Pride Days 2003 statement, Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada
AS THE ANNUAL summer of Pride events begins, members and allies of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered communities across Canada can celebrate some important recent victories in the struggle for equality. The result of years of organizing and education by many individuals and groups, these successes reflect a growing consensus among Canadians that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is simply no longer acceptable. But there are also warning signs of a homophobic backlash by forces which insist on pushing their bigoted views.
Just a year ago, it took a major campaign by queer rights groups and the labour movement to win the right for Marc Hall to bring his boyfriend to a high school prom.
Now, the Ontario Court of Appeal has gone much further, ruling that same-sex couples have the right to civil marriage. This decision tears down one of the remaining legal barriers to formal equality rights. In the longer term, this historic victory points the way to a future socialist society, in which the choice of family forms will be freed from the economic and social pressures which help make the patriarchal nuclear family the dominant norm in capitalist society.
But this fight is not over. Last year, Parliament caved in to demands by fundamentalist groups, by voting to define marriage as "a union between a man and a woman," a privilege available only to opposite-sex couples. The Chretien Liberals adjourned the House of Commons for the summer a week early, partly to avoid dealing with the marriage issue and with Bill C-250, MP Svend Robinson's private member's bill to add sexual orientation to the included grounds under hate propaganda legislation in Canada.
Surveys show that a majority of Canadians in most provinces, especially in younger age groups, agree that marriage should be the right of all people. Bowing to this reality, the federal Liberals have decided not to appeal the Ontario ruling, instead asking the Supreme Court for a reference on the issue, pending a free vote in Parliament on changing the legal definition of marriage. Equality-supporting Canadians need to keep pressure on the government leading up to this vote, especially since fundamentalist religious groups and right-wing politicians like Harper's "Canadian" Alliance and the Alberta Tories are campaigning hard against equal access to civil marriage.
Another alarming example of bigotry flared up again this spring, around the Surrey School Board's renewed ban against three children's books which portray same-sex parents. It was obvious during public hearings in Surrey that hatred towards gays and lesbians by a small minority of "religious" activists is the driving force behind this homophobic policy.
The mainstream media rarely mentions Surrey trustee Heather Stilwell's central role in the ultra?right Christian Heritage Party. The CHP calls for the criminalization of homosexuality and lesbianism, and even endorses the Old Testament call in Leviticus for gays to be executed (www.chp.ca/partyPolicy6.htm). With such bigots in high positions, it is little wonder that violent bullying remains rampant in the education system. The results are tragic for many queer and questioning youth who simply want to attend school without fear.
Homophobia still extends far into the community, as evidenced by the gay-bashing murder of Aaron Webster in Stanley Park (for which a young suspect has finally been charged), the recent gay bathhouse raids in Calgary, the ongoing Canada Customs seizures of publications ordered by bookstores which serve the LGBT community, and the hate-filled comments by Tory MP Elsie Wayne.
This sobering reality must not be forgotten while we celebrate our important legal and political gains. In the name of "traditional family values," right wing and fundamentalist groups are serving the corporate interests which aim to destroy democratic rights, roll back gender equality, gut social programs, privatize all public assets, splinter the public school system, all in their drive for profits.
Like racism, sexism, and national chauvinism, homophobia and transphobia are weapons used by the ruling classes to divide working people. Even within the labour and people's movements more work is needed to ensure that defending the rights of LGBT members and citizens is a priority, not an afterthought.
The key to progress lies in building broad coalitions toward a genuine People's Alternative to the neoliberal agenda, based on unity between labour and the popular movements of youth and students, women, seniors, environmentalists, peace activists, farmers, aboriginal people, immigrants, the LGBT community, and many others.
Ultimately, this wider struggle can lead towards full social emancipation and genuine people's power in a future socialist Canada, where our economy will be socially owned and democratically controlled. In such a society it will finally become possible to forever eliminate all forms of exploitation, oppression, and inequality, and to defend our sovereignty and protect the environment.
(This article is from the July 1-31/2003 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)