Overview of the Book

Although several books on homophobic violence have appeared internationally, Pink Blood is unique: it puts a whole country under the microscope - a case study of the impact of homophobic violence on a democracy that prides itself on the "equality" of all its citizens. But to paraphrase George Orwell, some Canadians are more equal than others.

Pink Blood is the first extensive overview of queer-bashing in every Canadian province, territory and major city. From Whitehorse to St. John’s, the author asks:

• How are these crimes investigated and recorded by the police?
• How are they prosecuted?
• How does the media construct these incidents?
• What policies and programs have succeeded - and failed - to address the horror of homophobic and transphobic violence?

The author uses several methods:

• legal research to examine dozens of Canadian murder and manslaughter cases;
• analysis of hundreds of media reports on the topic of queer-bashing;
• analysis of hundreds of documents: police reports, affidavits, transcripts, statistics, government reports, and correspondence;
• interviews with more than a hundred people in over thirty communities across Canada: victims, police officers, prosecutors, community activists, researchers, and friends and family of murder victims.