ReNe: rainbow triangles

A quick comment. Because I am not as wont to rant and ramble as MiKE. Because this is one subject I can rant on if I don't restrain myself.

I've been noticing something recently. It's probably not a big deal in Canada anymore (?) but it is for me for its noticeable absence in Singapore.

Acceptance. And I refer specifically to acceptance of sexualities other than heterosexuality, though Canada is generally more liberal than Singapore in so many ways.

Here, I often see the little (sometimes not so little) upside down rainbow triangles that are the flag for University of Toronto's positive space movement what the pink ribbon is for breast cancer. LGBT, or GLBT, stands for Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered/Transsexual. The rainbow flag is a pretty well-known international symbol of gay and lesbian Pride, while the inverted triangle was used to mark homosexuals in the concentration camps of Hitler's Third Reich; pink for gays and black for lesbians (and female dissidents and prostitutes). It is fairly ironical that both the pink and black triangles have now been adopted by many in the gay community as symbols for their cause.

I see more openly homosexual couples, I see positive articles in the news and I see ads in the subways for *both* hetero- and homosexual singles. And I find it all extremely heartening in contrast to Singapore, when this openness would be frowned upon or swept under the carpet. Let me not even go on about the Staid Times. Singapore claims to be progressive and cosmopolitan.... Ha.

I also see a lot more sex shops and I love that too. What's wrong with an open attitude towards sex? We all wouldn't be here if not for sex. Just yesterday, Mike and I walked past an adult shop with live models in lingerie in the front windows. Awesome.

[Aside, I find it hard to compare St Louis. I have not been in St Louis long enough to form a concrete opinion; at times it seems more conservative than Singapore, at times less, so I would assume it is about the same? However, though the time I have spent in Canada is even shorter, the contrast (to Singapore) is far more obvious.]