AIDS Action Now released a video tonight, on the eve of World AIDS Day, calling for the federal government to recommit to the fight against AIDS and hepatitis C in Canada. In the new video, the group condemns the Harper government for "refusing to address this national healthcare crisis."

 

 

 

 

  

UPDATE 7:30 PM ET: We've posted the new video. 

Tonight AIDS Action Now! is hosting a pre-World AIDS Day get-together at Buddies in Bad Times in Toronto to launch its World AIDS Day advocacy video calling for an end to the federal government's denial of the right to health for Canadians living with and affected by HIV and hepatitis C.

Xtra.ca will be the first to post the video later tonight, so keep an eye on this space.

Tonight's launch will be hosted by the comedic yin/yang duo Graham and Diane (Lex Vaughn).

 

Xtra.ca had a chance recently to talk with Graham and Diane about tonight's show and why they've decided to take a break from comedy.

 

"She's just getting a pap smear."

Graham and Diane talk on their recent shows in Toronto and Montreal and why they're taking a break from comedy:






Diane discusses health issues and being a vegetarian:






Graham and Diane on fellow World AIDS eve performer Fay Slift:






Diane explains why it's important to have a substantive message:






Graham isn't on Twitter yet, but reveals he's been "twatting" for years:






Has Graham seen the AIDS Action Now video yet? He seems to think so:

 

Apple has pulled a controversial anti-gay marriage app from its iTunes Apple store after the company was the target of an online campaign condemning the app as "anti-gay."

Called The Manhattan Declaration, the app asked users to vote in a Christian survey and add their names to a 5,000-word declaration penned by Christian clergy.

Given Apple's history of censorship, pressuring the company to surrender to its own oft-exercised bowdlerizing nature isn't a particularly noteworthy achievement. And while it may be a victory for some, for mobile users who feel they're adult enough to manage the appropriateness of their own adult content it's another step back.

Earlier this year Apple rejected the Gay New York: 101 Can't Miss Places because of a snapshot of a naked sculpture, and just this month the company behind Jack'd, a gay networking app, was shocked to discover its app had been removed from the Itunes store by Apple for using the word "gay":

With the introduction of its new iPad, it seems Apple's "moral responsibility" now extends beyond iPhone apps into iPad editorial content. Just a few weeks ago the iPad edition of the November issue of Esquire was deemed too risqué and was delayed by Apple for four weeks.  

In a recent column on the issue of Esquire's delay, and its implications for the future of the free press, The Globe and Mail's Ivor Thorsell concluded:

Neither the iTunes model nor Apple’s culture meshes with the needs of a free press. And if Apple-compliance starts to become an editorial objective, the sudden toning-down of half-naked-lady pictures will be the least of our concerns.

Rumour has it the new iPads will come with 7" and 11" screen options, but no word yet if they'll be releasing a model for adults.

In June of 2009, sex between men was illegal in India, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. But, with the stroke of a pen, an Indian judge set in motion a series of events that would change all that.... Actually, it was a few intrepid gay people in India who took the risks and did the hard work. Anyway, over the span of a few months, almost one sixth of the world’s population, some 1.2 billion people, won a little more freedom over their own sexualities. And the gay men among them are no longer criminals in the eyes of the state. That’s huge.

 

As I write this, more than 2,000 people are celebrating the first gay pride in the Indian capital region since the change. It’s certainly not easy for gay men and dudes on the downlow in India. Delhi has a population of more than 12 million, and those few thousand who are standing up now are showing a great deal of courage. Congratulations: I wish I could teleport myself there to see it, and I hope it goes well.

I've been following a bit on Twitter, but I'll update this post as complete accounts become available. In the meantime, check out some of the work Xtra writers have done on India over the last little while:

Indian court decriminalizes gay sex

Legal activist Ponni Arasu on repeal of gay sex law

AIDS Sutra: Untold stories from India

Kaj Hasselriis's Passage to India series is fascinating.

And here's a big list of other stuff from Xtra.

 UPDATE 11:51am eastern:

Available accounts as promised....

Delhi draped in rainbow colour 

Transgenders hold pride march

UPDATE 8:00pm eastern:

Pics via @chhabs:

 

Yesterday’s Charlottetown Guardian carried a story about the Tourism Association of PEI’s annual meeting. The keynote speaker was Jeff Guaracino of the Greater Philadelphia Marketing and Tourism Association.

It’s great to read so much in The Guardian these past weeks about PEI’s reaction to the firebomb attack against a gay couple in Little Pond. Islanders truly seem horrified.

According to The Guardian, Guaracino told the room PEI would do well to research and develop a long-term marketing plan to attract gay tourists to the province. He pointed to a survey in which 77 percent of gay travellers to PEI said they would recommend the province to others, but 51 percent reported feeling uncomfortable there. He told the crowd that was a problem that needed solving, that it could affect not only gay and lesbian tourism, but also the number of visits from straight tourists.

It’s a convincing argument, and it's essence is, "It's in your best interests, economically and socially, to ensure gay people enjoy being here."

Coincidentally, I visited both PEI and Philly earlier this year. I had a great time, and I’ll tell you more about both destinations another time. But my PEI experience is congruent with the survey Guaracino describes. I loved the place and the people, but sexuality really is an awkward subject for most in PEI. Socially, it’s just not something folks care to talk about. I’m a single gay dude who lives in the gay village and works in the gay press, so you can’t ask me more than one get-to-know-you question without my sexuality coming up. It sits like an elephant in the room, but with some work I found it reasonably easy to get them past it.

Of course, few people want to work on vacation, and there's still that matter of the firebomb and the two guys who lost their house and nearly their lives.