Queer comics seized by Canada Border Services
NATIONAL NEWS / Censorship process shrouded in secrecy
Rob Salerno / Toronto / Thursday, June 07, 2007
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A shipment of erotic comic books bound for Priape in Montreal was seized by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) earlier this year because CBSA says the material is obscene, Xtra has learned.

All of the seized books are French translations published by H&O Comics in France. They include the titles Dads & Boys volumes one and two and Justin volumes one and two by English artist Josman, and Arena and Gunji by Japanese artist Gengoroh Tagame.

H&O spokesperson Olivier Tourtois says that the company is too small to devote resources to opposing the seizures. Without the publisher's support, Priape owner Bernard Rousseau says he won't appeal CBSA's decision.

There is another reason Rousseau says he didn't protest the seizure. "We didn't protest because it was mostly about younger boys and incest," he says. "We have protested before, but we decided that after looking into the matter it is too much."

"They were determined to be obscene," says CBSA spokesperson Chris Williams. "The indicators ranged from depictions of incest to sex with pain and sexual mutilation, defecation and vomiting."

While Xtra has so far been unable to examine all the seized material, the Justin books are available on-line in English at the artist's website.

"Does that mean that only certain people who are Internet savvy can access pornography?" asks Jim Deva, co-owner of Vancouver's Little Sister's Bookstore. "That it's available on-line raises the question of how are we protecting Canadians from it."

The on-line versions of the Justin books tell the story of a gay man who is reunited with his 18-year-old son, Justin, after several years. Justin moves in with his father and soon confesses his sexual attraction to him. In the two books, the two are depicted having oral and anal sex and, in one scene, Justin's father urinates on him.

Priape purchaser Denis Leblanc says he didn't know the storylines of the books when the store ordered them.

"I knew it wasn't a church book. I knew it was erotic stories and that it was comics, but I didn't know specifically what it was about," says Leblanc.

Tourtois maintains that as adult fantasy comics, obscenity is H&O's raison d'être, and that they are not harmful and no actors are harmed or exploited in their production. He also says that no other country has stopped shipment of the books.

Under Canada's criminal code, anyone selling materials that a court deems obscene is liable for a prison term of up to two years.

"You have to be careful what you sell because you can go to jail and I don't want to get involved," says Rousseau. "I'm too old for that. You don't look at everything that comes in. You might not even be aware that you're selling something illegal."

"Just to say that [CBSA] found this material in it, does not mean that it is dangerous. We need to have a discussion in Canada about intergenerational sex," Deva says, stressing that Little Sister's does not support the sexualization of children.

"I suspect [the seized material is dangerous], but let's have some experts look at it, and if they do determine that it is, let's keep it out. I really mistrust CBSA's ability to determine what is obscene at the present time."

How CBSA decides what mail to open and what they say is too dangerous for Canadian adults to see for themselves is at the heart of Little Sister's ongoing court challenge.

CBSA says that if a shipment arrives at a border that arouses a border agent's suspicion ? by originating from a publisher or geographic location known to have previously shipped prohibited goods, for example ? the agent inspects it and checks any titles against a database of previously examined materials.

If the titles are found in the database, the previous decision is used to determine whether the materials are permitted. The entire database of prohibited materials is not available to the public, and CBSA has refused to release it, even after access to information requests. Members of the public can get quarterly updates to the prohibited materials list via e-mail by sending a request to piu-uip@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca.

If there's no previous decision on a title, the agent checks for "indicators of obscenity" by skimming the materials.

If the agent finds anything that might be obscene, it is sent to Prohibited Importations Unit (PIU) in Ottawa, where CBSA says specially trained agents examine the material more closely and make a decision.

CBSA refuses to elaborate on how agents are trained to spot obscenity, but agents at the PIU are required to have a bachelor's degree with courses in law, sociology, criminology, cultural studies, psychology, art history, literature, film studies or visual arts.

Material deemed obscene by CBSA is seized and the importer has 90 days to file an appeal. If the prohibition stands up on second review, CBSA says it destroys the material. The importer's only recourse is to the courts.

CBSA insists it does not target specific importers or inspect shipments based on importers' past attempts to import prohibited materials. They say they do, however, target exporters who have attempted to ship prohibited materials to Canada. While H&O says its shipments to Canada have never been held up by CBSA before, CBSA refused to explain why it decided to inspect the shipment bound Priape.

But Deva says CBSA routinely targets shipments bound for his store in defiance of a 2000 Supreme Court Of Canada ruling that CBSA not target the store's book shipments specifically.

"Our court case is important because it sheds light on the way [CBSA] make their decisions. We all deserve to know how that process works so that we have faith in that process," says Deva.
Decide for yourself. Justin volumes one and two are available in English under the original title My Wild And Raunchy Son at Josmanart.com


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Reader Comments


 
Crazy
I bought this book in Glad Day last year. The store clerks were talking "Oh, this is terrible," "I can't believe we're allowed to sell this" etc. I walk up to them "Can I help you?" I said "I'll take one of whatever it is you're talking about." Turns out it was this book.
If incest porn from the 80's is legal, and watersports is legal, why is this illegal?
Adam, Toronto Ontario
06/08/07 1:21 PM EST
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Legal or illegal?
I have no probs with this literature not getting across the border. I'm not sure that we in the gay and lesbian community should be promoting incest or underage sexual behavior with adults, not to be confused with underage sexuality. Children are becoming sexualized earlier and earlier. But that does not mean that they are mentally and emotionally equipped to deal with this sexualization. If we take advantage of this early sexualization then are we not predators.
Roz, Toronto Ontario
06/14/07 11:55 AM EST
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Intellectual Freedom?
I have serious mixed feelings on this case. I agree that we should have the right to see what has been determined obscene and am a staunch defender of intellectual freedom, BUT I and other gay activists have fought long and hard to convince the general public that LGBT people are not automatically pedophiles that it is distressing to have defend this particular subject matter.
Deb Thomas, New Westminster BC
06/22/07 12:08 PM EST
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All this fuss over comic books!
I live in the UK and have been following this case. There seems to be some confusion over the books in question. They were seized because they contained incest, NOT pedophilia. I have seen the English versions of these books and there are no depictions of underage children in the stories. The porn industry has been selling the incest fantasy for years. You only have to walk into an adult store and pick up videos with titles like "Like Father, Like Son" and "Brothers at Play". The publicity surrounding these books have probably helped boost the artist's profile and sales of his books worldwide. No doubt he's laughing all the way to the bank!
Darren, Dundee Scotland
06/26/07 2:07 AM EST
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Every time
It bugs me to high Hell how everytime gays need to bring up child porn. That was not part of this story, it was never an issue, and you are warping people's minds, confusing pornography and pedophilia is NOT OK! This "won't anyone think of the children???" bullshit shouldn't stand in our community.
Adam, Toronto ON
07/05/07 4:59 PM EST
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