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Draft:Tim McCaskell

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Tim McCaskell is a Canadian writer and activist. He has advocated for issues related to LGBTQ rights, HIV/AIDS, and apartheid.

Career

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The Body Politic

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In 1974, McCaskell began writing for The Body Politic, a Canadian gay liberation magazine.[1][2] After two gay activists' were arrested and convicted for kissing each other in public in Toronto, Gay Alliance Toward Equality and The Body Politic organized a "kiss-in" protest at the same intersection.[3] McCaskell was one of around 20 people who participated.[4][3]

AIDS activism

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Since the 1980s, McCaskell has been involved in HIV/AIDS activism, particularly with AIDS Action Now! (AAN) in Toronto, Canada.[5][6][7]

In 1989, McCaskell joined other AIDS activists in disrupting the opening ceremony of the 5th International AIDS Conference in Montreal. Although they had not been invited to speak, they took the stage, chanting protest slogans. As the audience cheered, McCaskell stated: "On behalf of people with AIDS from Canada and around the world, I would like to officially open this Fifth International Conference on AIDS!".[8][9][10] The activists read the "Montreal Manifesto", which demanded a bill of rights for people with AIDS, including their right to be involved in decision-making around AIDS.[11][12][13]

That same year he appeared in "The Great AZT Debate", on the Toronto Living with AIDS cable access channel. The piece features McCaskell and 3 other men discussing the merits of taking AZT.[14]

Throughout 1997, AAN participated in protests of the government's decision to end its National AIDS Strategy.[15] At one point AAN activists left a pile of empty pill bottles at the office of a member of parliament. McCaskell stated: "These empty pill bottles are as useless to us as empty promises. For the people living in Canada, this is a day of shame."[16]

His work as an AIDS activist was featured in the 2009 documentary opera film Fig Trees along with South African AIDS activist Zackie Achmat.[17][18]

McCaskell has also been outspoken against the criminalization of HIV.[19][20]

In 2022, McCaskell spoke at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal in support of conference attendees who had been denied visas by the Canadian government.[21]

Anti-Apartheid activism

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While serving as international news editor for The Body Politic, McCaskell read a news item about Simon Nkoli's imprisonment for anti-apartheid activism in South Africa.[2] McCaskell subsequently co-founded the Simon Nkoli Anti-Apartheid Committee (SNAAC) in 1986.[22][23] SNAAC advocated for Nkoli's release, sent him money, and organized his international speaking tour after he was acquitted.[24][2] McCaskell and Nkoli regularly exchanged letters, some of which were featured in the short film A Moffie Called Simon (1986). After Nkoli's death, McCaskell submitted their correspondence to the South African Gay and Lesbian archives.[22][2][25]

In 2008, McCaskell co-founded Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, a group of queer pro-Palestinian activists that sought to advocate against Israel's alleged pinkwashing. They marched in the annual Pride Toronto Parade over the course of several years, sparking controversy and leading some local politicians to threaten to pull funding for the event.[26] In a 2010 article in Canadian Dimension, McCaskell drew paralells between his activism for Palestine and South Africa and compared Israeli apartheid to South African apartheid: "South Africa portrayed itself as a multi-party liberal democracy in a region of backward authoritarian states, as does Israel... South Africa cast itself as the victim surrounded by a continent of savage and dangerous enemies, as does Israel."[24][27][23]

Writing

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He has written for Xtra Magazine, a Canadian LGBTQ magazine.[28]

In 2001, he retired from his job in education due to health concerns.[29]

In 2016, McCaskell published Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism. The book covers both autobiographical material and the history of the gays rights movement in Canada between 1974-2014.[1][30][31][32]

Personal Life

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McCaskell has lived with HIV since the 1980s.[29] His longterm partner is Richard Fung.[33][2]

Selected Works

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2005- Race to Equity: Disrupting Educational Inequality

