Gay teens bridging movements

My final printed article of the year came out today, which was a piece in Capital Xtra. It deals with a group of gay and lesbian teens at a local high school, and it was quite an interesting piece to write.

Its origins lie in a piece I was assigned regarding a local safer schools forum put on by one of the local school boards. That piece seems to have vanished on my editor's desk, however, and I need to figure out if he's either printing it, or paying me a kill fee. Now, that fact aside, while I was at said forum, I could interview the organisers but not any of the students. However, one of the organisers said that she could arrange for me to meet with her students at a later date, and we worked it out.

It's rare that I actually get to work with a photographer on a shoot, and in this particular case it was doubly fortunate since the high school in question is in a far-distant suburb, and Ottawa has been in a transit strike for a few weeks now. My photographer had a car, which made getting there so much less trouble. It was also interesting doing the interviews in a group format, while he took pictures as we went along.

One other thing I really enjoyed was the fact that I had a chance to talk to students about what their high school experience is like now. My own high school experience is nearly fifteen years ago, and it was from rural Alberta - a very different context than students in urban Ottawa in 2008. It's given me a bit of insight into the next generation.

Reprint: What Kind of Justice will Thomas Cromwell be - Online

My piece from the November 19th issue of Capital Xtra was reposted on the Xtra.ca national page today in light of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to forego the Parliamentary approval process for the nomination.

The piece is largely based on an interview I did with one of Cromwell's former colleagues at Dalhousie University. It was an interesting conversation, and an interesting look at Cromwell from a professional perspective.

Dr. Draw defies classification

I have a piece in this week's Xpress weekly, regarding Canadian musician Dr. Draw. I had reviewed Draw's last CD for Outlooks well over a year ago (and enjoyed it), so when I got word that he was coming to town (well, to nearby Wakefield) with a new CD, I was quite keen to do this piece. While I had been hoping to hear some of the new tracks, he was still mixing them when we spoke last week, so I was out of luck there. Nevertheless, I enjoyed talking to Draw, and while I was given an opportunity see the show tonight, alas it is out in Wakefield and I'm without a means of locomotion (but don't worry - I actually have competing plans).

Live blog: our panel analyzes Harper's address to the country - Online

Tonight I participated in a liveblog discussion of the Prime Minister's address to the nation, followed by the responses by the other party leaders. It was my first actual liveblog (as opposed to the live(ish)blogs I've done before), and certainly the first interactive one I've done (though I'm sure that we would have had even more participation if we'd had a bit more notice about it). It was kind of fun, and I'm looking forward to future opportunities to liveblog such events.

Queers uniting around Liberal-NDP coalition - Online

I have an article that went online on the national page of the Xtra.ca site today, which is also going to appear in the print editions of Xtra in Toronto and Xtra West in Vancouver on Thursday.

It was a pretty last-minute piece, where I was given a mere hour-and-a-half to get it filed in order for it to make the two print editions. It would have been nice to get another quote, possibly two, however given the timeframe, it all seemed to work out in the end. It was also nice to get to write about the whole political coalition story, since I've been following it so closely for the past few days.

Gains slip away in AIDS work

I have a piece in today's Ottawa Citizen to coincide with today being World AIDS Day.  It was a somewhat difficult piece to write given that there was just so much information to cram into a mere 750 words, and getting useful information from government sources, as opposed to talking points, was a bit of challenge as well.

One paragraph in particular wound up on the cutting room floor, which I think summed much of the piece up quite well:

“If you liken the HIV/AIDS epidemic to a forest fire, and you have the resources to give us a plane full of water, why are you giving us a thimble-full in the first year?” Koornstra asks. “A thimble-full is not going to put out the fire – the fire is going to grow larger, and when you feel like you might need to give us a few more resources, you give us a cup of water as opposed to the amount of water that we needed to put out the fire in the first place.”

I do wish that it had managed to be included, but I am glad that the piece made it.

The piece can be found in the print edition on page C3, or in the online edition here.

Thoughts from the Hill - December Edition

The December issue of Outlooks is now on the stands, and this month I have the return of the "Thoughts from the Hill" political panel. As the two MPs on the panel were both re-elected, I'm fortunate that I didn't have to go canvassing for any replacements. This month's panel question fits in with the theme of the issue of queer people of faith - and as it happens, all three of my panellists are all associated with the United Church of Canada in one way or another.

You can read it in Outlooks' print edition, or in the online edition, which you can download in .pdf format here.  (This month's panel can be found on page 25).