There is no pride in LGBT activists disgracing a small town

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In 2020, Borderland Pride visited the community of Emo, Ontario. (pop. 1,300) to proclaim Pride Month and raise the Pride flag. In a 3-2 vote, the council rejected the proposal. It was a petty decision; Statements of pride are usually considered pro forma, and Emo’s rejection was a bad decision for a town looking to attract business and newcomers.

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To be fair, Emo only had four such requests that year, two of them from Borderland Pride. This was a far cry from the 1990s, when Hamilton and London discriminated against Pride by excluding it from similar resolutions passed for everyone else.

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If Borderlands Pride were smart, they would simply continue their celebrations, show support within the community, shame the council, and try to remove the mayor and unsympathetic councilors at the next municipal election. Instead, Emo turned to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

As Borderlands Pride highlighted in an open letter sent to the council in April, the action cost Emo taxpayers “tens of thousands of dollars” in legal fees while Emo “sought public donations to keep the lights on at his public library.” (and) accept handouts from the local food bank.” He told EMO he would agree to the settlement if the township apologized; paid Borderlands compensation (less than what was requested at the tribunal); commissioned diversity and inclusion training for its members and agreed to “adopt future Pride statements without abandoning its 2SLGBTQIA+ affirmative language.” Emo refused and instead went through a full trial.

I’m a gay man who has been fighting for LGB&T civil rights since the 1970s; The actions of Borderland Pride outrage and frighten me. What better way to destroy the public goodwill we have worked so long to achieve and fuel the populist backlash that has emerged from decades of activist abuse?

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Apparently, yes. Tribunal Judge Karen Dawson ruled on November 20 that by voting to reject the Pride Month proclamation, the town of Emo and its mayor. Harold McQuaker was discriminated against by Borderland Pride. She ordered the township to pay the organization $10,000. In addition, the mayor was ordered to pay Borderland Pride $5,000 and, along with the town’s chief executive, take a Human Rights 101 course provided by the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

The tribunal’s reasoning for its decision was equally confusing. When the township voted on whether to declare Pride, the mayor told the council, “There is no flag flying on the other side of the coin… there are no flags flying in support of straight people.” The Tribunal found that this actually accurate The statement was discriminatory because it “demonstrated a lack of understanding” of the importance of the Pride flag and “demeaned and demeaned the LGBT community of which Borderland Pride is a member…”.

The mayor’s argument that heterosexuals don’t get special recognition is widespread. In the 70’s we responded, “That’s because 365 days a year is Straight Pride Day.” But today we are regularly celebrated in everything from politics to finance to the arts, and there are more niche days in the Alphabet calendar than anyone can remember.

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Our inclusion in human rights legislation was especially important in the 20th century. We were fired, deprived of housing, expelled from the civil service and the army. We were beaten with impunity, we could not seek protection from the police, who mocked us and exposed us – and even beat us ourselves. It is these important discrimination cases that we have referred to the newly created federal and provincial human rights commissions.

Likewise, this is why Toronto’s first Pride Day proclamation in 1991 and the other civic declarations that followed were so significant. Conservative politicians and religious leaders of that time incited hatred against us. They accused us of pedophilia, scapegoated us for the AIDS pandemic, and ridiculed our death. Statements of pride signaled that we were considered valued members of the community, worthy of equal treatment and respect.

But today such symbolic support has turned into absurdity. Pride has evolved from a single day into a season, and our complaints to human rights commissions are often staggering and infuriating. Worse, even in the most outlandish cases, the process is punitive: plaintiffs are paid their costs regardless of the merits of their case, while defendants must pay their own legal bills. The message is clear: even if you are innocent, capitulate to the prosecution or suffer financial pain.

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Even more worryingly, the tribunals now often use their unelected, unaccountable and quasi-judicial power to impose Orwellian decisions. In this case, a factually accurate comment questioning special treatment for a particular group resulted in severe financial penalties against a struggling rural community, as well as the fine and forced re-education of its mayor and chief administrative officer.

Ultimately, this is about the unilateral right of an unelected, unaccountable government body to coerce speech. Government officials should not be allowed to discriminate against us, but they also should not be forced to actively support us. In the 21st century, we have full civil rights, including equal marriage and adoption. It is humiliating for our pride to run to the state when an idiot chooses to be an ass.

In my opinion, Borderland Pride shamed the LGB and T communities by trivializing our historic fight for equality. It also caused a growing and understandable backlash against us. By ruling in its favor, the Ontario Human Rights Commission lost sight of its mission, undermined public confidence in its legitimacy, and presented a counterproductive example of left-wing authoritarianism.

National Post

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