The Other Press the queer issue wWVV VVVVVVVVVVVVVVY March 11, 1992 “Forces of Darkness" Block Ammendment of Human Rights Laws by Jeff Harrington OTTAWA (CUP) — An animated man ina white shirt and jeans leans over his bacon and eggs and laughs as he recounts a recent chat with his mother. “Finally, she said, ‘Darling, when are you getting married?’,” he chuckles to the woman facing him. ~ “I told her ‘When the laws change, mum, when the laws change.” A few people cock their ears and turn their heads briefly, but most of the denizens of the 24-hour for- mica phenomenon known as Mello’s restau- rant are more interested in what's on their plates. A minute or two of further eavesdropping reveals this uncommonly-happy man is rare inanother respect: heseems perfectly comfort- able discussing the fact he is gay in public. To some degree at least, he is “out,” and proud of it. Across town, Don Patterson sits behind a desk in his deserted antique store. The unoffi- cial chair of EGALE — Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere — speaks slowly and carefully. “I'm sure you're aware that there are very few people in the community who are openly gay or lesbian in the totality of their lives,” he says. “Itisa measure of the kind of discrimina- tion that continues in Canadian society that there are so few.” For five years, EGALE and similar groups across the country have been lobbying to en- trench protection for lesbians and gay men in the Charter of Rights and the Canadian Hu- man Rights Act. While it is impossible to sim- ply legislateaway homophobia, Pattersonsays the lack of legal equality often translates into matters of dollars and cents. “Getting very pragmatic, my lover has a dental plan that I can’t be included in because I’m not considered a spouse. My lover has a pension. I am not entitled to receive his pen- sion,” Patterson says. “I pay the same taxes, I want the same benefits.” DAILY DOSES OF HOSTILITY Pensions and medical and dental plans are only part of the story. Lesbians, bisexuals and gay men face barriers when immigrating or adopting children, as well as harassment when seeking employment and housing. They can be considered a security risk if they conceal their sexual orientation from the RCMP. Since 1986, 58 gay men or lesbians have left or been forced to leave the armed forces because of their homosexuality. And if they are out, a daily dose of hostility is not unusual. Because sexual orientation isn’t mentioned ineither the Charter or the Human Rights Act, people are forced to use the courts to seek redress. “There's no easy administrative process for the average person without financial means to complain as one does if there’s discrimination based on colour or religious beliefs,” says Patterson. The government has been promising change since Mar. 4, 1986, when John Crosbie, the justice minister at the time, stood up in the House of Commons and promised to take “whatever measures are necessary to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orienta- tion in relation to all areas of federal jurisdic- tion.” But despite continuing efforts by NDP MP Svend Robinson — the only openly-gay member of the House — and groups like EGALE, no laws have been changed. In fact, the federal government has consist- ently opposed peopleclaiming discrimination because they are lesbian or gay, aS in two importantrecent cases, the Mossop case on the status of same-sex couples and the Haig case challenging the Human Rights Act. Diane Kilby, president of the Association of Lesbians and Gays of Ottawa, notes the gov- ernment has always maintained that sexual orientation is implied in the Charter of Rights as a ground of prohibited discrimination. “Nevertheless, they are appealing the rul- ing (in favour of Brian Mossop) anyway,” she says. Kilby, Patterson and an estimated 2.5 mil- lion other gay Canadians are up against what Patterson calls “the forces of evil”: family and religious organizations like REAL Women, Focus on the Family, the Salvation Army, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Pen- tecostal Assemblies of Canada. These groups have sided with the govern- ment in the Mossop case, due to be heard this year by theSupreme Court of Canada. Mossop, a translator for a federal government, was denied leave to attend the funeral of his partner’s father because his partner is a man. Gwendolyn Landolt, the national vice presi- dent of REAL (Realistic, Equal, Active for Life) Women, says the country’s dependence on heterosexual families to have and raise chil- dren requires that same-sex and heterosexual families be treated differently. “Because of their contribution, they get tax benefits and tax exemptions,” she says. “Ho- mosexuals, because of their very nature, of course, cannot make this contribution, so they should not be getting benefits.” THE FABRIC OF SOCIETY Patterson rejects the idea that lesbians and _ - gay mencan’t raise children, and says that in recent years, people have begun to realize that gay people are an integral part of the family structure. “They are mothers, fathers, grandparents, children and they constitute part of the fabric of Canadian society,” he says. But the real roadblock to equality of sexual- ity has been opposition from small- and large- C conservative MPs, who have repeatedly resisted attempts at reform. “I believe there are any number of people in the Conservative Party and the government who wish to do what is morally right,” says Patterson. “But there is a small cabal of right- wing religious fundamentalists who have suc- cessfully blocked any progress on amendment.” The group of about a dozen recalcitrant PC MPs includes Don Blenkarn, Felix Holtzmann and Stan Darling, who sits on the PC caucus committee on family issues, as well as Secre- tary of State Robert de Cotret and Health and Welfare Minister Benoit Bouchard. The more zealous among the group are sometimes dubbed “the God Squad.” In October, resistance from backbenchers in the Conservative caucus scuttled the Defence Department's plan to allow lesbians and gay men in the armed forces. According to an internal Canadian Forces memo, the minister of justice (Kim Campbell) had recently “advised the Minister