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The Sympathetic String

"How long does this battle have to go on?"

The fallout from the blocking of three gay films at the border has reverberated across Parliament Hill. Queer MPs are universally outraged by what they see as a return to the era of Little Sister's struggles.

On Nov 20, an official with the Canada Border Services Agency flagged three films destined for Inside Out's Ottawa screenings — I Can't See Straight, Clapham Junction and Patrik, Age 1.5. The material was approved after the festival was over, and the delay left organizers scrambling to find replacement copies of the films to screen.

"It just seems so spiteful, so intolerant," says Davies. "I'm shocked that still, in this day and age, we're fighting a government who's determined to censor material for the queer community. What right do they have to do that?"

Ugandan law targeting gays is vile and hateful

The Canadian government is making its strongest defence yet of human rights for gays and lesbians, calling a proposed Ugandan law that would imprison and even execute homosexuals "vile and hateful."

The condemnation comes as Prime Minister Stephen Harper prepares to join leaders of Commonwealth countries at a meeting in Trinidad and Tobago this weekend.

The Ugandan "anti-homosexuality bill" is already spurring international calls for the country's suspension from the organization.

Peter Kent, minister of state for foreign affairs, said "Our position is that the proposed Uganda law is reprehensible, vile and hateful and it's appalling that such legislation would be brought to the parliament of a commonwealth democracy. "

... The new Chairman of the Commonwealth from Trinidad & Tobago doesn't seem much better.

CLICK HERE to read about the upcoming Commonwealth Summit.

CLICK HERE to see details about the Legal status of homosexuality worldwide as shown in the map above.

Focus on THIS family!

This movie was featured on a recent episode of In The Life, PBS's magazine show about gay, lesbian and transgendered issues.

In 1999 Reverend Greg Stewart preached about the dire need in Los Angeles County for foster and adoptive parents. Soon after, he and Stillman White, his partner of more than 20 years, opened their home to some of these children. Their priority was to keep siblings together, regardless of age, gender, or chance for success. Over the next three years, the men fostered and then adopted five children considered “at risk”and in desperate need of love and support they have never known.

CLICK HERE to visit the movie's website.

Canada Customs up to dirty tricks again

Canada's border guards are holding prints of three films destined for a gay film festival in Ottawa, and they won't release them until they've had the chance to watch them from beginning to end.

That poses a problem for Inside Out, a Toronto-based film festival with an annual Ottawa satellite program. They intended to show all three films this weekend. Without the prints, they're left scrambling to find grainy lower-quality copies to show audiences.

The gay community and the CBSA (formerly Canada Customs) have a long and checkered past. Border cops spent two decades harassing gay bookstores, with books and magazines arriving in Canada delayed by months or even shredded.

Vancouver-based bookstore Little Sister's took them to court and in 2000 won a partial victory. At the time, the Supreme Court of Canada acknowledged that material was routinely being stopped at the border because of its gay content, and ordered the government agency to stop.

Move over Cougar Town

I am a fan of the new show called Cougar Town starring Courteney Cox, but this one goes one better ... as Jimmy Kimmel explains:

Janet's new video

Despite all the hooplah around Michaels's death, Janet has released a new album that she says goes back to the upbeat, danceable, sexy stuff she did before. Watch this video and others in the Related Videos column and decide for yourself.

Battle of the Blades skates to a 2nd season

Battle of the Blades will be back for a second season, CBC Television announced Wednesday.

The series featuring world-class figure skaters coaching former NHL stars on how to figure skate will return in the fall of 2010.

The first 14-episode series was a hit with Canadians, with CBC reporting an audience of more than 1.7 million turning in for the one-hour finale on Monday. Tickets to see the skating live at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto also sold out every week.

Olympic gold medallist Jamie Salé and former Edmonton Oiler Craig Simpson won the first competition, earning $100,000 for their favourite charity, northern Alberta's Spinal Cord Injury Treatment Centre Society.

CLICK HERE to download the song featured in the finale as sung by Barb Underhill's daughter Sam Gaetz and Mark Masri, "Time".

"Syrup-sucking Canadian iceholes"

The city that will play host to long-track speedskating during the 2010 Winter Olympics has waded into a cross-border confrontation, offering satirical talk-show host Stephen Colbert a job for the Games — monitoring the ice time of the U.S. speedskating team.

Colbert, who recently announced he's sponsoring the cash-strapped U.S. speedskating team during the upcoming Vancouver Games, has condemned Canadians, saying they are denying the American squad ice time for training at the Olympic oval in Richmond, B.C.

On his popular TV show The Colbert Report, the comedian recently called Canadians "syrup-sucking Canadian iceholes" and urged his viewers to send in letters demanding the country cease its icehole-ish behaviour.

In response, City of Richmond spokesman Ted Townsend sent a letter of his own to Colbert's studios in New York, offering the former Daily Show correspondent an olive branch.

"We have always welcomed our friends from south of the border with open arms (well, except in 1812). In fact, we've always fondly considered you as our American 'cousins' and politely tolerated you, even when you were in an imperialistic mood."

Townsend wrote in the letter that international skaters have never been barred from the Olympic oval, though they have been asked to follow rules to get on the ice.

To show there are no hard feelings, Townsend, who calls himself "chief syrup sucker," has offered Colbert a position as ombudsman of treatment for U.S. speedskaters during the 2010 Games.

Website offers free online concerts

A new website allows music lovers to watch concerts for free online, choosing from five different camera angles as they watch.

BillboardLive.com says its new concert-viewing website offers visitors different perspectives on performances by Alicia Keys, Usher, David Archuleta, Daughtry and other artists yet to be announced.