2007 Gay Jose Pride San
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Tourism industry seeing a lot of green in pink
As the tourism industry in Canada struggles to maintain ground in the face of high gas prices and U.S. border issues, travel experts are looking to "pink dollars," or money spent by gay and lesbian travelers, as a sure thing. Recent U.S. research shows gay and lesbian travelers represent about 10 per of the overall travel market, but the annual amount spent is estimated at $700 million. This year was also the 20th anniversary of the Pride Week in Ottawa and it's estimated about 300,000 people attended events over the 10-day schedule. It's this combination of spending power and the growing perception of Canada as a gay-friendly country that is making pink dollars a hot commodity. "The numbers prove that the gay/lesbian consumers are one of the most loyal markets and overall less are traveling with children, so they have a larger discretionary income," says R.
Archbishop fans the flames of homophobia
In a move that has surprised nobody, the Archbishop of Glasgow has blasted the decision to discipline nine firefighters who refused to hand out safety leaflets at a gay pride march. The nine officers were hauled over the coals by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service (SFR) when they moaned it would be embarrassing for them to attend Pride Scotia in uniform, while others claimed it would contradict their moral beliefs. Archbishop Mario Conti described the disciplinary action as dismaying. In 2003, when faced with the prospect of gay civil unions, he found the idea subversive. Bosses have ordered the group, from Glasgow's Cowcaddens station, to undergo intensive "diversity training" as part of their punishment. One of the men involved, a watch manager, was reduced to the rank of crew manager, losing an estimated 5,000 in salary.
GENDER IS OVER-RATED
At a recent family affair, my philistine cousin was complaining about the gay sex shops in the West Village. He recently moved to New York and finds the openly gay culture "offensive" and "abrasive." Feeling the need to defend the gay community (and being bisexual myself), I said, "Intolerance is rooted in fear. Maybe you’re afraid that one day you’ll be attracted to a guy." His response: "If the guy had breasts and didn’t have a penis and looked like a woman, then maybe I would." He could have been describing a transsexual. "You see how gender is irrelevant?" I said. Ignoring my point, he reiterated his heterosexual pride: "I just want everyone to be like me. Fuck you." Of course I wanted to slap him, but I found enlightenment in his insulting comments. My cousin is an extreme example of the human tendency to perceive gender as a fixed state of being, attached to expected qualities and behaviors.
World Pride in Israel
According to Hagai El-Ad, executive director of Jerusalem Open House, World Pride was intended to counteract "incitement against gays and lesbians" by conservative branches of Jerusalem's three main religions. Despite the protests of religious right wingers and a war only 80 km away, El-Ad and the rest of the Jerusalem Open House organizers somehow managed to bring people together for a global pride celebration.
When I first arrived in Jerusalem, Haneen Maikey, the Palestinian coordinator for Jerusalem Open House, recommended I visit Shushan, the local gay bar. Here, at least superficially, Jews and Palestinians seemed to get along.
There was even a Hasidic Jew the night I went, hiding in a corner, still wearing his heavy black clothes and hat, his curls dangling from his temples.
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