday, May. 22, 2010 12:25PM EDT

Participants in Toronto's Gay Pride parade this year won't be able to march under the banner Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.

Pride Toronto's Board of Directors voted Friday to ban the term from all Pride-related events, Councillor Kyle Rae confirmed.

No one from Pride Toronto would comment Friday, although they said a news conference will be held Tuesday.

The group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, which has marched in Toronto's annual Pride parade for the past several years, has angered people who feel the name is discriminatory, anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli.

The group, for its part, insists it's none of those things, but merely critical of the policies of the state of Israel. Pride Toronto's move is essentially censorship, they say.

Mr. Rae, a long-time champion of gay rights in the city and an opponent of the group's participation in the parade, said he got an e-mail Friday afternoon from one of Pride Toronto's board members, telling him "the Pride committee has voted to ban the use of the term Israeli apartheid at all Pride-related events."

The city has expressed concern over the apartheid name and the consternation it has caused; a motion put forward by councillor and mayoral candidate Giorgio Mammoliti – going before executive committee June 14 – would pull Pride Toronto's funding if the group didn't "invoke the City of Toronto's anti-discrimination policies" and reject Queers Against Israeli Apartheid's application to participate in this year's parade.

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid member Elle Flanders said the group hadn't even applied yet to be a part of this year's event, and they are "still in shock."

"We're reeling; we're disappointed. ... We are not in violation of any anti-discrimination policies," she said, adding that they intend to contest Pride Toronto's decision.

"We're very sensitive to issues around anti-Semitism and in no way do we believe that talking about Israel's state policy is anti-Semitic. ... I think this has been raised to a level of hysteria."

Lawyer Martin Gladstone, who has fought for years to have Queers Against Israeli Apartheid excluded from the Pride parade, said he's "ecstatic" at the decision.

"It's long overdue. It's fantastic," he said, adding that many people he knows avoided Pride because this group made them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

"The inclusion of these groups that have nothing to do with gay rights, that had divisive and hateful messaging, was horrible. ... You can't arbitrarily exclude a large part of our gay community with messaging that's false and divisive."

It's not clear whether the group would be able to participate under a different name.

Mr. Rae said he has no problem with a group supportive of gay Palestinians. But "it's my personal opinion that the Pride event is about fighting homophobia, and the group was not doing that. What they were doing is bringing in another issue into a queer community event."

The association of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories with South Africa's apartheid system has long been an extremely contentious one, condemned by B'nai Brith and used by people ranging from Archbishop Desmond Tutu to the groups behind Israel Apartheid Week.

In a statement at the Herzeliya Conference earlier this year, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak used the term himself.

"If the Palestinians vote in elections, it is a binational state," he said, "and if they don't, it is an apartheid state."

Last year, the Ontario legislature symbolically condemned the term "Israeli apartheid," saying it "serves to incite hatred."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le1578122/

[mobes]

Here Og, allow me to point this out to everyone. It is well known now that a police state the likes of which has never been seen before will be present here in Toronto. This is why:

The G20 summit - June 26th and 27th, 2010

The 30th Annual "Gay-Pride'' Parade - From June 25th to July 4th (hmmmm 30th annual, roman numerals = XXX, just worth mentioning)

Canada Day - July 1st 2010

I could vent my anger day and night about how some idiots are actually going to 'protest' the G20 summit. My word of advice: stay the fuck home, or go out into the country. Why bother protesting those idiots who call themselves 'leaders'. By showing up to that protest, you're legitimizing their authority over you and thus subject to the rules, regulations, and orders of those snarky Toronto police, OPP, RCMP, and security officers.

If people were smart, nobody should show up, that way the cops would have nothing to do and nobody to arrest. Period.

Like seriously....how long does it take for someone to figure that out?

Welcome to Toronto everyone! :evil:

[Rory27]

Well,As it seems anyway...The Canadian Gov't will NOT be giving its annual funding,so who knows what pride week in T.O. is gunna end up like no matter WHO shows up...Hopefully it can still go off without a hitch...And well,i DO NOT 'support' this decision to bar the group in the least,Canada DOES also have other odd parade issues that may come into play as well...Take for instance the People responsible for that air india bombing,Now those peoples photo's are shown on a parade float yearly in Canada,held up as 'Martyrs' to there people,but criminals to the gov't...   I know its NOT a direct correlation,but just lending my own 2cents in ways of looking at it...Sort of like the cath/prod situatuion you have had in Ireland Og,on the surfice at least,with people not wanting to be scene as stepping on any toes...Not saying it makes anything right,just saying one thing,leads to another,leads to over sensitivity i guess...