Canadian Fascism In Action!

Living on the border with Canada and being a regular visitor to Toronto, this item brings me no particular joy, but it bears mentioning since Canada is frequently cited as being a shining example of socialist and hedonism-friendly policy. "Free" health care (if you don't mind money that's worth less than the U.S. greenback and a 15% sales tax), gay marriage and semi-legal dope makes it seem oh so European to those chafing at the bounds of self-control here.

Whatever. I'm philosophically down with the freedom to harm yourself however you see fit as long as you aren't asking others to scrape you off the pavement. Granted, there are serious moral issues attendant to living la vida Caligula, but I'm not sure the government jackboot is the best option.

What sparks this mini-rant is this item about how Miss Universe, a Toronto resident, was treated when she tried to do an appearance:



"Canadian Miss Universe Natalie Glebova was forced to take off her official sash at a local festival celebrating Thailand when Toronto authorities invoked a law against sexual stereotyping.

The winner of the international beauty competition held in Bangkok in May, Glebova was to open the festival last weekend sporting her official beauty queen's regalia.

However, city employees invoked a regulation against activities which degrade men and women through sexual stereotypes or exploit their bodies to attract attention."

Coming soon, courtesy of the Toronto city council: burqas for all women. That will solve the problem of sexual stereotypes and exploitation.

So far, so bad, but where it gets really interesting is in the update:

Toronto is so deeply involved in sniffing the underwear of the Gay Pride / Gay Marriage / Gay Universe voters, er, citizens that heterosexuals can simply take a hike; hence the focus on 'gender stereotyping'. A man wearing a g-string in Nathan Phillips Square would be worshipped, as long as he declared his homosexuality. In fact, a man dressed as Miss Universe would be given a royal reception by our Socialist Mayor and his minions.

It's all about what they used to say about Arafat -- Toronto never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Had Miss Universe worn a bandolero instead of her sash, and shouted "Death to America!", the bureaucrats would have remained mum.

Or possibly if she had had sex with another woman on stage.

Toronto is a ringside seat at a train wreck.

That last bit may be overstating things, but her points about Pride Week are well taken. When I'm in town, I pick up all the free zines I can find and T.O. has a hefty share of gay-oriented publications and since my visit was a few weeks before Pride Week, there was a lot of content directed toward this event.

What I found interesting was how blatantly hedonistic it was - they could've just called it "F*CK WEEK!" because a bunch of the articles were about how gay couple break up before Pride Week so they can have as much indiscriminate sex as they'd like. Considering the current health problems that come with such behavior, isn't this a less-than-ideal manner in which to conduct one's affairs? Also, how can they push for gay marriage because "we're just like straight people" when straight people don't have massive gatherings for the sake of public outlandishness and casual attachment free hooking-up?

Oh, wait....there's that "Spring Break" thing, isn't there? Hmmmm....OK, bad example. Nevermind.

But what does still stick is the typical liberal hypocrisy which prevents a beauty queen from dressing like a beauty queen because some fascist will be offended, but supports Designated Oppressed Groups in their desire to make the Village People blanch at their doings.

If you say you support tolerance and diversity, it would help if you showed some to others, ya know? Hello? Bueller?