You can’t make this stuff up

A hoax, my good woman? No, no, no.
A 60% off DKNY sale is a hoax.
Kelly McGillis‘ love scenes with Tom Cruise were a hoax.
“Compassionate conservatism” is a hoax.
Jessica Simpson‘s singing career is a hoax.

No, what happened to Matthew Shepard was not a hoax. It was a horror, one we’d very much like to prevent from ever happening to anyone else again.

Hate crime legislation sends the message that violent crime against gay, lesbian and transgender people will be taken seriously. If conservatives have a philosophical difference with that, well, all this could have been avoided if such crimes had been taken seriously in the first place.

A former editor of the late, lamented fab magazine, Scott has been writing for Xtra since 2007 on a variety of topics in news pieces, interviews, blogs, reviews and humour pieces. He lives on the Danforth with his boyfriend of 12 years, a manic Jack Russell Terrier, a well-stocked mini-bar and a shelf of toy Daleks.

Keep Reading

Samantha Josephs in front of the cover of 'Carrying'

Samantha Josephs gets dirty

The author of “Carrying” talks writing erotica, trans pregnancy—and her novel’s upcoming movie adaptation
A cartoon of two people standing close together; one is holding a puppy, the other is holding a book

How a Canadian kids’ book became the centre of a U.S. Supreme Court case

“Pride Puppy” was written to highlight the joy of Pride. It became a political flashpoint
A cartoon of people raising their fists with police officers facing them. There are flowers in the background

Queer censorship isn’t new in Canada, but we’ve won the fight before

Key figures from censorship fights in the 20th century reflect on what we can learn from them today
A cartoon of a nondescript personified animal riding a horse

Trans Albertans are strong. We aren’t going anywhere

Trans Albertans reflect on what makes their home province special, even in the wake of Premier Danielle Smith’s legislative attacks and book restrictions
Advertisement