UPDATE: National Post columnist reviews facts, removes entire column

UPDATE: Just received a message from Jonathan Kay (via Facebook) explaining it was our message to him that led him to reevaluate his post. It reads: “After I got your note, I revisited the CBSC decision and reviewed the media coverage of it. You were correct that the CBSC decision was based on aspects of McVety’s pronouncements that were not directly related to the legal issues I discussed in my blog post. And so I took the blog post down.” We also received a note from a reader who tells us the National Post journalist who wrote the original news item continues to stand by the accuracy of his piece. While we welcome Kay’s decision to “revisit” the facts — rather than relying on McVety’s own spin — we’re still wondering, given the effort made by the CBSC to clarify that McVety’s opposition to homosexuality or gay pride played no role in its verdict (in both the full text of its ruling and the press release), how a renowned columnist for a major national newspaper got this so wrong?

_________________________________________________

“Garbage in, garbage out” is a popular computer science concept and an apt way to describe National Post columnist Jonathan Kay’s recent musings about Pride and a Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) decision.

A misleading story written by the Post about the CBSC’s recent reprimand of Charles McVety for broadcast regulation violations inspired Kay to pen an opinion piece so wholly inaccurate that all traces of the delusional screed had to be scrubbed from the paper’s website only days after the piece first appeared online Monday.

Here’s how his column appeared on the site until sometime late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning:

Keep Reading

Job discrimination against trans and non-binary people is alive and well

OPINION: A study reveals that we have a long way to go to reach workplace equality for trans and non-binary people

The new generation of gay Conservative sellouts

OPINION: Melissa Lantsman’s and Eric Duncan’s refusals to call out their party’s transphobia is a betrayal of the LGBTQ2S+ community

Over 300 anti-LGBTQ2S+ bills have been introduced this year. This doesn’t mean we should panic

OPINION: While it’s important to watch out for threats, not all threats are created equally. Some of these bills will die a natural death

Xtra’s top LGBTQ2S+ stories of the year

The best and brightest—even most bewildering—stories from a back catalogue brimming with insight