of National Defence (Marcel Masse) that the policy was contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that it should be revoked. The Chief of the Defence Staff john de Chastelain) also recom- mended that the policy be revoked and the Minister of National Defence has agreed.” The announcement was leaked to the me- dia, provoking the backlash that has left gay service personnel in limbo ever since. Three weeks ago, defence minister Marcel Masse told reporters that PC backbenchers were still stall- ing a cabinet decision. Masse said the final decision rests with Brian Mulroney. The same Tory backbenchers oppose long- promised amendments to the Human Rights Act. In September 1991, an Ontariojudgeruled the Act is unconstitutional because it contra- venes the Charter of ights. The government then launched an appeal of the so-called Haig case, which the Ontario Court of Appeal heard Jan. 29 in Toronto. The court is waiting for the result of a related case before the Supreme Court before making its decision. While the government appears willing to lose in court rather than make decisions some MPs wouldbeuncomfortable with, that would be an expensive way of keeping its troops happy. Prominent Toronto civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby told the Canadian Press the government is “morally reprehensible” to spend “millions of dollars” on litigation while it preaches belt-tightening. APPEALING FOR DOLLARS Ruby represents Michelle Douglas, a former lieutenant forced out of the air force because she is a lesbian. The independent Security Intelligence Review Committee ruled in Au- gust 1990 that the military’s policy banning lesbians and gay menis unconstitutional and of “no force and effect.” The Federal Court of Appeal ruled the rec- ommendations werebinding: The government appealed that decision and Douglas’ $550,000 lawsuit against the policy the justice depart- ment has already admitted is unconstitutional is scheduled to be heard in federal court in June. Bill Black, a law professor with the Human Rights Centre at the University of Ottawa, says the government has stalled long enough. “The government has been promising to change this since 1986. One has to assume there is a holdup,” says Black. “I think that the sooner that becomes unstuck the better.” While waiting for the government to keep its word, EGALE has forged links with groups seeking equality for women, aboriginal peo- ple, racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, the poor, immigrants and refu- gees. They've found they have more in com- mon than contempt for the Tory record on human rights. “There are lesbians who are disabled, gay men of colour. In each and every group there are gay and lesbian people,” says Patterson. “There is a fairly broad-based social move- ment that seeks to include as part of the Canadian family or mosaic all members of society.” The movement for sexuality equality now includes the Canadian Rights and Liberties Federation, the National Associationof Women and the Law, the Canadian Disability Rights Council, the National Action Council on the Status of Women, the Canadian Labour Con- gress, the Canadian Federationof Students, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Canadian Auto Workers. On the surface, there appears to be some sort of momentum. Max Yalden, the head of the Canadian Hu- man Rights Commission, told the Special Joint Committee on a Renewed Canada on Dec. 18 that “it is my view past time that “sexual orientation” be clearly recognized as a pro- scribed ground of discrimination” in the Char- ter of Rights and Freedoms. The Human Rights Law section of the jus- tice department is well into its overall review of the Human Rights Act, and Kim Campbell has indicated she will meet with EGALE late this month or in early March. Some funding may alsobemadeavailable for representatives of the various equality-seeking groups to get together to discuss the Act. But any recommendation of the depart- ment of justice can still be derailed by the “highly-vocal Neanderthals” in the PC caucus, as Svend Robinson has put it. In case the God Squad keeps waving its wand of power about, EGALE has a two- pronged strategy topokethegovernmentalong. The first is to pressure Kim Campbell her- self in the run up to the next election. The gay community in the justice minister’s riding of Vancouver Centre has a “fairly significant por- tion of the vote,” according to Patterson. The second tactic is to put direct pressure on Brian Mulroney through sympathetic cabinet colleagues. The theory goes that in the context of the Conservatives’ deep unpopularity anda looming election, even those opposed to ho- mosexuals might be convinced to do some- thing progressive for political reasons. As for Patterson, his name has been in the press before, but he would rather the name of his antique store not be mentioned. “I'm afraid there still are nuts out there and I don’t want my phone clogged up with reli- gious bigots. “If these people would spend more time making their own lives pure and let the rest of us get on with our lives, what a much better society we'll be,” says Patterson. “Most gays and lesbians lead lives as boring as other peo- ple. There is so much we have in common and 'so little keeping us apart.” “You could probably title the story ‘Forces of darkness once more block amendment.’ And really, they are the forces of darkness.” G ther douglas college’s autonomous student newspaper - since 1976 eS The Other Press is Douglas College's autonomous student newspaper since 1976. Being autonomous means neither the Douglas College Students’ Society or the College administration can tell the Other Press what to print. Only you, the students, can decide what goes in the paper by helping out. It means that if someone doesn't like us, they can't shut your voice down for telling the truth. We receive our funding from a student levy collected from you every semester at registration, and also from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press isa member of the Canadian University Press, a cooperative of almost 50 student newspapers from across Canada. 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