GLBT Issues
What's New
Apr. 18, 2008
STATEMENT - May 17th International Day Against Homophobia
(TORONTO) – May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia. It is a day of action, awareness and affirmation of the fundamental rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-identified (LGBT) people and their families to live their lives – Out and Proud. On this Day the Ontario Federation of Labour is proud to stand in solidarity solidly in opposition to homophobia and transphobia.
The OFL endorses the 2008 campaign that highlights health care as a major issue for the LGBT community. We support the call for health services which are free of discrimination. We also firmly believe that supporting a public health care and pharmacare system is the best way to ensure that discrimination does not exist in the system. Here’s why:
-
Public health care and accountability are key. LGBT people historically have faced discrimination in access and provision of health care services. Activists from LGBT communities and unionized health care workers have challenged health care institutions to change their policies and practices and provide care that is free from prejudice and discrimination.
-
Public control of health care services and accountability through democratic processes is the best option for the LGBT community to continue to demand fair and equal treatment. It is also the best option for members of the disability rights, women’s, Aboriginal and people of colour communities.
-
The LGBT community has a keen interest in medical research and policy development. We need publicly accountable institutions which can be pressured into doing the necessary and critical research on LGBT health care concerns. Private institutions are not likely to invest in research that does not meet their religious/personal/political/financial/pocket book criteria. Profit-driven institutions, like drug companies, may be much more interested in the research of expensive drug therapies for people with HIV/AIDS than into research to find a cure. There is no profit in a cure.
-
Many members of the LGBT community are health care workers. The public health care system is currently highly unionized and has provided relatively good, secure, well-paid jobs. Unions helped win protection for workers against discrimination and benefits for the partners of LGBT workers.
-
Privatization of the health care system is a serious threat to the LGBT community. Already privatization has caused the de-listing of needed health care services. Our health care system no longer covers sex reassignment surgery, hormone treatments, artificial insemination and changes to coverage for drugs and other supplementary therapies have been devastating for the LGBT community.
-
Private, extended health care plans are not the answer. Private health care insurance means meeting the private insurer’s requirements therefore ‘pre-existing conditions’ such as being HIV positive will disqualify you from coverage. Private insurance costs a lot of extra money. The LGBT community, like everyone else, doesn’t have the money to pay for private coverage and care.
- For-profit, private institutions, privately controlled and operated are much less receptive to community needs and community voices. How will they be held accountable if they refuse to care for members of the LGBT community on the grounds of moral or religious beliefs? Access to health care is a basic human right and no one should have to go shopping for health care services to find places where they feel safe.
-
Approximately 80% of health care providers are women. They bear the heaviest burden of privatization when budgets are cut, wages are reduced and their work is de-skilled. When our public health care institutions are downsized the extra burden of care falls mostly on women.
-
Private, for-profit institutions result in lower wages and benefits, reduced services and the application of private sector management techniques which effectively de-skill workers and contradict the ethics of care which guide public health care workers. Profit, not care is the watchword of privatization.
In 2008 LGBT people are campaigning to preserve and expand public health care in Canada. The LGBT community wants everyone to write your elected representatives and Premiers and insist that health care dollars be spent on public, not-for-profit health care. Explain why public access to non-profit health care meets the needs of the LGBT community.
It’s time to make the voices and needs of LGBT communities heard. Health care is a human right. Let’s make sure the LGBT community gets respectful, accessible care through a strong public health care system.
More information:
Dana Boettger
OFL communications
416.443.7665 (direct)
Wayne Samuelson
OFL President
416.571.7408 (cellular)
Dec. 12, 2007
Siksay Introduces Bill to Add Gender Identity and Expression to Hate Provisions of the Criminal Code
OTTAWA - NDP MP Bill Siksay (Burnaby-Douglas) introduced a Bill in the House of Commons today that would add gender identity and gender expression as distinguishing characteristics protected under the hate propaganda section of the Criminal Code. The Bill also adds gender identity and expression as aggravating factors to be considered at the time of sentencing an offender.
“Transgender and transsexual people are regularly victims of abuse, harassment and physical violence”, said Siksay, “this Bill will ensure that transphobic violence against transgender and transsexual people is clearly identified as a hate crime.”
Siksay’s Bill addresses the lack of explicit protection for transsexual and transgender people under the current hate provisions of the Criminal Code. It will also allow judges to take into account whether crimes committed were motivated by hatred of transgender or transsexual people when they are determining the sentence of an offender.
