On Politics — Chris Slightholme, DSU Pride Collective Volunteer To all of you who attended the Federal Election 2006 All-Candidates Forums at Douglas College, I’m hoping that some of you are as disgusted as I am.at what some of the candidates had to say about queer and women’s issues. It looks like there will always be a handful of can- didates who'd like nothing more than the opportunity to turn back the clock on basic human rights. Marc Dalton, Conservative candidate for the Burnaby- New Westminster riding, stated that he supported a free vote on the same-sex marriage issue, adding that he per- sonally supported the traditional definition of marriage. Really? Do you mean the traditional definition that a woman is nothing more than her husband’s chattel, or personal property? He also stated that he is pro-life, or anti-choice. So, he would support turning back the clock on equal rights for the queer community, and doesn’t think women should have the right to choose what’s best for their own bodies. : It’s always the same old right-wing, straight, white, able-bodied men that support tradition or traditional val- ues, the same kind of tradition that gave them power over women, people of colour, the poor and working poor, and the queer community. The thought of that man getting into power scares the bejeezus out of me. Dick Estey, Independent candidate for the New Westminster-Coquitlam riding was, believe it or not, a lit- tle less enlightened than Dalton. His only contribution to the debate, other than admitting time and time again that he hadn’t educated himself about the issues of most con- cern to the public, was that “politically correct” legisla- tion and policies should not be supported. He used legis- lation to address Aboriginal issues as an example, adding that these were “racist to white people.” The students in the audience were so shocked, we couldn’t recover in time to boo the bastard. Okay Dick, you’ve shown me how wrong we all are. It’s okay to take indigenous peo- ple’s land away, lock them up in residential schools or reserves, and pervert their culture, language, and customs, but God forbid we make weak efforts to correct past wrongs by introducing legislation to increase funding, etc. for the same people we robbed, violated, and persecuted. But wait, it actually got worse at the All Candidates Forum for the Westwood-Port Moody-Port Coquitlam Riding at the David Lam Campus last Thursday. Independent candidate Greg Watrich, after telling the crowd why it should value traditional marriage and fami- lies to keep the birth rate up and sustain our “culture,” decided to push it further with a rant about how Bill C- 250 was “incompetent legislation” that only served to create a “hierarchy of rights” by hampering freedom of expression. Gee, I guess you're right Greg; we should all be free to hate and engage in acts of senseless violence, only to create a hierarchy of sub-class humans. How does that kind of thinking support his statement that society has to “protect what we already have?” It’s people like Estey and Watrich who make the Conservative party look like Socialists in comparison. Are these men so scared to lose the pathetic illusion of control they have acquired that they would verbally attack their own family and friends let alone the public they are trying to represent? Have they not noticed that Canadians have realized that the best way to make this country great is to dispose of old ideas and make all Canadians, whether straight, queer, man, and/or woman truly equal? So, I urge all of you to cast your future votes for a party that is willing to continue the fight to make all Canadians equal, without fear of violence, harassment, intimidation, and hate. On Cowardice and Hatred Chris Slightholme, DSU Pride Collective Volunteer On my way to the Pride Resource Centre at the Students’ Union Building SUB, I got to thinking, who would elect such stupid, hateful, and downright cowardly people? When I entered the SUB and saw that the Pride Collective’s posters had been vandalized again, it hit me. Douglas College students would elect such stupid, hateful, and cowardly people. In fact, that’s exactly what we did in March 2005, and that’s exactly what’s in store for us dur- ing the DSU election this March if we don’t pull our heads out of our asses, stop taking bribes like free beer (which hurts all students in the long run as it takes away from revenue that is supposed to go towards DSU cam- paigns and services) and after-hours pool and arcade games with select elected representatives, and start asking questions about why the DSU’s campaigns, services, and finances have all gone to shit. And really, what exactly do our representatives do with their time and our money? The problem is, most of them can’t answer that question honestly. You may wonder why I would link vandalized Pride Collective posters to our elected representatives at the DSU. Well, friends, I was just getting to that. Homophobia and sundry homophobic acts against the Pride Collective have intensified in the SUB since last summer. Posters, stickers and pamphlets are slashed, torn off of walls, defaced, and vandalized on a regular basis (vandalism to Pride Collective materials on campus, how- ever, has decreased). Gay individuals at the DSU’s pub nights are routinely bullied, harassed, and intimidated or thrown out for no reason. The DSU’s Pride Liaison himself is so frustrated, that he has threatened to resign, leaving the Pride Collective without representation on the DSU’s Board of Directors, or Representative Committee. The Douglas College queer community will essentially lose our voice and visibility with the same organization we pay dues to every semester to represent us. It’s getting so bad that homophobia in the SUB has become a standing item on the agenda for Pride Collective meetings. When homophobia in the SUB was first brought up at Pride Collective meetings, we all hoped that it was ran- dom acts by random people who were uncomfortable with queer-positive materials and space. Boy, were we ever wrong. On several occasions, members of the Pride Collective have witnessed the same group of people, all elected DSU representatives, or one DSU representative with his friends, deface Pride materials or make derogato- ry comments about the DSU’s Pride Liaison and other queers on campus. What has the response been? Deny, deny, deny. That, or sending one of their people out to suck up to Pride Collective members to find out if we’re going to impeach them or not. Impeach you? Why both- er? We'd rather go to the police and press charges, or put in a formal complaint with the Human Rights Commission. ; With the DSU’s election rearing its ugly head in the near future, I can only imagine that this group of repre- sentatives responsible for fueling and encouraging hate in a student-owned building would be cowardly enough to continue to deny allegations and make cheap efforts to win the queer vote, rather than take proactive measures to live up to what they say they are on paper and in poli- cy. If you’re a homophobe and a coward, I can think of other organizations that would appreciate your efforts much better. Why not run as an Independent candidate in the next municipal, provincial, or federal election, or sign up for membership with the KKK, and get the fuck out of my organization? Queers may seem like easy tar- gets to you, but we’ve fought and won larger battles. We're ready to take you on, and we’re going to win. So to these people who are so against having queers and queer events on campus that you would vandalize or try to sabotage our events think of this...one in ten peo- ple is queer! So maybe you should be asking yourselves, “Who close to me is queer, and what can I do to support them?” rather than “How many free beers and manipula- tive stunts will it take to win the queer vote at Douglas College?”