Mark Wilson: Grace in the face of an HIV epidemic.

A few moments after entering Boutique bar, my go-to martini lounge in the heart of Toronto’s gay village, I was instantaneously captivated by a man whose beard of white complimented a thick set of dark eyebrows that every man over the age of 60 would be envious of. I soon began to realize that his distinguished look harmonized well with a humble persona that could be spotted a mile away – or at least a few feet away, in a dimly lit room full of bona fide regulars.

The Rebel Vote

The upcoming 42nd Ontario General Election brings uncertainty, keeping everyone on edge. As my Facebook feed continually gets littered with informal anti-campaign ads smearing Doug Ford, the Ontario PC Party’s poll numbers continually rise. The subtle scent of the United State’s 2016 Federal Election looms within Ontario’s political climate, with the predicted outcome equivalent to Trump Nation.

Kill your tumor in 90 days or less!

“If you eat the bottom of an ice-cream cone first, it will cure cancer.”

It is as ridiculous as it sounds, yet similar pseudo-scientific claims are seeping their way into the mainstream opinion. A fear of pharmaceutical companies, “Big Pharma”, has become a topic that just about everyone is talking about. Capitalizing on health, some say, is downright unethical. Indeed, capitalistic ideology might not be proper place in the health and well-being of a nation, and it’s pertinent that people question the pharmaceutical marketplace; however, elaborate schemes that rely on erroneous assumptions exist, creating a counterproductive atmosphere for those most affected.

The Definition of Family

Gone are the days of the Nuclear Family ideal, and the familial structure to which people strive is based on countless variables. Blood may be thicker than water in the literal sense, but this expression doesn’t mirror the reality of many who have felt rejected by this biological web.

Simply Radical in the 21st Century

We’ve all seen it, heard it, felt it. If you live in the 21st Century and check enough social media, anyway. Someone gets offended by a post, and somehow the poster becomes the target of humiliation through empty rhetoric: Sexist, Homophobic, Racist, Transphobic, and Uneducated. Words that are used in the wrong context and undermine the very real history of oppression. They vilify people who are, in other-words, good people who are in no way, shape, or form, any one of these. It proves nothing, takes the argument to a personal level, is often times a complete fallacy, and it does absolutely zilch to persuade someone in changing their point of view. In the end, trying to shut someone up – or deleting/unfollowing them on your go-to social media – is as authoritarian as the most fascist regimes in history. Don’t like this stance? Trigger warning: You might get read!