“I believe the inclusion of gender identity and expression in the hate provisions and the sentencing provisions in the Criminal Code will send a strong signal that targeting people for their gender identity or expression will not be tolerated in Canada,” said Siksay.
Siksay also has tabled another Private Member’s Bill (C-326), which would add gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act.
Siksay is the NDP spokesperson for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Transsexual Issues.
For more information, please contact:
Bill Siksay, MP - 613-996-5597.
Oct. 11, 2007
National Coming Out Day – October 11
October 11 is a day that focuses on living openly and honestly for the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, and Transgendered (GLBT) communities.
The term “in the closet”, refers to members of the GLBT communities who hide their sexual orientation and identities from the people around them for fear of rejection and reprisal.
“Coming Out” therefore is a way to end that silence, to stand up and claim our rights as human beings for dignity and respect through self-declaration.
GLBT rights would not be what they are today in Canada if it were not for activists standing up and challenging the status quo, through increased visibility and demonstrating that our GLBT communities occupy and contribute to every facet of society.
National Coming Out Day is celebrated worldwide, with it’s inception in 1988, a year after the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, which saw over 1 million people demonstrate.
Please celebrate this day and continue our progression to full equality. Hiding is not the answer; if we want equality we cannot have an invisible movement.
Aug. 30, 2007
EGALE Canada
Queering the Vote - “Q” marks the spot
Egale Canada’s Political CAMP (Community Advocates Meeting Politicians)
It’s a DEBATE on queer issues – with the leaders of the four provincial parties – Liberals, Tories, NDP and Green.
A coalition of queer organizations has come together to raise the issues that affect our community. The fantabulous Elvira Kurt will moderate the evening.
Sunday, September 9, 2007 – 7 PMto 9 PM
Innis Town Hall, U of Toronto Campus, 2 Sussex, Toronto
Coalition members include:
ACT (The AIDS Committee of Toronto, The AIDS Committee of Ottawa, AIDS Thunder Bay, CAMH Rainbow Services, Capital Xtra, The Church Wellesley Village BIA, Cornwall Pride, EquIP, Queen’s University, The 519 Community Centre, GayGuideToronto.com, Halton LGBTQ Youth Support, The Inside Out Toronto Gay and Lesbian Film and Vide Festival, Jer’s Vision, Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative, Kulanu: Toronto’s Jewish LGBTQ Group, The Ontario Bar Association’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Section, The Ontario Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, OUT TV, PFLAG Cornwall, PFLAG Toronto, Pink Triangle Services, Pride Toronto, Proud FM, Salaam: Queer Muslim Community, Sherbourne Health Centre’s LGBTT Program, SOY: Supporting Our Youth, Xtra Toronto, and Youth Line
For more details, please contact EGALE Canada’s executive director at 1-888-204-777 helen_kennedy@egale.ca
June 6, 2007
JUNE - PRIDE MONTH
The month of June is known as Pride Month, a time of remembrance, empowerment, solidarity, and celebration of diversity.
Throughout Canada (and many parts of the world), Pride festivities are held with parades, dances, festivals, and other events to educate and express to the public the uniqueness and complexity of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, and Transgendered (GLBT) communities.
These festivities are a means of claiming space in a public sphere to send the message that GLBT communities deserve the same rights as everyone else and should be free to live their own lives, void of judgment or hate.
The month of Pride came about after the Stonewall Rebellion on June 28, 1969. A violent police raid at the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan (a local gay bar), on this day resulted in an uprising by patrons and others in the community. The Stonewall Rebellion is cited by many as the beginning of the modern day gay movement.
The GLBT communities deal with many social challenges in everyday life. Pride month helps to express to the larger public the diverse sexual and gender identities, histories, cultures, and families of these communities so that they are better understood, supported and accepted.
On behalf of the Regional Executive Vice-President of Ontario and the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, and Transgendered Ontario Council Representative, we would like to invite all PSAC members to attend a Pride event in your community.
Pride celebrates freedom of expression, acceptance of lifestyles and welcoming of diversity and we encourage all Ontario PSAC Members to come out and celebrate with their Sisters and Brothers to the events listed below.
