gays of colour. Rites' news group Rites''' news group – an extensive network of volunteer news correspondents across Canada – produced news articles and shorter news briefs covering, amongst other issues: the rights of sex workers, feminist struggles related to pornography, anti-censorship struggles (including the legal case brought by Toronto's Glad Day Bookshop and the Canadian Committee against Customs Censorship challenging Canada Customs' censorship of The Joy of Gay Sex), police harassment of lesbians and gays, International Women's Day, abortion rights, Take Back the Night marches, lesbian and gay pride marches across Canada, lesbian motherhood, anti-apartheid struggles (including those of Simon Nkoli, then South Africa's leading black gay activist), and the formation and operation of AIDS Action Now! in Toronto. Rites also covered the struggle for legal protection against discrimination in provincial and federal law, including the anti-discrimination case of fired racing steward John Damien in Ontario and the campaign that led to inclusion of "sexual orientation" in the Ontario Human Rights Code.Rites also contributed extensively to Canadian news coverage of the AIDS crisis, including reporting on activism at the 1989 Montreal International AIDS Conference and publishing "Talking Politics: Diary of an AIDS Activist", a regular column by George Smith, who was also a founder of Toronto's Right to Privacy Committee. Rites was a vital early source of information on AIDS treatment, publishing Sean Hosein's regular column "AIDS Treatment Update" from September 1987 onwards. Other areas of interest In addition to news coverage, Rites was a forum to examine the rites and rituals of lesbian and gay culture and published new works of lesbian and gay fiction, poetry, photography and visual arts. Writers published in Rites included: Michael Riordan, Ian Young, Mariana Valverde, Sara Diamond, Makeda Silvera, Robin Metcalfe, Sky Gilbert, Michael Achtman, Thomas Waugh, Marusya Bociurkiw, Anne Cameron, Steven Maynard, Audrey Butler, Doug Stewart, and François Lachance. Amongst others, Rites also published the poetry of Brenda Brooks and Ian Iqbal Rashid, the photography of Cyndra MacDowall, the visual art of Persimmon Blackbridge and Sheila Gilhooly, the graphic illustrations of Alanna Marohnic, and The Chosen Family cartoons of Noreen Stevens.Rites also published extensive cultural reviews of plays, movies and books, including Peter McGehee's "In My Opinion", a regular cultural review column. A number of occasional columns, "Lesbiantics", "Fairy Tales", and "No Regrets", explored personal experiences and opinions. Scott McArthur and David Adler wrote a ground-breaking column on disability issues in