jawnbc | 28C my fat fookin' arse

It’s hot. Not hawtt, hot. Sticky. Oppressive, ubiquitous, insidious. The hair on my arms, chest, legs matted to my body. No breeze. Last week we hit 40C but today seems hotter. Ew.

Calgon, take me away!

I’m quite pleased to be following the SF queer marriage stuff.

querrelle noticed how little of the coverage is rancorous, with most accounts falling into the quasi-neutral or laudatory quadrants of the discursive spectrum. As a gaynadian, my take on is that, whatever happens, it’s all good for Canada. If the marriages are upheld in SF and Massachusetts, more Canadians will support queer marriage--many MOR Canucks react viscerally to any suggestions that the US be more socially progressive than Soviet Canuckistan. Conversely, if the marriages in either/both jurisdictions are ultimately invalidated, some (perhaps many, perhaps not) MOR Canucks will see queer marriage support as a way to validate this “we’re more evovled on issues of justice” notion.

In many ways, what makes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (en français ici trump the US Bill of Rights (seulement disponsible en anglais) are an additional 200 years of modernity, a genuinely multicultural worldview, and widespread knowledge of the atrocities of war.

In working with activists and AIDS prevention folks from around the world, I cannot overestimate the value of the Canadian Charter, which is derived largely from the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It’s allowed public discourses on justice issues in Canada to largely focus on fairness and equity, rather than hyperbole. “What I like” or “what suits me” doesn’t as often trump “what is fair.” And I think the conversations--about queer issues, racism, sexism--are richer and more complex as a result.

Sorry.