2016- Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism

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References

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  1. ^ a b Thomas, Susan K. (September 2017). "Tim McCaskell, Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism". Somatechnics. 7 (2): 309–311. doi:10.3366/soma.2017.0226. ISSN 2044-0138.
  2. ^ a b c d e Fung, Richard (2013). "John Greyson's Queer Internationalism". The Perils of Pedagogy: The Works of John Greyson. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-4143-6.
  3. ^ a b McLeod, Donald W. (2015-06-27). "Smooching in the streets, mincing at Queen's Park: Gay rights protests of the 1970s". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  4. ^ Winsa, Patty (2015-06-27). "Before Pride, there was a kiss: Toronto gay activists look back on 1976 protest". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2023-10-03. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  5. ^ "Phobia about HIV still exists over 30 years after 1st AIDS case in Canada, activists say". CBC. 2018-06-24.
  6. ^ "John Greyson opera Fig Trees tackles AIDS activism". CBC. 2009-05-21.
  7. ^ McCaskell, Tim (2016). "By Any Means Necessary". Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism. Between the Lines. ISBN 978-1-77113-278-7.
  8. ^ Goldberg, Ron (2022-09-06), "10 Storming the Ivory Tower", Boy with the Bullhorn, Fordham University Press, pp. 163–178, doi:10.1515/9781531500993-011, ISBN 978-1-5315-0099-3, retrieved 2024-10-29
  9. ^ Knegt, Peter (2018-06-20). "10 Canadian LGBTQ stories that need to be made into films or TV series". CBC.
  10. ^ Pusti, RonniLyn (2022-07-12). "Setting the Stage". CATIE. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  11. ^ ""Montreal Manifesto" · AIDS Activist History Project". AIDS Activist History Project. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  12. ^ Rancic, Michael (2023-03-03). "What the radical response to AIDS can teach us in the age of pandemics ⋆ The Breach". The Breach. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  13. ^ Pustil, RonniLyn (2024-04-26). "Setting the Stage". CATIE - Canada's source for HIV and hepatitis C information. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  14. ^ Conrad, Ryan (2021-01-01). "Cable Access Queer: Revisiting Toronto Living With AIDS 1990-91". Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media.
  15. ^ "AIDS hits a bleak birthday | Xtra Magazine". 2008-03-12. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  16. ^ Armstrong, Walter; Pustil, Ronnilyn (1997-03-01). "Uh-Oh, Canada". POZ. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  17. ^ Wetzel, Dominic (Summer 2011). "HIV Positive: Saints, Sinners, and AIDS protest movements in Fig Trees' Queer Religion". The Scholar and Feminist Online. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  18. ^ Longfellow, Brenda (2013). "Ten Propositions on Operatic Subversions and the "Charge of the Real" in John Greyson's Fig Trees". The Perils of Pedagogy: The Works of John Greyson. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 475–492. ISBN 978-0-7735-4143-6.
  19. ^ Press, Jordan (2012-10-06). "Court rules failure to disclose HIV not always crime". Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Retrieved 2024-11-01 – via PressReader.
  20. ^ "HIV disclosure to sex partners mulled by top court". CBC. 2012-02-08.
  21. ^ Zainuddin, Alifah (30 July 2022). "Activist: 'No More AIDS Conferences In Racist Countries'". CodeBlue.
  22. ^ a b Houston, Andrea (2011-03-06). "Reinserting queer names into black history". Xtra Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  23. ^ a b McCaskell, Tim (2010-06-22). "Queers against apartheid: From South Africa to Israel". Canadian Dimension. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  24. ^ a b Deb, Basuli (2014-11-13). Transnational Feminist Perspectives on Terror in Literature and Culture. Routledge. pp. 202–203. ISBN 978-1-317-63211-5.
  25. ^ "Filmography". The Perils of Pedagogy: The Works of John Greyson. McGill-Queen's University Press. 2013. ISBN 978-0-7735-4143-6.
  26. ^ Spurr, Ben (2015-03-07). "How Queers Against Israel Apartheid changed the course of Pride - NOW Magazine". NOW Toronto. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  27. ^ Birch-Bayley, Nicole (2019-12-19). "A Queer Word: Linguistic Reclamation through Political Activism in the Case of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA)". The English Languages: History, Diaspora, Culture. 5: 16–33. ISSN 1929-5855.
  28. ^ "Tim McCaskell | Xtra Magazine". Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  29. ^ a b PEARCE, TRALEE (2013-12-08). "Growing old with HIV: the long-term care challenge". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  30. ^ Janovicek, Nancy (2018). "Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism by Tim McCaskell (review)". Canadian Journal of History. 53 (2): 331–332. doi:10.3138/cjh.ach.53.2.rev36. ISSN 2292-8502.
  31. ^ Mulé, Nick J. (2017). "Tim McCaskell, Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2016)". Left History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Historical Inquiry and Debate. 21 (1). doi:10.25071/1913-9632.39425. ISSN 1913-9632.
  32. ^ McCaskell, Tim (2016-11-27). "In the early days of AIDS, would only the smartest survive?". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  33. ^ Scateni, Ren (2021-09-08). "Video Artist Richard Fung Reveals the Hidden Histories of Queer Sexuality and the Asian Diaspora". Art Review. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
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