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on May 8th to speak to students and provide anti-heterosexism workshops for teachers

This event will raise funds for two important community organizations: PTS and le Bureau regional d’action SIDA (BRAS).The Swim-EAU-thon will take place Saturday, April 6th, 2013, from 8:30AM to Noon at the Centre aquatique Paul-Pelletier at 325 Aylmer road.

“I really feel it’s out of pure ignorance,” says outgoing Capital Pride chair Loresa Novy. Like most members of the LGBT community In Ottawa and elsewhere, Novy was “appalled” by semi-retired Ottawa Citizen columnist Janice Kennedy’s Aug 24 op/ed “What does tacky sex have to do with gay pride?” especially since Kennedy had never attended the Parade which she criticized with such prejudice.

This year’s Capital Pride week, held between August 17 and 26, is packed full with live music, parties, dance nights, and spectacles of all sorts. From dog shows to Halloween costumes and everything in between, it literally has something for everyone.

Central Condo—Ottawa’s gayest and swankiest condo located at Bank and Gladstone—has been a source of controversy in town. Anti-poverty activists crashed last week’s launch party and clashed with police. They’re angry at the gentrification of Ottawa and claim the developers, Urban Capital Property Group, are pushing affordable housing out of the neighbourhood, decrying the residents as “social elites.”

After complaints from neighbours about an outdoor stage, Ottawa’s Patrick John Mills Gallery is forced to close its doors, displacing the work of some fifty artists and putting an end to the parties the gallery was notorious for. The openings were so popular that the gallery held two of per month, with about 400 to 500 people showing up.

Ottawa queer youth org PTS is moving up this summer. The organization is literally moving, recollecting to another location this summer. It’s also growing, in terms of programs and events it has to offer the community, with a giant book give-away planned for the coming weeks.

The Ontario government voted in measures to prevent school bullying today, approving the third and final reading of the Accepting Schools Act. The bill will finally allow Gay Straight Alliances to exist in all schools, in spite of strong resistance from Catholic leaders.

Literally always there for the LGBTQ community, PFLAG Canada supports, educates and provides resources to parents, families, friends and colleagues with questions or concerns, 24/7.

The topic of Gay Straight Alliances and teen bullying is once again about to make headlines in Ontario. In response to bans on GSA’s in Catholic schools, the province’s Education Minister proposed Bill 13 to promote and protect activities to fight homophobic bullying. After a few months of protest from religious zealots, and a counter-bill that’s now dropped, Bill 13 may have a fighting chance…