Pride

People keep asking why there's no major police presence at gay pride day. Well, I'll tell you: because it's cool to be queer now. You can bet that 20 years ago, this many people would not have been allowed to assemble, or would have been afraid to. You're still not allowed to peacefully assemble to speak up about human rights because it's a threat to the status quo. Being cutely queer IS the status quo now.

Can anyone explain this?

Will someone please explain why and when, in this country, it is suddenly acceptable that any form of human rights violation is acceptable, before or after a person has had a trial? Because the thing is, none of the folks who were detained for G20 had a trial, and yet everyone seems to think the treatment they received inside the detention centre was suitable for criminals. Plus, since when does Canada believe that letting people go hungry and thirsty, and preventing them from being able to even sit down, is acceptable treatment for criminals, even?

Did the black bloc accomplish anything during the G20 summit in Toronto?

I think there's two possible answers to this question.

1. Yes - if you think the black bloc tactics used during Saturday's demonstration were perpetrated by police provacoteurs. They successfully captured the attention of the media, away from the efforts of thousands of people with real, concrete causes to put on the table. They successfully deterred anyone with any interest in The Fence away from it, thereby minimizing the security risks for the summit attendees for a large chunk of the day. Their actions justified security spending, and gave the pumped up police a reason for getting revenge, which clearly came on Saturday evening and Sunday. They also helped police expose what they thought were going to turn out to be the leaders of the resistance, because they could assume that the people left mingling around after the vandalism were hardcore.

2. Yes - if you think the black bloc tactics used during Saturday's demonstration were perpetrated by an organized group of anarchists. They successfully made a mockery of the police and exposed the hypocrisy of the summit security plan. They revealed that there was no plan for protecting citizens or businesses in the area. They mocked police by focusing their efforts on an area far removed from the summit security fence. Overall, they revealed that Canada's policing system is wholly unprepared to manage real dissidence, and therefor, those with something to protect, in this case, global leaders, should stay away. They also served to mobilize people in a shared opinion of their tactics, which ultimately lead to Sunday's large scale, peaceful protest through the downtown core.