title: Empennage

text: A tailless aircraft (often tail-less) traditionally has all its horizontal control surfaces on its main wing surface. It has no horizontal stabiliser - either tailplane or canard foreplane (nor does it have a second wing in tandem arrangement). A 'tailless' type usually still has a vertical stabilising fin (vertical stabiliser) and control surface (rudder). However, NASA adopted the 'tailless' description for the novel X-36 research aircraft which has a canard foreplane but no vertical fin.


title: Empennage

text: The most successful tailless configuration has been the tailless delta, especially for combat aircraft.


title: Vivek Express

text: Vivek Express is a chain of express trains on the Indian Railways network. These trains were announced in the Railway Budget of 2011-12 by the then Railway Minister. These trains were started to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, to be held in 2013. One of the Vivek Express trains, the one from to Kanyakumari, is the longest route on the Indian Railways network, in terms of distance and time, and is currently the 24th longest in the world.


title: Vivek Express

text: This weekly train, numbered 15905/15906, is currently the longest train route in the Indian Subcontinent. It joins Dibrugarh in Assam, North-East India to Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu which is the southernmost tip of Indian mainland. It covers a total of 4234 km from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari. It takes 79 hours to cover this distance with 57 intermediate stoppages.


title: Vivek Express

text: This too, is a weekly train, numbered 19567/19568. It connects Okha, Gujarat (which is the westernmost tip of India) to Thoothukudi, the "Pearl City", in Tamil Nadu in South India. This train covers 3043 km in 54:25 hours. It travels through the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.


title: Vivek Express

text: This train is also religiously important, as it joins two places of religious significance, namely Lord Krishna's Dwarka and Rameswaram, which lies close to Thoothukudi.


title: Vivek Express

text: The train covers important cities en route, namely Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai Vasai Road, Kalyan, Pune, Gulbarga, Adoni, Bangalore (Krishnarajapuram), Salem, Karur and Madurai.


title: Vivek Express

text: This train seeks its origin from Bandra Terminus, one of the main stations in Mumbai. This train, 19027/19028, like other Vivek Expresses, is also a weekly train from Bandra Terminus, Mumbai to Jammu Tawi in North India. However, unlike other typical North Indian trains, this train bypasses New Delhi or Delhi NCR. It goes via Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Abu Road, Jodhpur, Degana, Sujangarh, Churu, Sadulpur, Hisar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Chakki Bank, thus bypassing Delhi NCR.


title: Vivek Express

text: The 22851/22852 Vivek Express links Santragachhi, a town in the vicinity of Howrah, Kolkata in West Bengal to Mangalore Central in Karnataka. This is also a weekly train, which comes under the Superfast category of the Indian Railways, unlike other Vivek Expresses. This train passes through the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. Important cities en route are Bhubaneswar, Brahmapur, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Eluru, Vijayawada, Tirupati, salem, Tiruppur Coimbatore, Palakkad, Tirur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod


title: Vivek Express

text: Owing to the positive response to Vivek Express trains by the masses, the Railway Ministry is considering starting a new Vivek Express in the North to East Corridor, between Jammu Tawi and North East India. Earlier Vivek Express trains ran from East to South, South to West, West to North and again East to South India respectively. The new North to East Vivek Express would complete the quadrilateral.


title: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

text: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (original French title: "Le Scaphandre et le Papillon") is a memoir by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. It describes his life before and after a massive stroke left him with locked-in syndrome.


title: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

text: The French edition of the book was published on March 7, 1997. It sold the first 25,000 copies on the day of publication, reaching 150,000 in a week. It went on to become a number one bestseller across Europe. Its total sales are now in the millions.


title: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

text: On December 8, 1995, Bauby, the editor-in-chief of French "Elle" magazine, suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. He awoke 20 days later, mentally aware of his surroundings, but physically paralyzed with what is known as locked-in syndrome, with the only exception of some movement in his head and eyes. His right eye had to be sewn up due to an irritation problem. The entire book was written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid, which took two months working 3 hours a day, 7 days a week. Using partner assisted scanning, a transcriber repeatedly recited a French language frequency-ordered alphabet (E, S, A, R, I, N, T, U, L, etc.), until Bauby blinked to choose the next letter. The book took about 200,000 blinks to write and an average word took approximately two minutes . The book also chronicles everyday events for a person with locked-in syndrome. These events include playing at the beach with his family, getting a bath, and meeting visitors while in hospital at Berck-sur-Mer. On March 9, 1997, two days after the book was published, Bauby died of pneumonia.


title: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

text: In 1997, Jean-Jacques Beineix directed a 27-minute television documentary, "Assigné à résidence" (released on DVD in the U.S. as "Locked-in Syndrome" with English subtitles), that captured Bauby in his paralyzed state, as well as the process of his book's composition.


title: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

text: Artist/director Julian Schnabel's feature-film adaptation of the book was released in 2007, starring Mathieu Amalric as Bauby. The film was nominated for several international awards and won best director that year at the Cannes Film Festival.


title: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

text: In 2019, The Dallas Opera was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant to commission "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", an opera based on "Le Scaphandre et le Papillon" by Jean-Dominique Bauby which will be composed Joby Talbot with a libretto by Gene Scheer.


title: Prudential plc

text: Prudential plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working people.


title: Prudential plc

text: Prudential has dual primary listings on the London Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It also has secondary listings on the New York Stock Exchange and Singapore Exchange.


title: Prudential plc

text: The company was founded in Hatton Garden in London in May 1848 as The Prudential, Investment, Loan, and Assurance Association and in September 1848 changed its name to The Prudential Mutual Assurance, Investment, and Loan Association, to provide loans to professional and working people. In 1854, the company began selling the relatively new concept of Industrial Branch insurance policies to the working class population for premiums as low as one penny a week through agents acting as door to door salesmen. The army of premium collection agents was for many years identified with the Prudential as the "Man from the Pru". The company moved to its long-time home at Holborn Bars in 1879 and converted to a limited company in 1881. The building was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, and is built of terracotta manufactured by Gibbs and Canning Limited of Tamworth (c.1878): two of the same driving forces behind the Natural History Museum in London.


title: Prudential plc

text: In the mid-1980s, financial deregulation allowed financial institutions to own estate agencies, and Prudential decided to follow early market entrants such as Provident Financial Group plc (Whitegates) and Lloyds Bank (Black Horse Agencies), in summer 1985 by purchasing a long-established and successful Huntingdon-based firm of estate agents, Ekins, Dilley and Handley, for £12 million. This was originally intended as an experiment allowing the company a new route to market for mortgage-linked endowment policies; however after many other financial institutions followed suit, Prudential rapidly started to embark on an acquisition trail which would quickly see it become market leader in terms of number of offices. Acquisitions included Chestertons Residential and Earl & Lawrence in August 1986, Edward Bailey & Son in January 1987, The Channel Island Estate Agency Property Shop in February 1987, and Rogers & Clark in May 1987. This was however done at great cost. Although a typical cost of establishing a new estate agency branch was around £75,000–£100,000, Prudential paid a total of £125 million for 337 of its branches: an average cost per branch of £371,000.


title: Prudential plc

text: In 1986, Prudential acquired the American insurer Jackson National Life. In the same year, amongst many other acquisitions, Prudential Property Services acquired the fifty-two strong chain of Reeds Rains for £24 million.


title: Prudential plc

text: The collapse of the housing market in the south of England in 1989 brought about a slump in income at Prudential Property Services, which during the first half of 1990 lost £23 million. Prudential had been closing branches, with 100 closing between December 1988 and May 1990. After these losses were announced, another 175 branches closed in July 1990. In May 1991 Prudential sold the remainder of the chain for a total of £13.5 million, representing a 90% loss on the cost of acquisition. Some branches were purchased by their original owners for fractions of the price they had received from the Prudential just a few years earlier. For example the Prudential Property Services office in Hanwell was originally an independent agency, purchased by Prudential for £200,000: it was subsequently sold off to Rolfe East Estate Agents for £1. The western division of Prudential Property Services was sold to Scottish Widows to join their Connells Estate Agents chain. The northern division was sold in a £3.4 million management buyout reverting to the name, Reeds Rains, the south east division was sold to become Arun Estates, and Chestertons and another region were sold to the Woolwich Property Services.


title: Prudential plc

text: In 1997, Prudential acquired Scottish Amicable, a business founded in 1826 in Glasgow as the West of Scotland Life Insurance Company, for £1.75 bn.


title: Prudential plc

text: In 1998, Prudential set up Egg, an internet bank in the UK. The subsidiary reached 550,000 customers within nine months, but had difficulty achieving profitability. In June 2000, an initial public offering of 21% was made to allow for further growth of the internet business, but in February 2006 Prudential decided to repurchase the 21% share of Egg. Egg was subsequently sold to Citibank in January 2007. In 1999, M&G, a UK fund management company, was acquired. In June 2000, the company was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange to help focus on the US market.


title: Prudential plc

text: In October 2004, Prudential launched a new subsidiary, PruHealth, a joint venture with Discovery Holdings of South Africa selling private medical insurance to the UK market. In April 2008, Prudential outsourced its back office functions to Capita: about 3,000 jobs were transferred (1,000 in Stirling, 750 in Reading and 1,250 in Mumbai). This significant outsourcing deal, worth an estimated £722m over a 15-year contract, built on Prudential's existing relationship with Capita, who took over its Belfast operation in 2006 along with about 450 employees in a smaller operational restructure.


