“Anti-porn feminists battle lezzie
sluts before top court,” we reported, 10 years ago this spring. At the
time, Little Sister’s, a gay Vancouver bookstore was making its case before the
Supreme Court of Canada.
Little Sister’s was the subject of
ongoing harassment by Canada Customs (now the Canada Border Services Agency),
with books regularly seized and shredded at the border.
Photo by Shawn Scallen
The case was argued by Little Sister’s,
it’s lawyer, Joe Arvay, and interveners including Cynthia Petersen (pictured above at the Supreme Court in March of 2000) for Equality of Gays and Lesbians
Everywhere, as Egale Canada was then known.
Little Sister’s won, but its victory was
bittersweet. Border guards continue to hold gay material, most recently three
films destined for the Inside Out Film Festival.
The headline poked fun at Equality Now’s
Janine Benedet, who read a gay rape scene into the record during the case.
Equality Now, US academic Catharine MacKinnon and others argued at the time
that porn is sick and damaging, rather than a healthy, fun part of many
people’s sexual lives.
— Xtra staff
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