In Solidarity and Pride,
Gerry Halabecki
Regional Executive Vice-President, Ontario
Public Service Alliance of Canada
Karen Church
GLBT Ontario Council Representative
Public Service Alliance of Canada
Pride Events -
Toronto - June 15-24, 2007 www.pridetoronto.com
Windsor - July 23-29, 2007 www.windsorpride.com
London - July 19-29, 2007 www.pridelondon.ca
Hamilton - June 9-17, 2007 www.hamiltonpride.com
 |
Artist Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag by borrowing symbolism from the hippie movement and black civil rights movement. Each color of the flag does have a meaning and they are as follows: Red for life, Orange for healing, Yellow for sun, Green for serenity with nature, Turquoise for art, Indigo for harmony, and Violet for spirit. |
May 17, 2007
National Day Against Homophobia – May 17th
The PSAC is proud to commemorate May 17th as the National Day Against Homophobia with the broader labour movement, our partners in the community, coalitions such as EGALE and la Fondation Émergence and also our members within our union. Details.
April 13, 2007
2007 PSAC Pride Conference
More than one hundred PSAC members met in Vancouver from March 30 to April 1 for the second PSAC PRIDE Conference. It was a success. The delegates elected their representatives to the PSAC Equal Opportunity Committee, they passed resolutions to make the PSAC a more inclusive union and they discussed the many issues they face everyday in their places of work and communities. Details and pictures.
March 20, 2007
Canada Revenue Agency – A Diverse and Inclusive Workplace
The CRA's Human Resources Branch now offers a website dedicated to the subject of diversity: http://infozone/english/r2732472/ec-ce/dvrst/index-e.asp, which brings together key resources on diversity and will feature the GLBT publication.
Please Click Here to Read the Memorandum [pdf] [word]
The CRA has also released a publication
entitled “Canada Revenue Agency - A Diverse and Inclusive Workplace – Toward a Better Understanding of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, and Transgendered (GLBT) Persons in the Workplace” .
[Click Here to Read the full publication]
Dec. 1, 2006
Equal Marriage
Prime Minister Harper has been threatening to re-open the debate on Equal Marriage by calling a free vote on Bill C-38, the Civil Marriage Act. It is anticipated that Mr. Harper will call this vote in early December, 2006 before Parliament rises for the holidays.
PSAC is strongly committed to human rights and we need to tell our MPs to vote NO to re-opening this debate.
- We support the Civil Marriage Act, a law that confirms that same-sex couples are equal in value and equal in law.
- More than 10,000 same-sex marriages have taken place in Canada since Bill C-38 was passed in July, 2005. This issue must not be re-opened for debate.
- We must tell our MPs that the issue of same-sex marriage is a human rights issue and we want them to vote against re-opening the Equal Marriage debate.
It is our collective responsibility as leaders to educate and mobilize our Union Sisters and Brothers and communities around these important issues.
Join your Area Councils, Regional Women’s Committees, and Regional Equity Committees in protecting the rights that we have fought so hard to achieve. Our MPs are elected to represent us and we need to tell them how we as PSAC members want to be represented.Oct. 2, 2006
HARPER DELAYS RE-OPENING VOTE AGAIN
Delay requested by equality opponents
(OTTAWA – Sept 27, 2006 ) Before Parliament resumed for the fall session, it was widely reported that a vote on Mr. Harper's motion to re-open the divisive equal marriage debate would take place in early October. However, as Parliament resumed, Mr. Harper privately told his caucus that the vote would be delayed until just before Christmas.
"We are calling Mr. Harper out on this delay," said Laurie Arron, National Coordinator of Canadians for Equal Marriage. "We know that opponents of equal marriage have asked for a delay, because they know the motion will be defeated and that after the vote Mr. Harper will have to admit that the issue is settled."
"This is a cloud hanging over the heads of LGBT people," Mr. Arron continued. "It's unfair to make us wait another three months on this issue. Canadians want to move on. It's time for Mr. Harper to get on with the vote, rather than seeking to please the religious right."
Polls have consistently shown that two-thirds of Canadians are against re-opening the divisive equal marriage debate. (See http://www.equal-marriage.ca/resource.php?id=514.)
Over 10,000 same-sex couples have been married in Canada in the over three years since Ontario first began issuing marriage them licences. (See http://www.equal-marriage.ca/resource.php?id=510.)
Sept. 19, 2006
ACTION ALERT: MARRIAGE VOTE IMMINENT!!