title: Prudential plc

text: On 1 March 2010, Prudential announced that it was in "advanced talks" to purchase the pan-Asian life insurance company of AIG, American International Assurance (AIA) for approximately £23 billion. The deal later collapsed, and AIA ended up raising money in an IPO.


title: Prudential plc

text: In December 2013, Prudential announced the purchase of Ghana's Express Life Company. Express Life was subsequently rebranded as Prudential Ghana. In April 2014, Prudential launched two corporate responsibility initiatives to support education in Ghana: the Prudential Scholarship Programme for more than 500 senior high school students, in partnership with the NGO Plan Ghana; and a scheme to support actuarial science graduates. In September 2014, Prudential purchased Kenyan life insurer Shield Assurance and rebranded it as Prudential Kenya, further expanding the company's presence in Africa. Prudential has since entered six other African countries – Uganda in 2015, Zambia in 2016, Nigeria in 2017, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo in 2019.


title: Prudential plc

text: On 10 March 2015, it was announced that the CEO, Tidjane Thiam, would leave Prudential to become the next CEO of Credit Suisse. On 1 May 2015, it was announced that Mike Wells, head of the company's US business, would succeed Tidjane Thiam as CEO, on a pay package worth up to £7.5 million.


title: Prudential plc

text: In August 2017, it was announced that Prudential was to combine its asset manager, M&G, and Prudential UK & Europe to form M&GPrudential.


title: Prudential plc

text: In November 2017, Prudential announced the change in the name of its joint venture with Chinese investment company CITIC to "CITIC Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited".


title: Prudential plc

text: In March 2018, Prudential announced that it would demerge M&GPrudential from the Group; the demerger was completed on 21 October 2019.


title: Prudential plc

text: In August 2020, Prudential announced that it would fully separate Jackson from the Group. The demerger was completed on 13 September 2021.


title: Prudential plc

text: Prudential were the inaugural sponsor of RideLondon, an annual two-day cycling festival, held for the first time in 2013. The 2017 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 set a new fundraising record for the event, with £12.75 million raised for charity, bringing the total raised by the event to more than £53 million in its first five years.


title: Prudential plc

text: The event was developed by the Mayor of London and his agencies and is organised by the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership. The main events are a 100-mile professional road race through Surrey and London, and an amateur race along the same route. Participants in the amateur race typically raise money for good causes. The 20,709 finishers in the 2014 event raised more than £10 million for charity. Prudential ended its title sponsorship of RideLondon in 2020.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are some of the most extensive in the world. Same-sex sexual activity was made lawful in Canada on June 27, 1969, when the "Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69" (also known as "Bill C-150") was brought into force upon royal assent. In a landmark decision in 1995, "Egan v Canada", the Supreme Court of Canada held that sexual orientation is constitutionally protected under the equality clause of the "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms". In 2005, Canada was the fourth country in the world, and the first in the Americas, to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Canada was referred to as the most gay-friendly country in the world, when it was ranked first in the "Gay Travel Index" chart in 2021, and among the five safest in "Forbes" magazine in 2019. It was also ranked first (indicating least dangerous) in Asher & Lyric's LGBTQ+ Danger Index in 2022. The country's largest cities feature their own gay areas and communities, such as Toronto's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood, Montreal's Gay Village commercial district, Vancouver's Davie Village and Ottawa's Bank Street Gay Village. Every summer, Canada's LGBT community celebrates gay pride in all major cities, with many political figures from the federal, provincial and municipal scenes.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In recent decades, Canada went through some major legal shifts in support of LGBT rights (e.g. decriminalization, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, gay marriage, homoparentality, blood donations, transgender rights and outlawing of conversion therapies). The 2020 Pew Research showed that 85% of Canada's general population (92% among Canadians aged between 18 and 29) had favoured social acceptance of homosexuality up from 80% in 2013. Likewise, polls in June 2013 had shown an increase in the Canadian population's point of view, with a vast majority of Canadians to give their blessing to same-sex marriage, which was made available to all throughout Canada in 2005. The polls had also revealed that 70% of Canada's population had agreed that "same-sex couples should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples do," and that 76% had also agreed that "same-sex couples are just as likely as other parents to successfully raise children". By 2020, 91.8% of those surveyed in a poll commissioned by the Privy Council Office said they would be "comfortable" if a next-door neighbour was gay, lesbian or bisexual and that 87.6% said they would be "comfortable" if a neighbour was a transgender person.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Transgender people and cross-dressing practices have been recorded and documented in Canada for centuries. Different Indigenous groups have had their own traditions and terms to refer to transgender people, gender variance or sexual identity. These First Nations had perceptions towards gender and sexuality which differed significantly to that of the Western world. Many transgender people in these traditional roles were in positions of reverence, where they acted as caretakers of children who had lost their families, spiritual healers and warriors in battle. The Cree term "apêw iskwêwisêhot" refers to people who are assigned male at birth but act, dress and behave as female, while the term "iskwêw ka napêwayat" has the opposite meaning, that being a person assigned female at birth but acts and behaves as male. Similarly, the Kutenai "titqattek" describes women who take on roles traditionally characterized as masculine, including hunting and warfare. The Blackfoot term "aakíí'skassi" (meaning "acts like a woman"; also spelt "a'yai-kik-ahsi") describes men who dress as women and typically perform chores and activities associated with women, such as basket weaving and pottery making. Many other Indigenous groups recognise similar terms: the Inuit "sipiniq" (ᓯᐱᓂᖅ), the Assiniboine "wįktą", the Tlingit "gatxan", and the Tsimshian "kanâ'ts". Among the Ojibwe, male-to-female individuals are known as "ikwekaazo", which literally translates to "men who chose to function as women", whereas female-to-male individuals are known as "ininiikaazo". The European colonialists would describe such individuals as "homosexuals", "a curious compound of man and woman" or "berdache", meaning a catamite or a male prostitute. The term is now considered offensive and outdated. Following colonisation and the spread of Christianity by religious missionaries, many of these traditions began to die out. Transgender individuals were furthermore forced and assimilated into Europe-centric culture, and even among the Indigenous peoples perceptions began to change. In the early 1990s, Indigenous groups sought to reclaim many of their customs and traditions. LGBT Indigenous groups proposed the term "two-spirit" to refer to a traditional and cultural "third gender". In modern times, two-spirit is frequently used by First Nations groups to refer to people who embody these gender traits, and is occasionally used to reference the entire Indigenous LGBT community. As such, the terms "LGBT2S" or "LGBTQ2S" are increasingly used, with the "2S" denoting two-spirited people; sometimes, this is denoted simply as "2", as in "LGBTQ2". Records of homosexuality and same-sex relations also exist, notably among the Mi'kmaq, where the common phrase "Geenumu Gessalagee", which translates to "he loves men", is used to refer to such individuals.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: During the British North American era, sexual activity between men was a capital crime. However, there is no surviving record of any executions; political figures were reluctant to enforce the law. The death penalty was eventually repealed, though a broader law involving gross indecency between men was often enforced in the late 19th century. During the early to mid 20th-century, the law often portrayed homosexual men as sex offenders, including the court case of Everett George Klippert. He admitted to having sex with multiple men, which resulted in his life imprisonment. Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults was soon decriminalized in 1969 as a result of legislation introduced in 1967, with then-Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada Pierre Trudeau who eventually became the 15th Prime Minister of Canada and famously commented, "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Up until 1973, homosexuality was considered to be a mental illness. Many treatments were used to cure people of their homosexual orientation, including electroshock therapy, lobotomies, and conversion therapies. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association decided that homosexuality is not a mental illness. As a result, homosexuality was withdrawn from the "Diagnostic Statistical Manual" (DSM), which is the diagnostic reference guide used by all health and social services professionals in North America. In 1999, the American Psychological Association acknowledged in its code of ethics that to treat homosexuality as a psychological problem, a sexual deviance or a form of psychopathology is unethical.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Same-sex marriage became legal in Ontario in 2003, and was already legalized in eight of ten provinces and one of three territories when, on July 20, 2005, Canada became the first country outside Europe and the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide after the enactment of the federal "Civil Marriage Act". Likewise, same-sex adoption was legalized in all provinces and territories under varying rules. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression in employment, housing and public and private accommodations is now prohibited by all provinces and territories, as well as the federal government. Transgender people are now allowed to change their legal gender in all provinces and territories under varying rules.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The Constitution of Canada does not explicitly grant or deny any right to LGBTQ+ people, however the Supreme Court of Canada has held that the open-ended wording of section 15 of the "Charter" protects LGBTQ+ people from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Subsection 15(1) reads:


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Section 15(1) was written so as to protect against discrimination generally, with the enumerated grounds of prohibited discrimination, such race and sex, being examples of prohibited grounds, rather than a closed list. In its landmark ruling in 1995 in the case of "Egan v. Canada", the Supreme Court of Canada declared that sexual orientation was included within the bounds of section 15, as an analogous ground. Individuals were therefore granted equal protection against discrimination on the basis of that ground. The concepts of sex and physical disability in s. 15 have been interpreted to include transsexuality and HIV/STDs (see discussion below). As articulated, and reaffirmed in 2008, "the promotion of equality entails the promotion of a society in which all are secure in the knowledge that they are recognized at law as human beings equally deserving of concern, respect and consideration".


