A couple of embarassing set-backs for Toronto this week. First, Torontoist discovers a casual reference in a BBC story that California’s experiments in paedophile rehabilitation include showing the paedophiles pictures of our fair city to “establish a baseline of non-arousal.” Something tells me Tourism Toronto won’t be using “Toronto: We’re less sexy than children” as its new slogan.
On the other hand, if the Border Services agents at Pearson keep harassing hardworking porn-stars-turned-producers on their way to perform at Toronto bathhouses, as Michael Lucas alleges they harassed him on his blog on Monday, then I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that outsiders perceive our sex lives to be kept in pre-adolescence. Still, the comments that have popped up on Xtra’s coverage of the story don’t show much sympathy for Lucas, who, after all, is an admitted former sex worker and has produced porn titles that CBSA has banned from Canada.
This embarassing news contributed to Toronto’s slipping to sixth among top gay destinations outside of the US, behind Vancouver (fourth) and Montreal (fifth), according to a new survey. This is pretty important, since other studies are showing gay travel to be one of the few recession-proof industries.
But on the positive side, a gay Nigerian man who lives in Toronto has won refugee status in Canada after successfully appealing an earlier dismissal of his case. So some people are still coming to Canada.
Why you can trust Xtra
