Gay bookstore in
Canada battles government for legal subsidy

The supreme court of Canada will decide whether the government should have to underwrite the cost of a small gay-oriented bookstore's lawsuit against that country's customs service. Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium of Vancouver has been battling for two decades to stop customs officials from blocking books and magazines at the border because the government views them as obscene. At issue in the current case are two series of Meatmen comics and two books depicting S/M and bondage. In past cases, the Canadian high court has ruled that the government must pay so-called advance costs in certain constitutionally important cases where the plaintiff clearly can't afford them. Last year an appeals court overturned a lower court decision ordering the government to pay perhaps as much as $2 million to keep the lawsuit going. The [Toronto] Globe and Mail reports that the supreme court will hear arguments in the case on Wednesday. (Sirius OutQ News)