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Section 15 applies to all laws and government institutions in Canada, including law enforcement authorities, but the "Charter" does not grant rights against the private sector. Instead, a complaint against a business would be brought under the applicable federal or provincial human rights statute. For example, a discrimination complaint against a restaurant would generally fall under provincial anti-discrimination legislation and not the "Charter". However, the "Charter" is part of the Constitution and therefore is part of the supreme law of the land. Courts must interpret statutes consistently with the "Charter", including human rights laws. In private litigation, including human rights cases, "courts should, from time to time, re-evaluate the consistency of the common law with evolving societal expectations through the lens of Charter values". Equality rights under the "Charter" therefore will provide guidance for the interpretation of equality rights set out in human rights laws.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In its 1998 decision in Vriend v Alberta, the Supreme Court found the failure of the provincial legislature to include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination in its human rights law was itself a violation of section 15 Charter rights. As of 2017, all provinces, territories, and the federal government explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity as prohibited grounds of discrimination in their human rights acts.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The entire Charter is also subject to a general limit in section 1 that allows "such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." The Oakes Test sets out the Supreme Court of Canada's interpretation of this exception. This analysis may consider conflicting Charter rights. For example, the right to equality based on sexual orientation under section 15 may be limited by the freedom of religion under section 2, and vice versa. It may also be limited by the right to denominational (religious) schools under Section 93 of the Constitution.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In the last decades, the rights of LGBTQ+ Canadians were largely enhanced due to several court decisions decided under Section 15 of the "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms" (""), which was included in the Constitution of Canada in 1982, and came into force in 1985.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Some of the cases were funded under the Federal Government's Court Challenges Program, which in 1985 was expanded to fund test cases challenging federal legislation in relation to the equality rights guaranteed by the Charter. There were also funding to challenge provincial laws under a variety of programs, but its availability had differed considerably from province to province.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In addition, section 15 is subject to the "notwithstanding clause" of the Charter that allows the federal Parliament and the provincial Legislatures to declare that a law is exempt from certain sections of the Charter for up to five years, which exemption may be renewed any number of times. In 2000, Alberta amended its "Marriage Act" to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. The law invoked the notwithstanding clause of the Charter, but the amendment was nevertheless invalid since the capacity to marry is a matter of exclusive federal jurisdiction according to the Constitution. The notwithstanding clause can only be used to make exceptions to the Charter; it cannot change the federal division of powers. In any case, the five-year exemption period expired in 2005.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The notwithstanding clause has never been used by the federal Parliament. It is generally believed that such a use would constitute a politically embarrassing admission that the law in question should violate human rights.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: However, the notwithstanding clause is no gateway for a government to exercise unjust or oppressive uses of political power. Section 33 of the Charter, as the entire Charter, is also subject to section 1, and, as it applies only to sections 2 and 7 to 15, is of no force or effect for overriding section 1.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In addition to the Charter, another significant constitutional factor is the division of authority between the federal government and the provincial governments. Under the Constitution of Canada, some matters are allocated to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal Parliament, while other matters are allocated to the exclusive jurisdiction of the provincial legislatures. Many of the issues which have direct impact on LGBT rights are under provincial jurisdiction.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Major subjects under federal jurisdiction are the criminal law power, and marriage and divorce. The criminal law power can deal with matters such as hate speech and sentence modifiers for bias motives. In the past, it has been used to criminalise LBGT conduct. The federal jurisdiction over marriage and divorce gives Parliament the power to determine which parties can marry, and also the rules governing divorces, also LGBT issues of interest.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Subjects under provincial jurisdiction include matters such as spousal support for unmarried couples, adoption, filiation of children, vital statistics (including identity documents such as birth certificates), child custody and support, education, housing, health care, pensions and social security. As well, most workplaces fall under provincial jurisdiction.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Human rights law follows this allocation of subjects. The "Canadian Human Rights Act" is of relatively limited application, applying mainly to the federal government and federally regulated workplaces, such as banks, aviation, and inter-provincial transportation. Provincial human rights laws apply to a much broader range of subjects. Provincial human rights laws apply to most schools, rental housing and health care, and workplaces.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Canada since 1969. Since June 2019, the general age of consent for sexual activity is 16, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation. However, where there is a relationship of trust, authority or dependency, the age of consent is 18. The relationship must not be exploitative of the young person. Any form of sexual abuse and exploitation is seriously proscribed by law in respect of any person regardless of age. Age of consent laws also provide "close in age" exceptions for youngsters aged 12 through 15. Those exceptions are also subject to the same prohibitions where there is a position of trust or an exploitative relationship.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: During the British North American era, same-sex sexual activity between men was a capital crime. The death penalty was eventually repealed and a broader law involving gross indecency between men was often enforced in the late 19th century.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In June 1969, Parliament passed the "Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69", which decriminalized sexual activity between men, with an age of consent for anal sex set at 21 years. In 1985, the anal sex provisions in section 159 of the "Criminal Code" were relaxed, although the age of consent remained 18 years of age unless the parties were husband and wife. Section 159 continued to make it a criminal offence to engage in anal intercourse if a third person was present, or if anal intercourse was conducted in a public place.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: After the enactment of the "Charter", courts in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Alberta each independently declared section 159 to be unconstitutional as a violation of the equality provision of the "Charter".


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: On November 15, 2016, the Liberal Government introduced legislation to repeal section 159 of the "Criminal Code". The bill, "C-32", would have ensured that all forms of consensual sexual activity be treated equally under the law, with an equal age of consent for both heterosexual and homosexual acts. The bill was later incorporated into a new bill, "C-75", which was tabled in late March 2018. Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault, a special advisor to the prime minister on LGBTQ2 issues, stated on behalf of the Government: "We heard from the community that section 159 is a piece of archaic legislation that has continued to affect young men, so it's important to get this debated and passed through the house." On June 21, 2019, the bill received royal assent and was enacted as law.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: On November 28, 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a formal apology in Parliament to members of the LGBTQ+ community:


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: On June 21, 2018, the Governor General granted royal assent to the "Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act" (). The Act allows a person who was convicted of certain homosexual acts prior to their being lawful in 1969, or later on, of anal intercourse under the now repealed section 159 of the Criminal Code, to have the RCMP, and federal departments or agencies, "destroy or remove any judicial record of the conviction". The Act also requires that any provincial or municipal police force, or courts, which were involved in such convictions to be notified of the expungement order.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The Parole Board of Canada has stated that an expungement is different from a record suspension or pardon, which is for those who were duly convicted of a crime.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: One commentator stated that while a pardon is about the Queen forgiving someone for doing something wrong, an expungement means: "The Queen did something wrong. Will you forgive her?"


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In December 2020, Police chiefs of Canada made a formal apology - for the decades of oppression and opposition towards homosexuality and LGBT rights within the 1960s through to today across Canada.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Even before 2005, when Parliament enacted the "Civil Marriage Act" implementing same-sex marriage across the country, same-sex relationships were already recognized by many provinces, as some provincial statutes were already assigning the same rights and obligations to same-sex and opposite-sex couples living together.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In 2001, Saskatchewan enacted a pair of statutes relating to domestic relations. The two acts amended all provincial statutes which related to the rights and obligations of common law couples, and applied them equally to all common law couples, whether opposite-sex or same-sex couples.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In 2002, Quebec addressed the situation of "conjoints de fait" ("de facto" spouses), both same-sex and opposite-sex. The National Assembly amended the Civil Code of Quebec to provide same-sex and opposite-sex couples with an all-encompassing solution, the most extensive possible within provincial jurisdiction. The amendments created a legal status of civil unions. Couples who choose to form such a union, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, benefit from the same effects as those of marriage, "as regards the direction of the family, the exercise of parental authority, contribution towards expenses, the family residence, the family patrimony and the compensatory allowance." Since then, in addition to being bound to share a community of life, and owing each other respect, fidelity, succour and assistance, civil union spouses have the same rights, duties and obligations as married couples. However, unlike marriage, which is under federal jurisdiction, a civil union is valid only in Quebec, and may not be recognized outside of the province. The couple may be faced with unexpected problems if they are outside Quebec.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Between 2002 and 2005, courts in several provinces and one territory ruled that restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples is a form of discrimination that is prohibited by Section 15 of the "Charter". The courts struck down the common law definition of marriage used under federal law, and held that same-sex couples had the right to marry in those jurisdictions. Trial courts deferred the effect of their rulings, to allow the federal government time to consider whether it would enact legislation or appeal the decisions. However, the Ontario Court of Appeal in its decision held that the new definition came into effect immediately in Ontario. Courts in other provinces and one territory followed that approach, with the result that those Canadian jurisdictions became the third in the world to allow same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands and Belgium. By July 2005, same-sex marriages were legally recognized in all provinces and territories except Alberta, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, encompassing over 85% of Canada's population.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The Federal Government announced in the summer of 2003 that it would not appeal the decisions, and would draft legislation to allow same-sex marriages across the country. The bill was put before the Supreme Court of Canada to ensure that it would withstand a Charter challenge by those who oppose same-sex marriage. In December 2004, the Supreme Court declared the proposed definition of "marriage" as being consistent with respect to all matters referred to in the Charter, and as falling within the exclusive legislative authority of the Parliament of Canada.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Parliament passed the bill on July 20, 2005, making Canada the fourth country to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, and the first to do so without a residency requirement.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: One study by Mark W. Lehman suggests that between 1997 and 2004, Canadian public opinion on legalizing same-sex marriage underwent a dramatic shift: moving from minority support to majority support and that this support was the result of a significant shift in positive feelings towards gays and lesbians.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The first province to allow adoption of children by same-sex couples in Canada was British Columbia in 1996. Since then, adoption by same-sex couples has been legalized in Ontario (1999), Nova Scotia (2001), Saskatchewan (2001), Newfoundland and Labrador (2002), Quebec (2002), Manitoba (2002), the Northwest Territories (2002) and Yukon (2003). In Alberta, stepchild adoption was legalized in 1999. Eight years later, in 2007, joint adoption became legal in Alberta. New Brunswick legalized joint adoption in 2008, while Prince Edward Island did so in 2009. Nunavut legalized adoption by same-sex couples in 2011, and thus became the last province or territory in Canada to do so. Three provinces (British Columbia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan) will grant parental status to three or more intentional parents allowing for a wider range of queer and trans families. These parents may be in addition or in place of the birth parent. However, some find the "law operated within some strong normative constraints."