The fall session of Parliament begins today. That means we're in the home stretch leading to a vote to re-open the divisive equal marriage debate, which Prime Minister Harper has promised will take place this fall.
Please go to www.equal-marriage.ca/election.php and contact your MP or all MPs. Our action website makes it simple. You can also find your MP's phone number. A phone call is worth 100 e-mails! Phone calls really get noticed, and all you have to say is something like "I support equal marriage and urge you to vote against re-opening this divisive debate. Equal marriage hasn't hurt anyone. It's time to move on."
With so much at stake, we must ensure that this fall MPs hear not only from equal marriage opponents, but from supporters as well. Canadians for Equal Marriage (CEM) will be meeting with MPs to confirm their support and address any concerns they may have. We will also make our voices heard in the media. It's equally important that this fall MPs hear from constituents who oppose re-opening. If they only hear from equality opponents, they may vote based on political pressure rather than their conscience.
Please visit www.equal-marriage.ca/election.php today to e-mail or call your MP. Of course, you shouldn't stop there. Please take all four of our action steps, including making a donation to Canadians for Equal Marriage.
August 3, 2006
1st World Outgames
Nearly 2,000 delegates from more than 100 countries travelled to Montréal on Wednesday July 26, 2006 to attend the largest human-rights conference on issues of interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) individuals.
Legal scholars, judges, activists, researchers, rights advocates, academics, Union representatives and journalists are among those who gathered for the four-day International Conference on LGBT Human Rights, which is tied to the 1st World Outgames.
"The large number of delegates coming from all over the globe will undoubtedly provide new contacts, new impulses and new bridges to enhance the vitally needed international work," said Radio Sweden broadcaster Bill Schiller.
Keynote speakers at the conference include Alice Nkom, a lawyer who is defending 11 men imprisoned for being gay in Cameroon; Walter Schubert, founder of the Gay Financial Network and the first openly gay member of the New York Stock Exchange; Ashok Row Kavi, HIV activist and founder of Bombay Dost, India's first registered gay magazine; and Georgina Beyer, the world's first transsexual Member of Parliament from New Zealand.
There were 200 workshops with topics such as Transgender People in the Workplace, Real and Perceived Barriers to Being Out in Pro Sports, Public Executions in Iran: What Can We Do?, Challenging Anti-Sodomy Laws in the South and Equality and Equity in Zimbabwe.
"I feel that many, in North America particularly, don't have any idea about what people go through in developing countries - how their sexuality plays such a huge role is subjugating them even further than the poverty, ethnicity, class and other factors dictate," said Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, co-secretary of the Brussels-based International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), in the Gazette report.
Montreal decided to start the Outgame after a disagreement between local organisers and the Federation of Gay Games, which the city was originally set to host. The Gay Games were later handed to Chicago.
July 17, 2006
PSAC Marches with PRIDE in 2006
June 5, 2006
Harper Announces Fall Vote:
Why Won't He Move On?
On Friday, June 2, Stephen Harper announced
(http://www.equal-marriage.ca/resource.php?id=506) he will hold a
vote in the fall on whether to re-open the divisive equal marriage
debate. This announcement comes on the heels of many Conservative MPs
saying they consider the matter settled.
(http://www.equal-marriage.ca/resource.php?id=507)
Canadians believe this issue is settled, and we think Mr. Harper should
move on. However, if he insists on having a vote, he should do it before
summer and not delay it until the fall - as the religious right wants.
There's still plenty of time before MPs break for the summer to have
this vote. It takes less than a day of Parliament's time to debate and
vote on a motion.
Mr. Harper's announcement comes as equality opponents are furiously lobbying MPs. The Defend Marriage Coalition, an alliance of 12 anti-equality organizations, booked one of the biggest rooms on Parliament Hill for a recent multi-group lobby day. On June 5, the newly-formed Institute of Marriage and Family Canada is organizing a seminar for MPs called "Canadian Marriage Policy: A Tragedy for Children."
The Defend Marriage Coalition told Parliament's newspaper,
(http://www.equal-marriage.ca/resource.php?id=505) The Hill Times, that
it is "mobilizing congregations and constituents during the summer" to
spread this message to MPs: equal marriage hurts children. We need MPs
to hear the truth: Equal marriage strengthens families and
relationships.
Join the PSAC group in the Toronto PRIDE Parade on Sunday June 25,
2006.
