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Vancouver Schools Stay Open After Receiving Body Parts

CTV NEWS, BBC NEWS (Canada)

VANCOUVER – Vancouver's False Creek Elementary School and St George's school for boys have both received a package containing human body parts in what some suspect may be the latest twist in the case of Canadian porn actor Luka Rocco Magnotta, who was arrested

The packages contained a human hand and foot, Canadian police said late Tuesday, but declared it was still too early to link the incident to allegations that Magnotta murdered and dismembered Chinese student Jun Lin, BBC News reports.

Vancouver School Board spokesman Kurt Heinrich said the situation is a challenging one, but that crisis protocols are in place to help staff and students cope. "This is a really traumatic or difficult situation for absolutely everybody and we're doing our best to try and make sure our students aren't negatively impacted," he told reporters from CTV News.

Students were let out of class at the normal time on the day of the grim discovery, and the school day is scheduled to go forward as usual on Wednesday. The news comes a day after German police arrested Luka Rocco Magnotta in a Berlin internet café following an international manhunt.

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LGBTQ Plus

My Wife, My Boyfriend — And Grandkids: A Careful Coming Out For China's Gay Seniors

A series of interviews in Wuhan with aging gay men — all currently or formerly married to women — reveals a hidden story of how Chinese LGBTQ culture is gradually emerging from the shadows.

Image of two senior men playing chinese Checkers.

A friendly game of Checkers in Dongcheng, Beijing, China.

Wang Er

WUHAN — " What do you think of that guy sitting there, across from us? He's good looking."

" Then you should go and talk to him."

“ Too bad that I am old..."

Grandpa Shen was born in 1933. He says that for the past 40 years, he's been "repackaged," a Chinese expression for having come out as gay. Before his wife died when he was 50, Grandpa Shen says he was was a "standard" straight Chinese man. After serving in the army, he began working in a factory, and dated many women and evenutually got married.

"Becoming gay is nothing special, I found it very natural." Grandpa Shen says he discovered his homosexuality at the Martyrs' Square in Wuhan, a well-known gay men's gathering place.

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Wuhan used to have different such ways for LGBTQ+ to meet: newspaper columns, riversides, public toilets, bridges and baths to name but a few. With urbanization, many of these locations have disappeared. The transformation of Martyrs' Square into a park has gradually become a place frequented by middle-aged and older gay people in Wuhan, where they play cards and chat and make friends. There are also "comrades" (Chinese slang for gay) from outside the city who come to visit.

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