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The Federal Government and every province and territory in Canada have enacted human rights acts that prohibit discrimination and harassment on several grounds (e.g. race, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, religion, disability, age and sexual orientation) in private and public sector employment, housing, public services and publicity. Some acts also apply to additional activities. These acts are quasi-constitutional laws that override ordinary laws as well as regulations, contracts and collective agreements. They stand by the rule that every person has the right to the equal benefit of the law. They are typically enforced by human rights commissions and tribunals through a complaint investigation, conciliation and arbitration process that is slow, but free, and includes protection against retaliation. A lawyer is not required.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Sexual orientation is not defined in any human rights act, but is widely interpreted as meaning heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality. It does not include transgender people. The Federal Court of Canada has stated that sexual orientation "is a precise legal concept that deals specifically with an individual's preference in terms of gender" in sexual relationships, and is not vague or overly broad.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: As of 2017, all human rights acts include "gender expression" and/or "gender identity" as prohibited grounds for discrimination. Previously, human rights tribunals had interpreted their human rights acts as including gender identity and gender expression under the category of "sex" as a prohibited ground for discrimination.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The Ontario Human Rights Commission has adopted the following definition:Sexual orientation is more than simply a 'status' that an individual possesses; it is an immutable personal characteristic that forms part of an individual's core identity. Sexual orientation encompasses the range of human sexuality from gay and lesbian to bisexual and heterosexual orientations.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Gender identity is each person's internal and individual experience of gender. It is their sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum. A person's gender identity may be the same as or different from their birth-assigned sex. Gender identity is fundamentally different from a person's sexual orientation.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Gender expression is how a person publicly presents their gender. This can include behaviour and outward appearance such as dress, hair, make-up, body language and voice. A person's chosen name and pronoun(s) are also common ways of expressing gender.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Similar definitions exist in other provinces' Human rights commissions, for example, Quebec's Commission defines sexual orientation as "the emotional or sexual attraction to someone", and, as a personal characteristic, as being "permanent or difficult to change".


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: All human rights laws in Canada also explicitly prohibit discrimination based on disability, which has been interpreted to include AIDS, ARC and being HIV-positive, and membership in a high-risk group for HIV infection.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: On June 20, 1996, the "Canadian Human Rights Act" (CHRA; ) was amended to include sexual orientation as a protected ground. The CHRA guarantees the right to equality, equal opportunity, fair treatment and an environment free from discrimination in employment and the provision of goods, services, facilities or accommodation within federal jurisdiction, such as federal departments and agencies, the Canadian Armed Force, banks, radio and television stations, airlines, and interprovincial transportation facilities.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Attempts to add "gender identity and expression" as protected grounds began when NDP MP Bill Siksay introduced a private member's bill in the House of Commons in 2005. When it failed to pass before Parliament was dissolved, he reintroduced the bill in 2006 and again in 2009, with additional provisions to add gender identity and expression to the hate crimes provisions of the "Criminal Code". In February 2011, it passed third reading in the House of Commons with support from all parties, but was not considered in the Senate before Parliament was dissolved for the 41st Canadian federal election. Similar bills were introduced in the next Parliament, and Randall Garrison's bill was passed in the House of Commons, but it died on the Senate order paper when the 2015 federal election was called.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In May 2016, the government introduced "An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code", to add "gender identity or expression" in the "Canadian Human Rights Act" and the hate crimes provisions of the "Criminal Code". In June 2017, the Canadian Parliament passed the bill and it received royal assent a week later. The law went into effect immediately.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In 1977, the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, which is both a charter of rights and a human and youth rights act, was amended to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and later harassment, in 1982. Thus, the province of Quebec became the first jurisdiction in the world larger than a city or county to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination, and harassment (including but not limited to mockery, insult, bullying, and intimidation at school, or at work), in the private and public sectors. The law was later amended to include gender identity and gender expression in 2016. Since 2008, Quebec's Ministry of Justice has specifically been assigned for the fight against homophobia, so as to perform full social acceptance among and within Quebec's population. "The mandate of the "Bureau de lutte contre l'homophobie" is to oversee the implementation, monitoring and assessment of the Government Action Plan against Homophobia," which "promotes respect for the rights of sexual minority members," and sets down "the creation of safe, inclusive environments," as one of its five priorities.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In 1984, in Manitoba, LGBT activists pushed for inclusion of protection from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation with tactics including a 59-day hunger strike by Richard North. In 1987, Manitoba passed the Human Rights Code which included protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled in "Vriend v. Alberta" that the exclusion of sexual orientation from human rights acts was a violation of section 15(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sexual orientation was thus protected by law under every jurisdiction in Canada. In 2009, Alberta became the last jurisdiction in Canada to add "sexual orientation" to its human rights code.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Since June 2017, all provincial and territorial human rights legislation explicitly prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, and some also explicitly include gender expression.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Accordingly, discrimination, including harassment, based on real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV/AIDS status is prohibited throughout Canada in private and public sector employment, housing, services provided to the public and publicity. All aspects of employment are covered, including benefits for spouses and long-term partners. Examples of services include credit, insurance, government programs, hotels and schools open to the public. Schools open to the public are liable for anti-gay name-calling and bullying by students or staff. LGBT Canadians have been allowed to serve in the military since the "Douglas" case was settled in 1992.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Prohibited discrimination occurs not only when someone is treated less favourably or is harassed based on a prohibited ground, but also when a uniform policy or practice has a perhaps unintended disproportionately adverse effect based on the ground. This is called "adverse effect discrimination." For example, it might in theory be discriminatory for schools open to the public to require parental consent for student participation in all school clubs, assuming that students are less likely to ask for or get permission to participate in gay–straight alliance clubs.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Human rights acts have no exceptions specifically for sexual orientation or gender identity, however, human rights acts typically include an exception for "bona fide requirements" or qualifications that applies to most grounds (e.g. sex, sexual orientation, disability), but only when the stringent requirements of the Meiorin Test are met.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Since human rights acts are quasi-constitutional laws, it is not possible for job applicants or unions, for example, to sign away equality rights. However, other laws may explicitly say that they apply notwithstanding a human rights act. Furthermore, some collective agreements include broad non-discrimination provisions that actually expand upon the rights listed in human rights acts.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The rights of LGBT students and staff in an educational institution vary considerably depending on whether the institution is religious and/or open to the public, since human rights acts only partially prohibit discrimination against pupils of private schools and the Charter only partly prohibits discrimination by churches, associations and businesses, while section 2 of the Charter protects freedom of religion and section 93 of the Constitution recognizes the right to denominational schools in some provinces.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The curriculum of public schools, particularly in British Columbia, are now being amended to incorporate LGBT topics. In reality, implementation of curriculum varies from school division to school division and often from teacher to teacher.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Religious educational institutions may in many cases discriminate based on sexual orientation against students and staff according to religious doctrine. Nevertheless, if they rent facilities to the general public on a commercial basis without regard to their religion, they may not refuse to rent them to LGBT groups. Controversially, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled in favour of denying accreditation to a religious university in 2018, due to its policies banning students who have had gay sex or sex outside of marriage.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: However, most educational institutions, including privately owned schools open to the general public, are public services. They are subject to human rights acts and are strictly required to not discriminate against staff or students based on all the prohibited grounds, including sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS (and gender identity, see "Grounds of prohibited discrimination" above). They are strictly liable for harassment, name-calling and bullying of students and staff by "staff" on these grounds. In addition, as a result of the "Jubran" decision, they are liable for most such behaviour by "students". They may be liable for anti-gay bullying even if the victim is not gay, nor believed to be (e.g. when a bully knowingly makes a false claim that a girl is a lesbian so that she will be ostracized or bullied by others or pressured to have sex with a boy to prove otherwise).


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Furthermore, it may not be enough for schools to progressively discipline bullies when this is ineffective. Schools are responsible for providing an educational environment that is free from discriminatory harassment, and this may require them to provide "resources to adopt a broader, educative approach to deal with the difficult issues of harassment, homophobia and discrimination."


