Video Break: Judy Shepard's Response to Virginia Foxx's 2009 Hoax Comment

Marc Hall v. Durham Catholic School Board

Marc Hall (2002)

Everyone knows the story of Mississippi resident Constance McMillen, the teen who recently fought to take her girlfriend to prom. I thought I'd share what I think is the Canadian equivalent of the Mississippi prom issue.

Meet Marc Hall. On May 6-7, 2002, Hall, then seventeen-years-old, fought in an Ontario court against the discrimination he faced in his Catholic school.

(Let me just pause for a moment while you gather yourself from the shock of hearing of the discrimination of a gay student by a separate Catholic school board.)

Let's back-up just a bit. In 2002, Marc Hall sought to take his boyfriend, Jean-Paul Dumond, to his high school prom. The school board, however, decided that as a separate Catholic board it had the religious right of discrimination. Hall wasted no time in acting and headed to the court, backed by his boyfriend, his parents, lawyers, and other supporters. Marc Hall v. Durham Catholic School Board was to become a high-profile case in Canada as well as on an international scale.

A coalition of supporters was assembled in favour of Hall's case, including: Canadian AIDS Society; Canadian Auto Workers Union; Canadian Federation of Students; Catholics for Free Choice; Liberals for Equality Rights; Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC); Windsor Pride Committee, and many more.

The argument for Hall's side was that a church's rights to act according to their beliefs are not above the freedoms and protections afforded to Canadian citizens by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Catholic schools may be run by a separate school board, but they are still subject to rule and regulation by the province in which they publicly operate. Of course, the Church and the school board took the old line that they do not hate homosexuals and only condemn homosexual conduct, and so they were not discriminating or violating the Charter. Fortunately, as stated on samesexmarriage.ca, "their religious view of what constitutes discrimination simply does not correspond with the legal view of what constitutes discrimination,". The Church was not only violating Hall's right to be treated with human dignity and equality, it was violating his right of free expression and of free association.

On May 10, 2002, Justice MacKinnon ordered the Durham Catholic School Board to allow Marc Hall to attend prom with his same-sex date:

"The idea of equality speaks to the conscience of all humanity—the dignity and worth that is due each human being. Mark Hall is a Roman Catholic Canadian trying to be himself. He is gay. It is not an answer to his section 15 Charter rights, on these facts, to deny him permission to attend his school’s function with his classmates in order to celebrate his high school career. It is not an answer to him, on these facts, to suggest that he can exercise his freedom of disassociation and leave his school. He has not, in the words of the Board, “decided to make his homosexuality a public issue”. Given what I have found to be a strong case for an unjustified section 15 breach, he took the only rational and reasonable recourse available to him. He sought a legal ruling."   - Judge Robert MacKinnon

Yes, after costing the Board over $150,000, Marc and J.P. were not only allowed to attend prom at Marc's high school together, but the Board was forbidden by the Ontario Superior Court to cancel the event as a means of preventing the same-sex couple from attending. This ruling, however, was not the end of Hall's fight.

Being that the ruling would hold little permanent legal weight, March Hall filed a $100,000 lawsuit against the Durham Catholic School Board. In 2005, Hall decided that it was not a fight for him personally, that it was more important that he focus on university, and dropped the case. Marc Hall's story is featured in the 2004 CTV television movie, Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story, starring Aaron Ashmore (think "Troy Vandergraff" of Veronica Mars and "Jimmy Olsen" of Smallville) as Marc Hall:

Video Break: Gaga at the National Equality March 2009

The Rainbow Flag

I was trying to decide what topic I would choose for my first real post and I came up with a few ideas but the obvious topic was the Rainbow Flag. 

When anyone who hasn't been living below ground sees a Rainbow Flag, they recognize it as the symbol of the LGBT community.

The rainbow flag was claimed as a symbol of LGBT pride by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker. In 1978, Baker designed the eight-coloured flag, borrowing symbolism from other left-wing movements of the time, and it debuted at the 1978 San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade.

