Jon Stewart is High on Toronto Mayor Rob Ford: VIDEO

On Friday, news emerged that uber-homophobe Toronto Mayor Rob Ford had been captured on a video smoking crack-cocaine. Jon Stewart thinks we should give Ford a break because perhaps it's just a plan by the mayor to clean up the city's crack problem by smoking all of it himself.

He also takes a look at two other videos of Ford that may be just as humiliating.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Meningitis, Puerto Rico, Rob Ford, China, Russia

Epidemiologists puzzled over NYC's Meningitis outbreak: "What is concerning is that it is largely restricted to men who have sex with men. So we don’t really understand why that is.” Have you been vaccinated?

Thousands marched in support of gay rights in the capital of Puerto Rico of San Juan: "Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and Sen. Ramón Nieves Pérez, who sponsored the sweeping anti-LGBT non-discrimination bill the Senate on Thursday passed by a 15-11 vote margin, unfurled an LGBT Pride flag from the balcony of City Hall as marchers passed."

Britney Spears claims the leaked version of her upcoming single is just an early demo.

Colin Egglesfield knows how to wear a t-shirt.

North Korea launched three short-range guided missiles in a northeastern direction earlier today.

Sookie flips the paparazzi the bird.

The very first film to be adapted from a David Sedaris short story set to open Outfest.

Gawker wants to raise $200,000 so they can purchase and publish the videotape of anti-gay Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking crack. Also, don't expect to hear Ford air his weekly radio show this weekend.

Some promising yet frustrating news out of China on the International Day Against Homophobia: "Activists said they felt encouraged when the communist party's official mouthpiece China Central Television published a Weibo post on Friday morning advocating respect for the LGBT community. But the post was soon deleted without any explanation."

Could Smell-O-Vision be coming back - in a mobile form?

Reacting disapprovingly to today's momentous legalization of same-sex marriage in France, Russia's Children's Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov said this morning that his country will now consider changing its child adoption policy with France.

Anti-Gay Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Accused of Smoking Crack in Video

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has reportedly been caught on video smoking crack cocaine, the Toronto Star reports:

Two Toronto Star reporters have viewed the video three times. It appears to show Ford in a room, sitting in a chair, wearing a white shirt, top buttons open, inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe. Ford is incoherent, trading jibes with an off-camera speaker who goads the clearly impaired mayor by raising topics including Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and the Don Bosco high school football team Ford coaches.

“I’m f---ing right-wing,” Ford appears to mutter at one point. “Everyone expects me to be right-wing. I’m just supposed to be this great.…” and his voice trails off. At another point he is heard calling Trudeau a “fag.” Later in the 90-second video he is asked about the football team and he appears to say (though he is mumbling), “they are just f---ing minorities.”

Gawker is raising money to purchase the video.

Ford is notoriously anti-gay. Snubbing the city's Pride parade is the least of his anti-LGBT accomplishments. The Globe and Mail listed many more of them in an article published in 2010:

Aug. 4, 2010: Mr. Ford endorses the views of a fundamentalist Christian pastor who said same-sex marriage could "dismantle" a "healthy democratic civilization." Appearing alongside Pastor Wendell Brereton, Mr. Ford says: "We're together. We have the same thoughts." He adds: "I support traditional marriage. I always have. But if people want to, to each your own. I'm not worried about what people do in their private life. I look out for taxpayers' money."

June 28, 2006: During a council debate on public-health grants for community-based AIDS-prevention programs, Mr. Ford says: "If you're not doing needles and you're not gay, you won't get AIDS, probably."

June 14, 2005: Mr. Ford questions the utility of grant programs for transgendered and transsexual people during a council debate. "I don't understand. No. 1, I don't understand a transgender, I don't understand, is it a guy dressed up like a girl or a girl dressed up like a guy? And we're funding this for, I don't know, what does it say here? We're giving them $3,210?"

June 13, 2001: Mr. Ford questions a grant for a video about homosexuality in Toronto's South Asian community, telling The National Post: "I have no problem giving money out to physically or mentally handicapped children or seniors, but spending $5,000 on this video is disgusting, it is absolutely disgusting to spend this amount of money on this, whatever it was called, video."

No doubt the city's LGBT community won't miss him.

Toronto-Area RE/MAX Real Estate Agent Fired for Distribution of Homophobic Flyer

(image missassauga news)

Last week I posted about Andrew Ciastek, a RE/MAX Real Estate agent in the Toronto-area city of Mississauga who was under fire for distributing sales brochures which included an article promoting "traditional families" as the best for the future of children.

RE/MAX has fired Ciastek, XTRA reports:

Andrew Ciastek was terminated for “poor judgment on his personal marketing,” according to Christine Martysiewicz, director of internal and public relations for RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada.
 
“We assure the general public that his actions in no way reflect RE/MAX or our associates. We're offended by the insensitivity shown here just as much as the community is. We take pride in the diversity of our workforce and our clients,” Martysiewicz says...

...Ciastek was not immediately available for comment. In an interview before the termination was announced, he told the Toronto Star he realized people are “hurt” by the flyer and promised to apologize.

Toronto-Area RE/MAX Real Estate Agent Distributes Homophobic Flyer Promoting 'Traditional' Families

A RE/MAX Real Estate agent in the Toronto-area city of Mississauga is under fire for distributing sales brochures which included an article promoting "traditional families" as the best for the future of children, the Mississauga News reports:

The piece in question is a study conducted by a sociology professor from Texas University that says unemployment is three times higher among offspring of homosexual couples than those of heterosexual couples. The brochure cites the report as having been originally published in Social Research Science.

Lorne Park resident Jon McDonald, a retired elementary school teacher, was outraged by the material and sees no reason for such information to be printed in a real estate brochure.

"It just makes no sense whatsoever," McDonald told The News. "On the inside is information on how to maintain your air conditioner, how to save money, what you should know about air conditioners, all things you need to know if you're looking to purchase a home. The back (of the brochure) just seems so incongruous and offensive."

The Toronto Star adds:

Const. George Tudos said the Criminal Investigation Bureau looked into the incident and spoke to Ciastek about the impact of the literature. No charges will be laid, he said.

Christine Martysiewicz, director of internal and public relations for RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada, said “the views and opinions expressed in this piece do not reflect those of RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada or our agents.”

She said Ciastek will issue a public apology and make a donation to a local charity of the company’s choosing.

Toronto's Fab 'Gay Scene Magazine' Closes Up Shop

Toronto's bi-weekly "Gay Scene Magazine" is closing, Now Toronto reports:

“I’m pretty devastated,” editor Phil Villeneuve told NOW over the phone. “Next year would have been 20 years. It would have been great to make it one more year.”

Villeneuve says the decision stems from larger restructuring efforts at Pink Triangle Press, which purchased Fab in February 2008, and who also publishes Xtra!. The decision the cease publication of Fab was “purely financial,” says Villenueve, and comes along with layoffs across several departments at Pink Triangle.

For now, let's revisit their 'Sexy Beards' video HERE.