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Public education governance bodies may place limits on the freedom of expression and the freedom of religion rights of teachers and school counsellors with respect to statements they may make regarding LGBT issues, both on and off the job. Teachers and school counsellors are considered to hold positions of trust and influence over young people and are required to ensure that their public statements do not impair public confidence in the school system or create an unwelcoming or intolerant school environment.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In 2012, Ontario passed the "Accepting Schools Act", which was enacted after growing concern regarding bullying behaviours and several tragic suicides of bullied students. The legislation is intended to identity and prevent bullying, which includes LGBT students, and provide resources and support for educators and students as they deal with bullying incidents. Under the act, bullying is defined as repeated and aggressive behaviour by a pupil where, 1) the behaviour is intended by the pupil to cause, or the pupil ought to know that the behaviour would be likely to cause, harm, fear or distress to another individual, including psychological harm or harm to the individual's reputation and 2) the behaviour occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance between the pupil and the individual based on factors such as size, strength, age, intelligence, peer group power, economic status, social status, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, family circumstances, gender, race, disability or the receipt of special education. Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories and Yukon have also enacted similar anti-bullying laws. Other provinces, including British Columbia and Saskatchewan, have established policies and action plans regarding bullying in schools.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: On June 18, 2020, the employees of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights revealed that its management would sometimes ask staff not to show any gay content on tours at the request of certain guests, including religious school groups.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The "Criminal Code" explicitly forbids communicating hate propaganda against members of identifiable groups, which includes members of the public distinguished by sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Members of identifiable groups are thus protected against hate speech and publications. In addition to the prohibition on hate publications, the "Criminal Code" also provides against defamatory libel. Everyone, including LGBT people, is protected against defamatory libels, especially through books, pamphlets, newspapers and the open Web, that are "likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing him to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or that is designed to insult the person of or concerning whom it is published", either directly, by insinuation or irony, by words or otherwise. The "Criminal Code" also criminalises the act of advocating genocide, again against members of identifiable groups.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Hate speech is also prohibited by regulations passed under the Broadcasting Act. Where a station, network or undertaking is operated for radio purposes, television broadcasting or discretionary services, "a licensee shall not broadcast programming that contains ... any abusive comment or abusive pictorial representation that, when taken in context, tends to or is likely to expose an individual or a group or class of individuals to hatred or contempt on the basis of sexual orientation; any false or misleading news".


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories have enacted prohibitions on hate publications in their human rights legislation. Alberta's law prohibits hate publications based on gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex and sexual orientation. British Columbia prohibits hate publications based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. Saskatchewan prohibits hate publications based on sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, while the Northwest Territories law prohibits hate publications based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In "R v Keegstra", the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the criminal prohibition on hate propaganda, while in "R v Lucas" it upheld the offence of defamatory libel. The Supreme Court has upheld the prohibition on hate publications in human rights laws in two cases, "Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Taylor", and "Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v Whatcott".


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: "Conversion therapy," also known as "reparative therapy," refers to widely debunked and abusive medical, spiritual and psychological practices that falsely claim to be able to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression. Such practices were rejected and condemned by every mainstream medical and mental health organization, including the Canadian Psychological Association, the Canadian Psychiatric Association and the Canadian Paediatric Society, citing potential harm and lack of efficacy.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The law makes it a crime to subject a person of any age, consenting or not, to such treatment. Conversion therapy is any attempt to change a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. However, because the practice has come under increasing scrutiny, a practice Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called 'despicable and degrading', providers frequently change their terminology to avoid detection. Some of those terms can seem relatively harmless at first glance. Here are a few examples: Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE); Sexual Attraction Fluidity Exploration in Therapy (SAFE-T); Eliminating, reducing or decreasing frequency or intensity of unwanted Same-Sex Attraction (SSA); Reparative therapy; Sexual reorientation efforts; Ex-gay ministry; Promoting healthy sexuality; Addressing sexual addictions and disorders; Sexuality counseling; Encouraging relational and sexual wholeness; Healing sexual brokenness.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Parliament passed "An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy)" (initially referred to as Bill C-4), in December 2021. The House of Commons gave unanimous consent to a motion that the bill be deemed to have been referred to a Committee of the Whole, read and passed through at all stages, on December 1, 2021. The Senate followed on December 7, 2021. The bill received royal assent the following day on December 8, and came into force on January 7, 2022.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The Act imposes criminal penalties on anyone causing another person to undergo conversion therapy, removing a child from Canada to perform conversion therapy, advertising or promoting conversion therapy, and benefiting financially from conversion therapy. The Act includes both sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in its definition of conversion therapy, and protects both adults and minors.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: An earlier bill that would have banned conversion therapy (Bill C-6) had passed the House of Commons in June 2021, but did not pass the Senate before Parliament was dissolved ahead of the September 2021 election. Unlike C-4, the ban in C-6 would not have extended to adults.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In 2012, the professional order for Quebec psychologists () reaffirmed "its position that homosexuality "per se" is not a mental disorder", and that it "opposes portrayals of sexual minority youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation". Any complaints concerning aversive therapies, whether it be conducted by religious, professional or other practitioners, would be filed with either one of the professional orders and/or Quebec's "Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse", under the harassment clause, section 10.1 of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, or under the psychological ill-treatment clause, section 38 of the "Youth Protection Act". "No ideological or other consideration, including one based on a concept of honour, can justify any situation described in section 38". In October 2020, the Quebec Government introduced a bill to ban conversion therapy. It was passed unanimously on 9 December 2020 and given Royal assent on 11 December 2020. The Act provides that any person having undergone such therapy, that is, through spiritual or non-spiritual practice, service or treatment, may obtain reparation for the resulting injury. In Quebec, an action for damages for bodily injury resulting from conversion therapy, cannot be prescribed anyway; such therapy, within the meaning of the Civil Code of Québec, constituting a criminal offence as violent behaviour suffered during childhood. As a result, conversion therapy was made punishable and remediable by law in Quebec on December 11, 2020.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: On May 22, 2015, Manitoba Health Minister Sharon Blady announced measures to stop conversion therapy in Manitoba. Blady said the province's Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation – including how health care services are provided. Blady also stated that "it is the position of the Manitoba Government that conversion therapy can have no place in the province's public health-care system."


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In June 2015, the "Affirming Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Act (Bill 77)" was made law in the province of Ontario. The act bans conversion therapy on minors and forbids it from being funded under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan public health care for anyone, of any age. The bill was introduced by Cheri DiNovo, a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, and passed the Legislative Assembly with the support of all three major political parties.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: On June 6, 2018, the Vancouver City Council unanimously voted to prohibit conversion therapy by businesses, regardless of age. The business licence bylaw applies to all licence holders, including religious groups.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Three bills (one each from the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party) to ban the pseudoscientific and abusive practice were introduced in Nova Scotia. On September 25, 2018, the Nova Scotia House of Assembly passed the "Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Protection Act", the Liberal Party bill, with the unanimous support of all parties. The legislation received royal assent on 11 October and went into effect immediately. The act provides measures similar to Ontario's legislation, both in terms of prohibiting professionals from performing the therapy on minors, and prohibiting public funds from paying for the procedures for everyone regardless of age. However, Nova Scotia's age limit is set at 19 instead of 18, and its exception for competent consenting individuals has a minimum age limit of 16, whereas Ontario's act doesn't set any specific minimum limit with respect to competent consenting individuals. Nova Scotia's legislation also prohibits persons in a position of trust or authority (such as a religious leader) from making efforts aimed at changing the orientation or gender identity of a person under 19 years of age.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In November 2018, Prince Edward Island MLAs unanimously passed a motion expressing support for a conversion therapy ban. The non-binding motion was brought to the floor by Green Party MLA Peter Bevan-Baker. Health Minister Robert Mitchell argued to the best of his knowledge that conversion therapy is not practiced in the province. A queer rights advocate said he would like to see the province take the next step and introduce legislation. In November 2019, MLAs unanimously passed the "Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Protection in Health Care Act". The bill, as supported by the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island, was a collaboration between Health Minister James Aylward and Opposition Leader Peter Bevan-Baker. The bill was granted royal assent on November 28 and went into effect immediately. The act is a combination of the legislation of Ontario and that of Nova Scotia, however, Prince Edward Island's legislation has used the age of 18 across the board whereas Nova Scotia's legislation uses the age of 16 for some aspects.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In March 2020, the Yukon Government introduced a bill to ban conversion therapy for minors. It was passed and given Royal Assent on 9 November 2020.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: For Intersex Awareness Day in October 2018, Egale Canada published a statement calling on the Canadian Government to protect the rights of intersex persons, fulfilling "treaty body obligations under international law," and accompanied by a submission to the UN Committee Against Torture. The statement referred to Criminal Code [s. 268(3)], stating that it "allows for parents and medical practitioners to undertake nonconsensual, cosmetic surgeries on intersex infants". In May 2019, the Canadian Bar Association made a similar call.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Since 2017, besides male and female, Canadian passports have been available with an "X" sex descriptor. In June 2019, Canadian authorities announced that non-binary people may also apply to have an "X" gender marker.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Birth certificates in Canada are issued by provincial and territorial officials. As of 2019, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Yukon allow for a "third gender" option ("X"). Some provinces, namely Ontario and Saskatchewan, also offer citizens the option of not displaying the sex field at all.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In January 2021, rights pertaining to the designation of sex in the Quebec register of civil status—for transgender, non-binary and intersex people—were upheld as a result of a ruling by the Quebec Superior Court.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Canada had had a three-month deferral period before men who have sex with men could donate blood since 2019. On April 28, 2022, Health Canada announced that it had accepted a request by Canadian Blood Services to change that policy and eliminate the three-month waiting period for gay and bi men, for donations of both blood and plasma. Instead, Canadian Blood services has implemented a new screening policy for all donors, regardless of sexuality or gender, to identify individuals who have engaged in high-risk sexual activities. Individuals who have anal sex with more than one person will still be required to undergo the three-month deferral period. The new policy took effect on September 11, 2022.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In Quebec, the blood donation service Héma-Québec announced that it would eliminated the waiting period in two steps, for plasma donations on October 2, 2022, and blood donations on December 4, 2022, following approval from Health Canada.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Both blood banks collaborate with and maintain close links to each other, complying with Health Canada safety standards.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Currently, the Semen Regulations under Canada's Food and Drug Act only allow specific men to donate semen. Restricted men include any man who has had sex with another man since 1977.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The Criminal Code applies throughout Canada and creates penalty for offences committed outside Canada, including against LGBT rights, as if they were committed in Canada, especially on board of an aircraft or a ship, or on any means of transportation to or from the International Space Station. This includes any act, anywhere, that would constitute an indictable offence and a terrorist activity, as defined in the Code, for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause, against a segment of the public and a Canadian citizen.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Global Affairs Canada offers advice and information on safe LGBT travel abroad, and can provide consular assistance and support, discrimination-free, to Canadian citizens, should they be in trouble or need help abroad.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In 2008, Canada was part of the Joint statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity delivered in the United Nations General Assembly, on behalf of 66 countries. Section 6 reads:


