Canada Must Stay on Guard Against Anti-LGBTQ Bigotry
Homosexuality was only removed from Canada’s Criminal Code within my lifetime
I was born in January of 1979 in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. I came into the world in the old wing of the Royal Inland Hospital, a section of the building that has since been demolished. I like to tell people I was born in a place that no longer exists (or just in a place that doesn’t exist, if I’m feeling really playful/silly).
Writing for the newspaper Kamloops This Week yesterday, Christopher Foulds points out that “Only in the summer of 1969 did Parliament begin to move homosexuality from the Criminal Code — but the sexual act remained illegal in some forms until the late 1980s.” And it wasn’t until 1987 that the “the sodomy and gross indecency laws in the Criminal Code” of Canada were repealed.
I was 8 years old in 1987.
1987 saw the birth of “The Simpsons” and “Full House.” US president Ronald Reagan delivered a speech at the Berlin Wall, “a rallying cry for the unification of Berlin.” A devastating storm in the south of England killed 23 people and 15 million trees, causing over £7 billion of damage. The Single European Act (SEA) came into effect, a huge step toward the formation of the European Union (EU). Aretha Franklin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The first “Final Fantasy” game was released in Japan.
And Canada finally struck the sodomy and gross indecency laws from the Criminal Code in 1987.
It wasn’t until 2005 that same-sex marriage became legal across Canada (though Ontario and British Columbia beat the rest of the country to the punch in 2003).
I remember when the US Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. One of my more conservative Canadian friends was acting like it was the end of the world, and I told her, “You know that Canada has had marriage equality for 10 years and it hasn’t affected your life at all.” She was stunned. She hadn’t even realized same-sex marriage was legal in Canada.
While LGBTQ+ equality may have felt settled in the last few years, this is all still new and the anti-LGBTQ+ faction have not gone away. We see a backlash right now in the US, and we cannot be apathetic. Homophobia is growing in Canada too.
I work in a very diverse, inclusive, LGBTQ+ friendly school division in Canada, but this is not the case in all of the country. In 2021, a survey showed that 64% of LGBTQ+ youth in Canada don’t feel safe in schools.
In June of 2022 a Canadian teen was arrested in Ontario for posting a threat online against a Florida Pride event.
Just this month, in August 2022, a rainbow picnic table at a park in Dresden, Ontario was vandalized. Twice. Anti-LGBTQ+ messages such as “I hate gays” were found among the damage.
Canada is known for our “niceness” and progressivity. We cannot allow bigots to destroy everything we’ve gained. If that requires us to be not “nice” then so be it. We must continue to move forward, not go back. We must stand on guard.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. — excerpt from “O Canada” lyrics
Esther learned to read when she was four years old, and began writing shortly thereafter. She is a queer Christian poet, crafting with words to create art and music.
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