Charismatic former mayoral hopeful Alex Munter has been selected to be the new executive director of the Youth Services Bureau.
YSB, which deals with at risk youth of all kinds, staffs the Pink Triangle Youth program with Pink Triangle Services as well as West-end drop in in Kanata. The organization also runs the newly-opened shelter for young men at 433 Cooper and receives funding from all three levels of government in addition to private donations.
Munter has spent more than 15 years as an out gay political figure in Ottawa.
Hog club revs up
A new club for lesbian motorcyclists is cruising into town. Molly King, pictured to the right, is organizing women’s outings under the moniker Ottawa Amazons Motorcycle Club. She plans day and weekend trips to Eastern Ontario, Quebec or upstate New York. “You do not have to be blonde or 5’8″ to join,” she jokes. Those interested can contact King at Doberman@monaco.ca.
RCMP Allegations mount
Current and former RCMP officers are asking to be subpoenaed to give evidence of corruption within the force. Among the most recent allegations are accusations senior officers discriminated against gay officers of a lower rank.
It’s just one of the reasons the whistleblowers want a full investigation into RCMP corruption. They allege that high ranking officers engaged in illegal surveillance of other officers, and falsified documents and signatures.
Giving the information to investigators otherwise could land them in jail. The RCMP is currently under three separate investigations. In 1981, the RCMP were publicly castigated on the release of the McDonald Commisssion report, which revealed flagrant lawbreaking by the RCMP over a 20-year period.
From the 1960s to the mid-1970s the RCMP actively hunted down and fired gay and lesbian police officers, civil servants and military personal. Since the mid-1990s, they have pursued gay men cruising on NCC property in the Ottawa area. The RCMP have not reached out to the gay community the way the Ottawa Police have in recent years.
Le Stud’s gays-only rule
Other than on women’s night, Montreal gay bar Le Stud is a men’s-only space. But now a Montreal university student says she’s going to file a human rights complaint against the bar.
Audrey Vachon and her father stopped in for a drink in the St Catherine street bar and were asked to leave, she says. They stopped at the bar’s patio to kill time but were not served.
The bar hosts events ranging from military-themed parties to top-40 dance nights on the weekend.
Toronto red-light district?
Toronto city councillor Giorgio Mammoliti raised eyebrows on city council May 9 when he floated the idea of forcing Toronto’s many so-called rub and tug massage parlours and holistic centres to relocate to a designated red-light district.
Mayor David Miller and other members of council were quick to distance themselves from Mammoliti’s comments, and experts have noted that in order for any plan to become reality changes to the criminal code would need to be passed by the federal government.
“His proposal to do a red-light district makes prostitution out to be immoral, like we have to be caged in some kind of zoo, and if we escape from it we might infect other people,” says Amy Lebovitch, executive director of Sex Professionals Of Canada. Her group has long advocated for decriminalization of prostitution without the restrictions that legalization would imply.
—Rob Salerno
Why you can trust Xtra