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Thereafter, in 2011, Canada was also part of a joint statement delivered to the United Nations Human Rights Council, on behalf of 85 countries, for "ending acts of violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity". It recalled the 2008 Joint statement. Section 9 reads:


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In the House of Commons, four parties support LGBT rights with varying degrees. The New Democratic Party, Green Party, Bloc Québécois, and Liberal Party of Canada are the most vocal supporters of these rights. At its founding, the Conservative Party of Canada was largely opposed to LGBT rights, although some members, typically former members of the Progressive Conservative Party, have supported LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage. Former members of the Canadian Alliance (CA) have generally opposed expanded LGBT rights, and a former CA MP was rebuked for calls to re-criminalize homosexuality.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Since 2006, the Conservative Party has become a stronger advocate for LGBT rights in Canada and abroad. In May 2016, Conservative Party delegates voted in favour of removing the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman from the party's official policy document, effectively changing the party's official position on same-sex marriage from opposed to neutral.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Svend Robinson is notable for having been the first MP to come out as gay, in spring 1988. He has since been followed by other gay and lesbian politicians in Parliament: fellow New Democrats Libby Davies, Bill Siksay, Philip Toone, Craig Scott and Dany Morin; Bloc Québécois MPs Réal Ménard and Raymond Gravel; and Liberal Party of Canada MPs Scott Brison, Mario Silva and Rob Oliphant, as well as Senators Laurier LaPierre and Nancy Ruth.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: As of 2019, there are four members of the House of Commons and two senators who openly identify as gay or lesbian.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: Chris Lea, leader of the Green Party of Canada from 1990 to 1996, was the first openly gay political party leader in Canada. Svend Robinson became in 1995 the first openly gay candidate for the leadership of a political party with representation in the House of Commons, although he was not successful. André Boisclair, the former leader of the Parti Québécois, became the first openly gay leader of a party with parliamentary representation in North America; Allison Brewer, former leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party, was also elected leader as an out lesbian.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: The following provinces have had openly gay provincial cabinet ministers: Ontario (Kathleen Wynne, George Smitherman, Glen Murray), British Columbia (Tim Stevenson, Lorne Mayencourt, Ted Nebbeling), and Manitoba (Jim Rondeau, Jennifer Howard). On January 26, 2013, Kathleen Wynne became the leader of the Liberal party of Ontario and premier of that province (the largest of the country's thirteen provinces and territories, with approximately 39% of the country's population). Following the Ontario provincial election in 2014, Kathleen Wynne became the first openly gay leader to be elected with a majority mandate in all the commonwealth jurisdictions.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: ProudPolitics, a cross-partisan organization dedicated to providing networking and fundraising assistance to LGBT politicians and candidates inspired by the American Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, was established in Toronto in 2013.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: On November 15, 2016, Randy Boissonnault, Liberal MP for Edmonton Centre, was named Special Advisor on LGBTQ2 issues to the Prime Minister. The role involves advising the Prime Minister "on the development and co-ordination of the Government of Canada's LGBTQ2 agenda" including protecting LGBT rights in Canada and addressing both present and historical discrimination.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: On April 23, 2019, the Royal Canadian Mint launched a new dollar coin symbolizing equality with 3 million loonies placed into circulation to commemorate 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Canada.


title: LGBT rights in Canada

text: In 2018, Canadian Member of Parliament Randy Boissonnault unveiled the "Canada Pride Citation", a badge designed by the Canadian Heraldic Authority to be worn by LGBT members of the Canadian Armed Forces as a form of reparation for injustices historically committed against the community.


title: Oruç Reis

text: Oruç Reis (; ; 1474 – 1518) was an Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers. The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, he was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli (Lesbos in present-day Greece) and died in battle against the Spanish at Tlemcen.


title: Oruç Reis

text: He became known as Baba Oruç or Baba Aruj ("Father Oruç") when he transported large numbers of Morisco, Muslim and Jewish refugees from Spain to North Africa; folk etymology in Europe transformed that name into Barbarossa (which means "Redbeard" in Italian).


title: Oruç Reis

text: His father, Yakup Ağa, was an Ottoman official of Turkish or Albanian descent. Yakup Ağa took part in the Ottoman conquest of Lesbos (Midilli) from the Genoese in 1462, and as a reward, was granted the fief of the Bonova village in the island. He married a local Byzantine Greek Christian woman (from Mytilene), named Katerina, who was the widow of an Eastern Orthodox priest.


title: Oruç Reis

text: They had two daughters and four sons: Ishak, Oruç, Hızır and Ilyas. Yakup became an established potter and purchased a boat to trade his products. The four sons helped their father with his business, but not much is known about the daughters. At first Oruç helped with the boat, while Hızır helped with pottery.


title: Oruç Reis

text: All four brothers became seamen, engaged in marine affairs and international sea trade. Oruç was the first brother to be involved in seamanship, soon joined by the youngest brother Ilyas. Hızır initially helped their father in the pottery business, but later obtained a ship of his own and also began a career at sea. Ishak, the eldest, remained on Mytilene and was involved with the financial affairs of the family business. The other three brothers initially worked as sailors, but then turned privateers in the Mediterranean, counteracting the privateering of the Knights Hospitaller of the Island of Rhodes. Oruç and Ilyas operated in the Levant, between Anatolia, Syria and Egypt, while Hızır operated in the Aegean Sea and based his operations mostly in Thessaloniki.


title: Oruç Reis

text: Oruç was a very successful seaman. He also learned to speak Italian, Spanish, French, Greek and Arabic in the early years of his career. During a trading expedition in Tripoli, Lebanon, he and Ilyas were attacked by a galley of the Knights Hospitaller. Ilyas was killed in the fight, and Oruç was wounded. Their father's boat was captured, and Oruç was taken prisoner and detained in the Knights' Bodrum Castle for nearly three years. Hizir tried to help Oruc by ransoming but failed and Oruc was tortured for the first few years of captivity and later he worked as a slave on the Rhodes Ship which transported prisoners and One Night when the Condition were favorable he managed to escape from the ship and was able to flee to a village where he lived for ten days and later he joined Captain Ali.


title: Oruç Reis

text: Oruç later went to Antalya, where he was given 18 galleys by Şehzade Korkut, an Ottoman prince and governor of the city, and charged with fighting against the Knights Hospitaller who inflicted serious damage on Ottoman shipping and trade.


title: Oruç Reis

text: In the following years, when Sehzade Korkut became governor of Manisa, he gave Oruç a larger fleet of 24 galleys at the port of İzmir and ordered him to participate in the Ottoman naval expedition to Apulia in the Kingdom of Naples, where Oruç bombarded several coastal forts and captured two ships. On his way back to Lesbos, he stopped at Euboea and captured three galleons and another ship. Reaching Mytilene with these captured vessels, Oruç learned that Şehzade Korkut, brother of the new Ottoman sultan, had fled to Egypt to avoid being killed over a succession dispute; a common practice at that time in the House of Osman. Fearing trouble due to his well-known association with the Ottoman prince in exile, Oruç sailed to Egypt where he met Şehzade Korkut in Cairo and managed to get an audience with the Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri, who gave him another ship and charged him to raid the coasts of Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean that were controlled by Christian powers. After passing the winter in Cairo, he set sail from Alexandria and operated along the coasts of Liguria and Sicily.


