'Silence is not a solution': LGBTQ2S+ parliamentarians reflect on polarization, protest
CTV
Members of the LGBTQ2S+ community have long faced discrimination and prejudice in Canada and beyond, having to fight for job protection, access to services and basic human rights.Canada legalized same-sex marriage nearly two decades ago and the Canadian Human Rights Act has for years prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
Members of the LGBTQ2s+ community have long faced discrimination and prejudice in Canada and beyond, having to fight for job protection, access to services and basic human rights.Canada legalized same-sex marriage nearly two decades ago and the Canadian Human Rights Act has for years prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
But this year brought a heated debate over LGBTQ2S+ rights when it comes to transgender and other gender non-conforming children. Both New Brunswick and Saskatchewan brought in policies that require parental permission before using a student's preferred name or pronouns at school.
And Egale Canada, an advocacy organization for LGBTQ+ people and issues, reported more than 6,400 anti-LGBTQ2S+ protests and instances of online hate in the first three months of 2023 alone.
The Canadian Press reached out to members of the multi-partisan Canadian Pride Caucus on Parliament Hill about the past year of LGBTQ2S+ rights and discourse. Two Liberal cabinet ministers, a New Democrat MP and a senator spoke about what they are seeing and hearing in Ottawa and elsewhere, how it makes them feel and what they are doing about it.
When he was growing up, Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault (Edmonton Centre) said he did not think he would ever have a job, be loved by an "amazing partner" or work in politics let alone be named as special adviser on LGBTQ2S+ issues to the prime minister, as he was in 2016.
Despite those personal realities, he said 2023 was a hard year.
"It was a step backward in the march toward rights for LGBTQ people," he said. "We had to have a $1.5-million emergency fund just to keep Pride (events) protected."
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