OtherPress. Room 1020 — 700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 TELEPHONE: 604.525.3542 WEBSITE: theotherpress.ca EMAIL: editor@theotherpress.ca STAFF LIST Jacey Gibb Editor-in-chief Meditor@theotherpress.ca Natalie Serafini Assistant Editor Massistant@theotherpress.ca Angela Ho Business Manager Chris Paik Distribution Manager Cody Klyne Layout Manager Taylor Pitt Production Assistant Joel McCarthy Graphics Manager Ed Appleby iHustrator Jony Roy Social Media Coordinator Angela Espinoza News Editor Minews@theotherpress.ca Cheryl Minns Arts Editor Marts@theotherpress.ca Sophie Isbister Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Elliot Chan Opinions Editor Mopinions@theotherpress.ca Eric Wilkins Sports Editor Msports@theotherpress.ca Sharon Miki Humour Editor Mhumour@theotherpress.ca Cazzy Lewchuk Julia Siedlanowska Staff Writers Steven Cayer Brittney MacDonald Senior Columnists Andrea Arscott Joshua Grant Margaret Matthews Columnists Eric Davis lloradanon Efimoff Klara Woldenga Lindsey Florio Jennafer Freeman Patrick Vaillancourt Contributors or the most part, tolerance is : bullshit. And I’ll tell you why. : : serious; John wanted me to : meet them. An otherwise : ordinary message except for one word that stood out to ? me: “boyfriend.” John wanted me to meet his boyfriend. Have I ever told you about my good friend John? We go all the way back to kindergarten where, according to our moms, we were sworn enemies and frequently got into fist fights. Hard to believe that was 18 years ago, but we’ve definitely come a long way since then, from all-nighter marathons of playing PS2 to drinking together in cemeteries. He even moved to Vancouver not even a year after I did, ensuring that neither of our livers would ever be completely safe. He’s my oldest friend and thank- fully still one of my closest. Sometime last year, I was leaving my apartment when I received a text message from John. He said he’d been © Getloknowus! © The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We area registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. © The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member ofthe Canadian University Press (CUP), asyndicate of student newspapers that includes *! iz Sa The trouble with tolerance seeing someone for several weeks now and it was getting Now, it wasn’t like this was : a complete surprise. John was hardly a ladykiller growing up, : and he’d made comments about : : conquests with men, butI guess : : it'd never registered in my mind : that my best friend growing up : could be gay. I reread the text : about three more times before: : responding, saying I was excited : : to meet his new boyfriend. They : : both came over later that week : for cheap wine and conversa- : tions about Breaking Bad. When you boil my memory down, it’s blandly insignificant. papers from all across Canada. © The OtherPressreservestheright to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material ing and focus goes towards : tolerating others, but there : isn’t a push for simple, overall : acceptance. Advocating for : [received atext from John, read : : it,and replied. Pretty mundane. : : I'd had gay friends before John : and I’ve made plenty since then : too, but it still stands out in my : memory whenever I look back. : [hate making the story about : me, but I’m just infinitely glad : that I grew up ina way that : allowed something as arbitrary as sexual orientation to not : come between my friend and I. So much sensitivity train- people to be more tolerant of others, in my mind, doesn’t work. | tolerate being stuck in : traffic; I tolerate having a cold; : Irefuse to “tolerate” my friend : : just because he likes guys. Sure, : : maybe some people will give the : that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners. By Tim Hautekiet bullshit argument about how they’re entitled to their own : opinion and being homophobic : is just freedom of speech, but : when it impedes someone else’s life, there’s a line to be drawn. It’s easy to forget how good we have it in Vancouver : compared to some other : places, when you look at hubs like Davie Street and massive : events like the upcoming : Pride Parade in August. The : WorldPride that took place : in Toronto last month isa : heart-warming reminder of how : far gay rights have come, but : there needs to bea shift from ; just tolerance to acceptance. So it goes, Tacey Gibb Editor-in-chief @ facebook.com/DouglasOtherPress youtube.com/user/theotherpress instagram.com/theotherpress