title: Oruç Reis

text: In 1503, Oruç managed to seize three more ships and made the island of Djerba his new base, thus moving his operations to the Western Mediterranean. Hızır joined Oruç at Djerba. In 1504, the two brothers asked Abu Abdallah Muhammad IV al-Mutawakkil, Hhafsid caliph of Tunisia, for permission to use the strategically located port of La Goulette for their operations. They were granted this right, with the condition of leaving one third of their booty to the sultan.


title: Oruç Reis

text: Oruç, in command of small galliots, captured two much larger Papal galleys near the island of Elba. Later, near Lipari, the two brothers captured a Sicilian warship, the "Cavalleria", with 380 Spanish soldiers and 60 Spanish knights from Aragon on board, who were on their way from Spain to Naples. In 1505, they raided the coasts of Calabria. These accomplishments increased their fame and they were joined by a number of other well-known Muslim corsairs, including Kurtoğlu (known in the West as Curtogoli). In 1508, they raided the coasts of Liguria, particularly Diano Marina.


title: Oruç Reis

text: In 1509, Ishak also left Mytilene and joined his brothers at La Goulette. The fame of Oruç increased when, between 1504 and 1510, he transported Muslims from Spain to North Africa. His helping the Muslims of Spain in need and transporting them to safer lands earned him the honorific name "Baba Oruç" ("Father Oruç"), which eventually—due to the similarity in sound—evolved in Spain, Italy and France into Barbarossa ("Redbeard" in Italian).


title: Oruç Reis

text: In 1510, the three brothers raided Cape Passero in Sicily and repulsed a Spanish attack on Bougie, Oran and Algiers. In August 1511, they raided the areas around Reggio Calabria in southern Italy. In August 1512, the exiled ruler of Bougie invited the brothers to drive out the Spaniards, and during the battle Oruç lost his left arm. This incident earned him the nickname "Gümüş Kol" ("Silver Arm" in Turkish), in reference to the silver prosthetic device which he used in place of his missing limb. Later that year the three brothers raided the coasts of Andalusia in Spain, capturing a galliot of the Lomellini family of Genoa who owned the Tabarca island in that area. They subsequently landed on Menorca and captured a coastal castle, and then headed towards Liguria and captured four Genoese galleys near Genoa. The Genoese sent a fleet to liberate their ships, but the brothers captured their flagship as well. After capturing a total of 23 ships in less than a month, the brothers sailed back to La Goulette.


title: Oruç Reis

text: There they built three more galliots and a gunpowder production facility. In 1513, they captured four English ships on their way to France, raided Valencia where they captured four more ships, and then headed for Alicante and captured a Spanish galley near Málaga. Between 1513 and 1514, the three brothers engaged Spanish squadrons on several other occasions and moved to their new base in Cherchell, east of Algiers. In 1514, with 12 galliots and 1,000 Turks, they destroyed two Spanish fortresses at Bougie, and when a Spanish fleet under the command of Miguel de Gurrea, viceroy of Majorca, arrived for assistance, they headed towards Ceuta and raided that city before capturing Jijel in Algeria, which was under Genoese control. They later captured Mahdiya in Tunisia. Afterwards they raided the coasts of Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands and the Spanish mainland, capturing three large ships there. In 1515, they captured several galleons, a galley and three barques at Majorca. Still in 1515, Oruç sent precious gifts to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I who, in return, sent him two galleys and two swords embellished with diamonds. In 1516, joined by Kurtoğlu, the brothers besieged the Castle of Elba, before heading once more towards Liguria where they captured 12 ships and damaged 28 others.


title: Oruç Reis

text: In 1516 the three brothers succeeded in liberating Jijel and Algiers from the Spaniards, but eventually assumed control over the cities and surrounding region, forcing the previous ruler, Abu Hammu Musa III of the Zayyanid dynasty, to flee. The local Spaniards in Algiers sought refuge in the island of Peñón near Algiers and asked Emperor Charles V, King of Spain, to intervene, but the Spanish fleet failed to force the brothers out of Algiers.


title: Oruç Reis

text: After consolidating his power and declaring himself the new Sultan of Algiers, Oruç sought to enhance his territory inlands and took Miliana, Medea and Ténès. He became known for attaching sails to cannons for transport through the deserts of North Africa. In 1517, the brothers raided Capo Limiti and later the Island of Capo Rizzuto in Calabria.


title: Oruç Reis

text: Oruç Reis made conquests in the eastern lands of Morocco, in 1518 he conquered and garrisoned Oujda and Tibda, he submitted the Beni Amer and Beni Snassen and imposed a tribute on them. He entered negotiations and concluded an alliance with the sultan of Morocco who was extremely frightened by the progress of the Turks.


title: Oruç Reis

text: The Spaniards ordered Abu Zayan, whom they had appointed as the new ruler of Tlemcen and Oran, to attack Oruç by land, but Oruç learned of the plan and pre-emptively struck against Tlemcen, capturing the city and executing Abu Zayan during the Fall of Tlemcen in 1518. The only survivor of Abu Zayan's dynasty was Sheikh Buhammud, who escaped to Oran and called for Spain's assistance.


title: Oruç Reis

text: In May 1518, Emperor Charles V arrived at Oran and was received there by Sheikh Buhammud and the Spanish governor of the city, Diego de Córdoba, Marquess of Comares, who commanded a force of 10,000 Spanish soldiers. Joined by thousands of Bedouins, the Spaniards marched overland on Tlemcen where Oruç and Ishak awaited them with 1,500 Ottoman soldiers and 5,000 Moorish soldiers.


title: Oruç Reis

text: Oruç Reis , who obtained Tlemcen in the east of Algeria , under the domination of Spain , defended the places he had won against the Tlemcen emir, who received help from the Spaniards. He defended his lands for six months. Betrayed by the natives, he tried to break through the enemy siege to return to Algeria.


title: Oruç Reis

text: He broke through the enemy and crossed the river with some of his levents. However, about twenty levents (sailors) remained on the enemy's side. Oruç Reis, knowing that he had no hope of salvation, plunged into his enemies again in order not to leave his levents alone. While trying to cross the river, most of his levents died. One-armed Oruç Reis died as a result of the spear wound he received after seeing the last levent next to him die.


title: Oruç Reis

text: The Spaniards, who wanted to prove the death of Oruç Reis to the King of Spain, cut off the head of the corpse and put it in a bag full of honey and took it to Spain. The reason they did this was because the Spaniards, who had clashed with Oruç Reis many times, reported to the Spanish King that they had killed him, but none of this turned out to be true.


title: Oruç Reis

text: The last remaining brother, Hızır (Hayreddin Barbarossa), inherited his brother's place, his name (Barbarossa) and his mission and became the most powerful and famous Ottoman admiral by securing the Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean Sea during the 16th century.


title: Oruç Reis

text: Oruç established the Ottoman presence in North Africa which lasted four centuries, "de facto" until the loss of Algeria to France in 1830, of Tunisia to France in 1881, of Libya to Italy in 1912 and "de jure" until the official loss of Egypt and Sudan to the United Kingdom in 1914, after the Ottoman Empire joined World War I on the side of the Central Powers. The Republic of Turkey officially renounced the remaining disputed Turkish rights in some territories of Egypt and Sudan with the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.


title: Dyspareunia

text: Dyspareunia ( ) is painful sexual intercourse due to medical or psychological causes. The term "dyspareunia" covers both female dyspareunia and male dyspareunia, but many discussions that use the term without further specification concern the female type, which is more common than the male type. In females, the pain can primarily be on the external surface of the genitalia, or deeper in the pelvis upon deep pressure against the cervix. Medically, dyspareunia is a pelvic floor dysfunction and is frequently underdiagnosed. It can affect a small portion of the vulva or vagina or be felt all over the surface. Understanding the duration, location, and nature of the pain is important in identifying the causes of the pain.


title: Dyspareunia

text: Numerous physical, psychological, and social or relationship causes can contribute to pain during sexual encounters. Commonly, multiple underlying causes contribute to the pain. The pain can be acquired or congenital. Symptoms of dyspareunia may also occur after menopause. Diagnosis is typically by physical examination and medical history.


title: Dyspareunia

text: Underlying causes determine treatment. Many patients experience relief when physical causes are identified and treated.


title: Dyspareunia

text: In 2020, dyspareunia has been estimated to globally affect 35% of women at some point in their lives.


title: Dyspareunia

text: Those who experience pelvic pain upon attempted vaginal intercourse describe their pain in many ways. This reflects how many different and overlapping causes there are for dyspareunia. The location, nature, and time course of the pain help to understand potential causes and treatments.


title: Dyspareunia

text: Some describe superficial pain at the opening of the vagina or surface of the genitalia when penetration is initiated. Others feel deeper pain in the vault of the vagina or deep within the pelvis upon deeper penetration. Some feel pain in more than one of these places. Determining whether the pain is more superficial or deep is important in understanding what may be causing the pain. Some patients have always experienced pain with intercourse from their very first attempt, while others begin to feel pain with intercourse after an injury or infection or cyclically with menstruation. Sometimes the pain increases over time.


title: Dyspareunia

text: Pain may distract from feeling pleasure and excitement. Both vaginal lubrication and vaginal dilation decrease. When the vagina is dry and undilated, penetration is more painful. Fear of being in pain can make the discomfort worse. Pain may continue despite the original source being removed, due to the learned expectation of pain. Fear, avoidance, and psychological distress around attempting intercourse can become large parts of the experience of dyspareunia.


