By Terry Vanderheyden
LONDON, Ontario, February 17, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The University of Western Ontario (UWO) officially opened Canada’s only homosexual library Tuesday, called the Pride Library, at an event attended by approximately 200 people.
“Valentine’s Day at Western is never going to be the same again,” quipped the library’s founder, university professor James Miller, according to a London Free Press report. Miller founded a Gender, Sexuality, and Culture program at UWO. “It’s got to be the queerest Valentine’s Day we’ve had.”
The new library is situated on the main floor of the University’s D.B. Weldon Library, and houses over 5,500 books on a range of homosexual subjects. The help desk in the library has a sign reading “Queeries,” and boasts of a unique search engine that understands “queer” lingo.
“At Western, we embrace diversity as a defining principle of our university, and this facility represents our commitment to providing a social and academic dimension for these individuals and groups,” said UWO President Paul Davenport, according to Western News.
Mathieu Chantelois, host of PrideVision TV’s Read Out, commended the University for creating a place that is great for homosexual persons to meet. “You have something we don’t have in Toronto. I am extremely jealous,” he said. Besides its allure as a place to read and research, it is an ideal location “To flirt, to find boyfriends and girlfriends, that is important as well.”
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the euthanasia prevention coalition and a UWO alumnus, told LifeSiteNews.com, “I believe that the decision to open a ‘pride’ library means that the administration of UWO and Mr. Davenport in particular, have decided to become known for their outwardly radical positions. We need to respond by not donating to UWO and not sending our children to attend UWO,” he urged.