Alta. Crown stays charges against gay bathhouse; says standards have changedCALGARY (CP) — Citing a change in community standards, the Crown stayed charges Wednesday against four owner-operators of a gay bathhouse raided in southwest Calgary in 2002.
Crown prosecutor David Torske said there was not a reasonable likelihood of conviction in a type of case not prosecuted in Alberta since the early 1980s.
“Society in general and everyone would agree Canada has changed since the last prosecutions (in Edmonton),” Torske said outside court.
“The law has to change with the times. Parliament has specifically addressed that in this offence by saying current, contemporary Canadian standards are what matters in determining if the community standards of tolerance have been exceeded or not.”
Darrell Michael Zakreski, owner of Goliath’s Bath House since it opened in 1986, had been jointly charged with co-owners Peter John Jackson and Gerald Stanley Rider with unlawfully keeping a bawdy house.
Lonnie Lynn Nomeland, the manager, was accused of having control of premises used as a common bawdy house.
Defence lawyer John Bascom said his clients, who did not attend the brief hearing Wednesday, were very pleased their two-year ordeal is over. He said the prosecution could revive the charges over the next year, but that rarely happens.
The decision also came as a relief to the gay community, albeit after two years of anger and frustration.
“This (stay) shows as long as we’re not having sex at high noon on the corner of 8th Avenue and 1st Street, it shouldn’t be anyone else’s concern what has occurred between two consenting adults,” said Stephen Lock, board member of Egale Canada (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere).
“It’s unfortunate it has taken two years of their (accused’s) lives to reach the decision we reached two years ago.”
Bruce Freeman, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Calgary, found in a survey as part of his multi-faceted PhD thesis shared with the court, that the majority of people in the area around the facility were tolerant of such activities.
“Overall, there was tolerance of the bathhouse, but the community is mixed in this particular issue,” said Freeman. “There are people who object to anything gay or lesbian; 25 per cent of respondents don’t want it.
“Twenty per cent of citizens put men having sex in a gay bathhouse at the extreme response by police to complaints. Another 20 per cent said there should be no response and 60 per cent were in the middle.”
(Calgary Herald)
― Huk-L, Thursday, 3 February 2005 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)
Group seeks boycott of Famous Players over same-sex marriage adTORONTO (CP) — An organization opposed to same-sex marriage is seeking a boycott of Famous Players Theatres, or at least equal time to counter a same-sex marriage promotion currently running on the theatre chain’s screens.
“We are deeply saddened by Famous Players Theatres’ decision to subject unsuspecting moviegoers to ads promoting same-sex marriage,” Charles McVety, president of the Calgary-based Canada Family Action Coalition, a member of the Defend Marriage Coalition, said in a statement.
“It is a betrayal of the trust accorded to Famous Players by their viewing public, including parents who send their children to see a film.”
McVety said the coalition is urging the public to refuse to attend Famous Players theatres and to contact the chain’s president Robb Chase.
Nuria Bronfman, corporate affairs vice-president for Famous Players, said Tuesday that it’s unfortunate they feel that way.
“I don’t know how it’s going to play out, honestly. Hopefully people won’t feel the need to boycott the theatres for this reason.”
Both McVety and Bronfman confirmed that a request to cancel the ad was rejected, as was a request for equal time for a pro-traditional marriage message.
Bronfman said that McVety’s organization had sought free equal time but she didn’t know if they were now seeking to pay for an ad of their own.
“We are a medium, an advertising medium, before our shows. That’s what our screens are used for. So like other media, newspapers, magazines, TV, the message doesn’t necessarily reflect our point of view.”
Bronfman added that they are not censors and as long as an ad complies with their standards, it will be shown.
The 10-second spot, which began running Feb. 1, comprises a single still slide of copy, a message urging patrons to contact their MPs to say they support the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Same-sex marriage legislation is currently before Parliament.
The ad was paid for by Salah Bachir, president of Famous Players Media, on behalf of the group Canadians For Equal Marriage. Bronfman said it’s a separate organization and the ad was paid for.
“It’s not a PSA (public service announcement) by any means.”
The Canada Family Action Coalition describes itself as a non-partisan, non-denominational, not-for-profit grassroots citizens’ corporation “with a vision to see Judeo-Christian moral principles restored in Canada.”
It says its views and strategies are founded upon the Bible. McVety is president of Toronto’s Canada Christian College.
The Defend Marriage Coalition members also include the Catholic Civil Rights League, Campaign Life Coalition and Real Women of Canada.
― Huk-L, Tuesday, 8 February 2005 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)