The managing editor and publisher of Ottawa's gay and lesbian newspaper is speaking out against the way some city councillors responded to a complaint about his publication.

Gareth Kirkby wrote in an editorial published Thursday in Capital Xtra that he is "disturbed" that city councillors are debating whether the publication should be allowed in all city buildings even though municipal and provincial policies forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation.

'People who made the complaint deserve a fair hearing as well.'— Coun. Jan Harder

The debate erupted after an Ottawa man wrote to Coun. Maria McRae on Feb. 24 to complain about the presence of the newspaper at the Hunt Club-Riverside community centre.

The man said he picked up Capital Xtra while his eight-year-old son was practising basketball at the centre and found it to be "most disturbing." He cited and attached some ads featuring scantily clad men in suggestive poses with sexual words in the background.

"I don't believe this type of material is appropriate for a community centre," he said.

The man asked community centre staff to remove the paper from the facility and asked the city whether it could "advise this organization to limit the distribution of their newspaper to appropriate venues." Staff did remove the papers.

McRae forwarded the complaint to council, city staff and Kirkby, and asked staff to review municipal policies about the paper's distribution.

In an e-mail, Coun. Diane Holmes drew staff's attention to provincial laws and the city's equity and diversity policy, then asked staff to return the newspapers to the community centre as soon as possible. Capital Xtra is now available again at the Hunt Club-Riverside community centre, and the city's parks and recreation department is examining the issue.

'I find this e-mail extraordinary'

Councillors have expressed a variety of opinions about the issue.

Kirkby said he is particularly surprised by e-mail comments from Coun. Jan Harder, who said the policies do not mean "we HAVE to provide them everywhere."

"I find this e-mail extraordinary," Kirkby said in an interview Wednesday, "that in 2007, there's a city councillor — an elected official — who says that it's not appropriate to recognize equality rights throughout the city."

Harder said Kirkby never brought up his concerns with her, and she clarified her comments in an interview.

"What I am saying is just because there is that ruling doesn't mean that perhaps this location is the appropriate place," she said. "And people who made the complaint deserve a fair hearing as well."

Capital Xtra is free and has a circulation of 20,000 and is published every three weeks.