title: Dyspareunia

text: Physical examination of the vulva (external genitalia) may reveal clear reasons for pain including lesions, thin skin, ulcerations or discharge associated with vulvovaginal infections or vaginal atrophy. An internal pelvic exam may also reveal physical reasons for pain including lesions on the cervix or anatomic variation.


title: Dyspareunia

text: When there are no visible findings on vulvar exam that would suggest a cause for superficial dyspareunia, a cotton-swab test may be performed. This is a test to assess for localized provoked vulvodynia. A cotton tip applicator is applied at several points around the opening of the vagina; the patient reports the resulting pain on a scale from 0–10.


title: Dyspareunia

text: The cause of the pain may be anatomic or physiologic, including but not limited to lesions of the vagina, retroversion of the uterus, urinary tract infection, lack of lubrication, scar tissue, abnormal growths, or tender pelvic sites. Some cases may be psychosomatic, which can include fear of pain or injury, feelings of guilt or shame, ignorance of sexual anatomy and physiology, and fear of pregnancy.


title: Dyspareunia

text: There are a number of physical factors that may cause sexual discomfort. Pain is sometimes experienced in the testicular or glans area of the penis immediately after ejaculation. Infections of the prostate, bladder, or seminal vesicles can lead to intense burning or itching sensations following ejaculation. Patients with interstitial cystitis may experience intense penis pain at the moment of ejaculation. Gonorrheal infections are sometimes associated with burning or sharp penile pains during ejaculation. Urethritis or prostatitis can make genital stimulation painful or uncomfortable. Anatomic deformities of the penis, such as exist in Peyronie's disease, may also result in pain during coitus. One cause of painful intercourse is due to the painful retraction of a too-tight foreskin, occurring either during the first attempt at intercourse or subsequent to tightening or scarring following inflammation or local infection. Another cause of painful intercourse is due to tension in a short and slender frenulum, frenulum breve, as the foreskin retracts on entry to the vagina irrespective of lubrication. In one study frenulum breve was found in 50% of patients who presented with dyspareunia. During vigorous or deep or tight intercourse or masturbation, small tears may occur in the frenum of the foreskin and can bleed and be very painful and induce anxiety, which can become chronic if left unresolved. If stretching fails to ease the condition, and uncomfortable levels of tension remain, a frenuloplasty procedure may be recommended. Frenuloplasty is an effective procedure, with a high chance of avoiding circumcision, giving good functional results and patient satisfaction. The psychological effects of these conditions, while little understood, are real, and are visible in literature and art.


title: Dyspareunia

text: Dyspareunia is a condition that has many causes and is not a diagnosis of itself. It is combined with vaginismus into genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder in the DSM-5. Criteria for genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder include multiple episodes of difficulty with vaginal penetration, pain associated with intercourse attempts, anticipation of pain due to attempted intercourse, and tensing of the pelvis in response to attempted penetration. To meet criteria for this disorder, a patient must experience the symptoms for at least six months and experience "significant distress".


title: Dyspareunia

text: The differential diagnosis for dyspareunia is long because of its complicated and multifactorial nature. Often there are physiologic conditions underlying the pain, as well as psychosocial components that must be assessed to find appropriate treatment. A differential diagnosis of underlying physical causes can be guided by whether the pain is deep or superficial:


title: Dyspareunia

text: The treatment for pain with intercourse depends on what is causing the pain. After proper diagnosis one or more treatments for specific causes may be necessary.


title: Dyspareunia

text: The word "dyspareunia" comes from Greek δυσ-, "dys-" "bad" and πάρευνος, "pareunos" "bedfellow", meaning "badly mated". The previous "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", the "DSM-IV", stated that the diagnosis of dyspareunia is made when the patient complains of recurrent or persistent genital pain before, during, or after sexual intercourse that is not caused exclusively by lack of lubrication or by vaginal spasm (vaginismus). After the text revision of the fourth edition of the DSM, a debate arose, with arguments to recategorize dyspareunia as a pain disorder instead of a sex disorder, with Charles Allen Moser, a physician, arguing for the removal of dyspareunia from the manual altogether. The most recent version, the DSM 5, has grouped dyspareunia under the diagnosis of Genito-Pelvic Pain/Penetration Disorder.


title: Black Lantern Corps

text: The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of deceased fictional characters in zombie form that seek to eliminate all life from the DC Universe.


title: Black Lantern Corps

text: Prior to the "Blackest Night" event, Black Hand ("leader" and first member of the Black Lantern Corps) had already been established as a villain within the pages of "Green Lantern". Writer Geoff Johns revisited his origin and expanded upon certain aspects of it during the "" story arc (2008). During the arc, Hand's energy-absorbing weapon (previously thought to be an original invention) is revealed to have been constructed by Atrocitus, enemy of the Guardians of the Universe and future founder of the Red Lantern Corps. Atrocitus comes to Earth and approaches Hand, recognizing him as a "doorway to the black" that possesses the power to bring about the Blackest Night. Hand manages to escape and pockets the weapon as he flees. The possession of this weapon soon leads him to become an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps, as he now feels a need to extinguish the light of the emotional spectrum.


title: Black Lantern Corps

text: While being transported to prison, Black Hand experiences a sudden power surge that kills his captors. Xander roams the desert, hearing a voice instructing him to reclaim the souls of characters who were reanimated. Hand murders his family and commits suicide. The Guardian Scar arrives, and creates the first black power ring, which reanimates Black Hand. She reveals that Hand is the physical embodiment of death, and serves as the avatar of the Black Lantern Corps in the same manner that Ion, Parallax, and the Predator are for willpower, fear, and love respectively. Hand later digs up Bruce Wayne's corpse, removes his skull, and recites the Black Lantern oath for the first time. Soon after, black power rings descend upon the universe and begin reviving the deceased as Black Lanterns that attack both the heroes and the villains of the DC Universe. It is claimed the Power Battery is in Space Sector 666. Black Hand is seen holding Wayne's skull in all future appearances, embracing it in a necrophiliac manner in "Blackest Night" #1 as the black power rings appear from the Black Power Battery, exclaiming that Wayne's death "plays a far greater role in the Blackest Night" than anyone thinks. At the end of the issue, it is shown that Black Hand uses the skull to produce new power rings at will, creating two rings for the newly deceased Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders.


title: Black Lantern Corps

text: In "Blackest Night" #3, Indigo-1 describes the premise behind the Black Lantern Corps' fictional relationship with the universe. She explains that the darkness in existence before the creation of the universe is what powers the Black Lanterns. Banished at the dawn of time by the white light of creation, its fighting back causes the white light to be fractured into the emotional spectrum. The events transpiring throughout the titles of "Blackest Night" are a result of the darkness, once again, fighting back against creation. She goes on to describe how a combination of all seven lights can restore the white light of creation and bring an end to the Black Lanterns. Throughout the "Blackest Night" event, each time a Black Lantern successfully removes the heart of one of their victims, a black, lantern-shaped speech balloon (used within "Green Lantern" and "Green Lantern Corps" to indicate that a power ring is speaking) depicts an ever-rising power level increasing in increments of 0.1 percent. In "Blackest Night" #4, the power meter is filled and Scar is able to transport the Black Central Power Battery to Coast City, and the true mastermind behind the Black Lanterns is able to step into the main DC Universe: Nekron.


title: Black Lantern Corps

text: After being introduced into a primary role within the "Blackest Night" event, Indigo-1 recruits Hal Jordan to gather a team capable of recreating the white light of creation (chosen for having a personal connection to the most powerful members of the five remaining Corps). The story unfolding in "Green Lantern" depicts Jordan and Indigo-1 recruiting Carol Ferris, Sinestro, Atrocitus, Larfleeze, Saint Walker, to their purpose. In "Blackest Night" #5, the team assaults the Black Central Power Battery with the opposite results intended. Nekron is strengthened and able to recruit living characters reanimated from death to his Black Lantern Corps. Although the seven Corps representatives attempt to summon aid by recruiting temporary deputies until the rest of their Corps arrive - Ganthet joins the Green Lantern Corps, Barry Allen joins the Blue Lanterns, Lex Luthor is inducted into the Orange Lanterns, the Scarecrow joins the Sinestro Corps, the Atom joins the Indigo Tribe, Mera joins the Red Lanterns, and Wonder Woman is saved from her Black Lantern identity to join the Star Sapphires - they are nearly thwarted when Nekron digs up the Entity, the first life in the universe, and attempts to kill it. After Sinestro attempts and fails to merge with the entity similar to Hal's bond with Parallax - Sinestro powering the entity with his ego rather than his will to survive - Hal takes control of the Entity himself, noting that the heroes still chose to return to life even if Nekron gave them the opportunity. With this behind him, Hal merges with the entity and frees the reanimated heroes from Nekron's hold, creating the White Lantern Corps in the process, and subsequently reanimates Black Hand and the Anti-Monitor to deprive Nekron of his tether in the living world and his power source respectively. The White Lanterns used the power of the White Light to finally vanquish Nekron and the threat of the Blackest Night passed with the Black Lanterns disintegrating along with their power rings.