The original eight colours were:

1) PINK - for sexuality

2) RED - for life

3) ORANGE - for healing

4) YELLOW - for sunlight

5) GREEN - for nature

6) TURQUOISE - for art/magic

7) INDIGO - for harmony

8) VIOLET - for spirit

The following year, Gilbert Baker had the Rainbow Flag mass-produced by the San Francisco Paramount Flag Company. Due to restrictions on the production of colours, the number of stripes on the Rainbow Flag was reduced to six rather than the original eight (pink and turquoise were removed and indigo was replaced with blue). The Rainbow Flag is recognized by the International Congress of Flag Makers.

There are variations of the Rainbow Flag, including one with a black stripe meant to represent those who suffered and died of AIDS. The six-coloured Rainbow Flag has become the standard and, though each colour symbolizes a specific quality or ideal, the flag is probably most recognized as a symbol of diversity and unity within the LGBT community.

The Birth of Gay Gay History

Welcome to GGH!

The idea for this blog popped into my head at about 3:30am this morning. Well, it didn't so much "pop" on its own as it was lain before me, asking to be taken on. By 4:00am, I had the template set and was making my first attempt at this introductory post. That's right - this is a well thought out project and I have put a great deal of effort into planning. Please do not be put off by the impromptu nature of this blog. I think that the idea has potential and that, given some time to develop, it could become something quite interesting. 

So, how was the idea lain before me? In a fit of insomnia, I was looking to entertain myself on the internet; I usually watch South Park in such a situation. Recently, however, I have been slightly addicted to "The Gloves are Off," with Jill Bennett and Cathy DeBuono on SheWired.com. If you are unfamiliar with these talented women, shame on you! Cathy and Jill are both amazing. I could go on with this plug but the point is this: they provided the spark. 

On "The Gloves are Off," Cathy and Jill discuss LGBT issues and general current events and they also include a segment called "Gay History." I was re-watching an episode where Cathy passionately argues that it's to the detriment of the LGBT community that, unlike other groups, it is are generally lacking knowledge of its own history because LGBT people are not born into their community. LGBT history has often been overlooked, unknown, or purposely squashed and it is not really as if what is known can be handed down from parents to children in the same way it would be in other cultures. History is important to the sense of identity and pride that any community holds. Also as stated on, "The Gloves are Off," it is time that people realise that being gay is not only okay but that it is fucking awesome. Sitting there, listening to that point for what was probably the third time, I decided to take a little step on this issue. I am a university student studying history and I thought that this would be a fun to take up this blog as a little hobby. Everyone should recognize LGBT history, whether they identify as being a part of that culture or not.

Let me be clear about the nature of this vlog: I am not a professional historian but a student. I'm doing this for my own entertainment in what spare time I have and my plan is to keep it casual. I am not certain if I am going to develop any sort of formula or schedule for the blog; right now, I'm thinking that I will present historical topics, profiles of gay people and allies in history and in the present, possibly an odd video clip, a current issue, and whatever else I decide to do in the moment. I will post when I have the opportunity to write. Not only will this be an interesting journey exploration ("journey" is too flowery and "exploration" feels much more active) of little discussed history, but it is an opportunity for me to try out an informal style of writing. I am used to writing in a stiff and concise academic style. So far, I'm finding casual writing ironically painstaking. As a friend said to me when I told him of this concern, "it's pretty much total class or total ass."

What else should I address? Oh, yes - this is meant to be a positive environment. I will not tolerate hate and when I come across something that I judge to be inappropriate in the comments I will remove it.

I have never run a blog before now, so please be patient with me. I welcome comments and suggestion. If you have suggestions for topics, profiles, etc. or any suggestions regarding the blog itself, please send an e-mail to the address on the blog (gaygayhistory(at)gmail.com). I welcome your thoughts.