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T L IB U N E Volume 16 1'
October 2nd, 1996
Taking back the night m ore accessible than ever By A mrit S idhu
In the 17th annual Take Back the Night March last Thursday, women from McGill, Concordia and the larger Montreal community marched in affirmation of their right to feel safe on the streets of Montreal. The march was started in the United States in the 1970s and in Montreal in 1982, under the organi sation of the Montreal Sexual Assault Prevention Centre. In 1992, the Take Back the Night Coalition handed over responsibility for the march to the Concordia Women’ s Centre. Both these bodies are under the direction of Nathalie Leveille. The Coalition is comprised of representa tives from various women’s organi sations, all of which are volunteer and non-profit. In 1992, the event became a women-only event. A number of other North American cities that hold the march have the same policy. Excluding men has aroused con troversy and charges of reverse dis crimination in past years. Leveille disagreed with these notions, arguing that it is important for women to be able to march by themselves. “We exclude men because, in my opinion and those of the other members of the Women’s Centre, men already have the streets. At night, most men are generally not afraid to walk the streets. One women-only event is not too much to ask,” Leveille said. “There are count less ways for men to show support:
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Montreal’s 17th annual Take Back the Night march, a women-only event, wound through downtown last Thursday. This y ea r’s event was made more accessible, allowing disabled and elderly women to join.
Blood drive tainted by controversial questionnaire Red Cross criticised fo r homophobia, unsafe screening tactics B y A lex M athias
The Canadian Red Cross Annual Blood Drive has returned to M cG ill this w eek, and with it returns a controversy. Three years ago, the CRC screening process became a hot topic among McGill students and in the Montreal gay community because it prevented sexu ally active gay men from donating blood. This year, there is still a great deal of concern about the nature of the questionnaire, but the op p osition’ s ta ctics have changed. In N ovem ber 1 9 9 3 , SSM U moved to ban the blood drive at McGill on the basis that it violated the anti-discrimination clause of the SSMU constitution. The following February, the motion was rescinded and put to referendum. In March, 80 per cent of McGill undergradu ates voted in favour of keeping the blood drive. SSMU President Chris Carter, who was administrator of Lesbians
Bisexuals and Gays of M cGill in 1993, still thinks the SSMU consti tution is being violated. He referred to many o f the questions in the screening questionnaire as “blanket statements,” and claimed that the questionnaire is not fulfilling its intended purpose. “[The CRC] is not allowing people who could give blood to give it,” Carter commented, “and they’re not screening out potential ly unsafe donors.” Carter also claimed that the question put to referendum blurred the issue. “It was worded in such a way that you were pro- or anti-blood drives, and everyone is in favour of blood drives,” he said. “It wasn’t about that. It was about wanting to stop discrimination.” The Krever Inquiry, an $11 million federal commission investi gation which examined the tainted blood scandal in the ‘ 8 0 s, has demanded an essential change in blood-collecting practices. One of
Judge Krever’s recommendations was to refrain from collecting blood in high-risk areas such as Montreal, with its prominent gay community. During this year’s blood drive, L B G T M (L esb ian s, B isex u a ls, Gays and Transexuals of McGill) will be running an awareness cam paign to encourage students to think critically about the homopho bic nature o f the questionnaire. They will be handing out literature and petitioning for signatures to lobby the CRC for change. “W e’re not going to discour age people from giving blood,” asserted Darrell Tan, political coor dinator of LBGTM. “But our mes sage should get out and something should be done about [the ques tionnaire].” The LBGTM stance is that the CRC should be inquiring about spe cific sexual practices rather than asking vague questions about sexu al orientation. LBG TM wants to replace the existing definition of high-risk activity.
Phrases such as “If male, hav ing sex with another male, even once,” should be changed to more precise questions pertaining to “having unprotected vaginal and/or anal sex.” In a 1993 letter responding to SSM U’s accusations of discrimina tion, CRC maintained that “it is the responsibility of the Red Cross to
Continued on Page 2 F e a t u r e ) I n s id e D e ce m b e r 6: Exams not moved for day of commemoration... Pg.3 A lcoholism : Brewer's Association uses new approach to target youth.......................................Pg-tO F ro ze n E m b ry o s: Should unclaimed embryos be adopted or destroyed?............................. Pg. 10 M u sic: where to shop.........Pg. 14 Sports: Women golden: Melanie Choiniere leads McGill to cross country victory.................. Pg.19 W h a t's O n listin g s ............ Pg-22
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