BY NOREEN FAGAN – This piece took me by surprise, with its author’s bold opening statement: “Prostitutes have rotten lives that end badly and
early.”
The column turned out to be a diatribe against anyone who
didn’t fit the author’s profile: a white, middle-class woman with two
children and a loving husband.
It has to be an April Fools’ prank, right?
Wrong: it was published on March 25 and was the opinion of
a columnist who, until now, I had thought of as being a liberal person with an open
mind. Her opinion is in such contrast to the articles Xtra has published in
support of sex workers’ rights that it is a reminder that even liberal people –
and I mean people who deride Harper and his government – can be close-minded
and bigoted.
But today is April Fools’ Day, and in true form various
press releases are being issued that could be jokes… or just good ideas.
For
any travellers who have spent 24 hours on a plane with screaming children, having the
backs of their chairs kicked every 10 seconds, then Ryanair’s announcement of
child-free flights may be appealing.
As for the CNW group, they have put out a media advisory that
all joke news releases will be identified with the words “April 1
Alert” in the headlines.
Why you can trust Xtra