All PSAC members, including Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered,
Queer, Questioning and all our allies are invited to join the Toronto
Labour Council in marching with labour folks at Toronto's Pride march.
Staging for the parade starts at noon on Rosedale Valley Road. The
parade is scheduled to start at 2:00pm.
Dig out your fabulous clothes and bring sun screen and water.
The Toronto and York Region Labour Council has put in the application
for a Labour Contingent.
Last year some unions marched together! But help us make it a huge
group with all unions this year.
The hotel workers from UNITE HERE have requested to lead the contigent
because of their campaign with the Toronto hotels at which many of the
participants will be staying.
Watch this location for more details as they become available.
http://www.pridetoronto.com/parade/index.htm
John Ross
PSAC Ontario Council Representative for
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Members
Box 325
Hagersville, ON N0A 1H0
(905) 768-3756
June 1, 2006
Ignore Sex Survey, Union Tells Teachers
The Halifax Regional School Board will ask teachers to list their sexual orientation in a survey measuring diversity in its schools.
The survey, which will be distributed Thursday, contains the question, "Are you heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian?" The school board expects its teachers to sign the survey once it's completed.
However, respondents have the option of refusing to answer some questions. "This is really about wanting to understand our workforce," said board spokeswoman Shaune MacKinlay. "We understand that there could be some reluctance on some people's part to do this."
Just weeks ago, the Halifax school board was ordered to apologize to a teacher who said she was falsely accused of having a relationship with a student because she was labelled a lesbian. A human rights board found Lindsay Willow, a teacher at Halifax West High School, was discriminated against by her principal, a fellow teacher and the school board.
The Nova Scotia Teachers Union has been reluctant to support the survey since it was first proposed last fall. "We don't know how knowing the sexuality of a teacher will help them in their hiring purposes," said union president Mary-Lou Donnelly. Donnelly also worries about the confidentiality of the survey answers. She said she suggested the school board collect the information anonymously, but so far the board has refused.
With only two days to go before teachers get the survey, Donnelly is unsure about how to advise union members to respond. School board officials say no one will be penalized for leaving questions unanswered.
See Related Article:
Halifax teacher wins human-rights fight
April 27, 2006
Human Rights Now Only Available In Ontario If You Can Afford It
(TORONTO) - "Human Rights legislation introduced in the Ontario legislature yesterday will only make matters worse for the very people the Commission was set up to help," said Terry Downey, executive vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.
"Under the guise of 'direct access' to a Human Rights Tribunal this legislation only allows access to a court - not justice," Downey said. "This is privatization of a publicly funded human rights system. These amendments to the Code serve to Americanize the system - just like the government's plans to privatize Ontario's health care."
"The fundamental role of any Human Rights system is to make it as completely accessible as possible to all people who have a complaint. The Legislation before the House will do no such thing. It takes away previously guaranteed rights to free resources that include investigation, mediation and legal support. This Legislation even allows the Tribunal to charge user fees," Downey said. "If you're wealthy enough to afford a lawyer, your case will probably get to the Tribunal - otherwise - forget it."
"Under this model the Tribunal becomes the investigator, the Judge, the Jury and the ultimate decision-maker in deciding if a case should move forward. The Tribunal has the final say - there is no appeal.
"We are once again calling on the government to rethink this legislation and hold broad extensive public hearings. Human rights and justice are on the chopping block in Ontario. This is a crisis. We're asking the government to slow down, to reconsider and to talk to the people in the province.Support Equal Marriage
In July 2005, the PSAC stood proud alongside the majority of Canadians when Parliament proclaimed that same-sex couples are equal in value and equal in law.
This meant that after years of debate and unanimous rulings by courts in 8 provinces and the Yukon , equal marriage became the law of the land.
This right is now being threatened. Prime Minister Harper insists there will be a vote on rolling back equality.
The PSAC will continue to support the campaign "Canadians for Equal Marriage" (CEM) and encourages members to visit the CEM website and get involved in the actions to make a difference in the upcoming vote in Parliament.
Go to: www.equal-marriage.ca
News
- Urgent Appeal: An equal marriage wake-up call! [pdf] [word]
- Egale Listservs Back Online
- Getting Away With Murder
- CLC Conference
- Senate Approves Same Sex Bill
- Senate Approves Second Reading Of Bill