Homophobia In Canada

In 1988 the “American Republican President Ronald Reagan...[Authorized] all four of the court’s major gay rights ruling” (Reuters,2015). This is when America noticed that everyone should be given equal rights regardless of their orientation. Shortly after this proposal gay marriage had become legalized in 12 American states, however, 36 states are still banning gay marriage (Weese,2013).In 2010 American action, President Obama “signed a law allowing gays to serve openly in the U.S military(Reuters,2015).This step occurred in Canada many years ago as well as equality for the all so many smaller actions have been taken to end hate crime. In Canada, Regina Saskatchewan Police Services have created a Report Homophobic Violence, Period (RHVP) training seminar, with hopes to eliminate hate crime towards the LGBTQ community (Hamelin, pg.A.4). This program not only aims to educate the authority system about hate crime towards LGBTQ communities but it also informs the police services of positive stigmas to refer to. Programs similar to the Saskatchewan training seminar should be created so that the severity of hate crime offences towards the LGBTQ are acknowledge. In Canada, “Vancouver reported the highest proportion of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation (26%)” (Dowden, 2012).In 2009“74 per cent of hate crimes …were motivated by sexual orientation, with 63 per cent resulting in injury (Dowden, 2012). In recent hate crime studies a decrease in statistic shows that only “16% of motivated hate crimes…accounted for sexual orientation” (Dowden, 2012). But 65% of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were violent” (Dowden, 2012). This shows that Canada is in fact taking an initiative to end the discrimination against the LGBTQ community but not taking in counter of the severity in which these cases are causing. In addition to hate crime statistics for the

Homonationalism is a dominant discourse constituted by Professor Jasbir Puar, which refers to the integration of homosexual identities into the fold of the nation-state. It refers to the assimilation and normalization of the LGBTQ community to regulate the mainstream people. In other words, homonationalism operates in the Canadian context to normalize the racialized queer communities, through rights-based discourses, i.e. the right to citizenship through marriage, military and public service positions etc. Over the past few years, gay and lesbian individuals and queer communities have been discursively produced, and evolved as a result of dominant understandings. These understandings intersect between race, gender, sexuality, and queerness

In 2013, nearly 200 reported cases of sexual orientation-based hate crimes were reported in Canada; of those crimes, 66% involved violence (Watson, 2015). Scott Jones, a young homosexual man was the victim of one of these attacks. The brutal attack rendered him paralyzed. Through the support of family and friends, he was able to collaborate with them to create “Don’t be afraid” in an effort to draw awareness to LBGT violence and help promote acceptance (Jones, 2015). He is able to provide insight through his experiences in the healthcare system such as the roles and collaboration used in his care, as well as being inspirational.

EGALE Canada Human Rights Trust, is Canada’s only national charity that advocates LGBT human rights in Canada. EGALE released in 2011 the First Report on the National Climate Survey on homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Canadian schools, that assessed the opinions of 3700 students (LGBT and non-LGBT) all over Canada (Taylor et al. 2011). The survey began in 2007 and concluded in 2009 (Taylor et al. 2011). The report’s results proved that the two most unsafe spaces for LGBT students were physical education change rooms and washrooms (Taylor et al. 2011). In fact, 43% of LGBT students thought their school washrooms were unsafe, 41% of students with LGBT parents thought the washrooms at their schools were unsafe and 28% of Non-LGBT students agreed (Taylor et al. 2011).

Homophobia has been an uprising issue since the 80s, and it needs to be stopped before it gets more out of hand. Homophobia has been the motive behind various crimes; in just the US alone. One of the various crimes was the Pulse Club shooting in Orlando.(Attaiah) wrote after an interview with the shooter's father, “Mateenn(shooter) had seen two men kissing and was instantly enraged by what he saw.” The fact that someone's sexual preference is the cause of a mass shooting shows how homophobia is a major problem here in the US. Another issue with homophobia is that it is driving a vast amount of teens to suicide. Suicide rates have increased drastically for members of the LGBTQ community. (WONG) “Suicide rates amongst gay youths are devastating. With suicide becoming a far too common way “out” of unbearable homophobic condition.” Not only suicide in general, but there has been a trend of gay youths killing themselves because it is the only way “out”. Fortunately, a man by the name of Dan Savage is trying to help with that. He has created a project by the name of “It gets better project” which is for gay, lesbian, or Transgenders to have a “safe place”.

This essay will examine Canada’s Human Rights record since 1914 through the reactions of the Canadian government and Canadian peoples. From the example of the government reaction to the LGBTQ community through 1910 to today, one can see Canada’s human rights record through domestic policies that both excluded and later included those of differing sexualities. From the example of the Canadian people’s attitude to the LGBTQ community through 1910 to today, one can see Canada’s human rights record through social attitudes that both excluded and later included those of differing sexualities. From the example of employer’s reaction to the LGBTQ community through 1910 to today, one can see the economic impact of Canada’s human rights record

Invention is the greatest idea of our time. Whether it is medical, scientific, social, or mechanical, a new invention of the day seems to be part of our everyday lives. Homosexuality is really no different. It may not be your everyday invention, but it clearly is and people throughout time to try and identify the first “known homosexual” in time. Some people wanted this new idea of homosexuality to just go away, but as time has gone on, it will not be going away anytime soon. It is getting to be more prominent in society and this paper takes the stand that in Canada especially, homosexuality is not seen by society overall as something different. Of course it is still not

Throughout history, society’s views of homosexuality and of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer or questioning (LGBTQ) have changed. These views have changed how the members of this community feel about their personal identity as a whole. Over the last ten years, homosexuality and the LGBTQ community have become more accepted in society. In fact, a recent victory for the LGBTQ community occurred in June of 2015 when gay marriage become legalized in all fifty states. Despite the immense torture that members of the LGBTQ have received over decades, they are slowly becoming more accepted in today’s society. As society begins to become more tolerant with different ideals, the new and younger generations will continue to become more accepting of the people who identify as members of the LGBTQ community. These members will become more comfortable in their own skin and be allowed the same opportunities so other members of society.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, LGBT people were vastly discriminated against. For many years, homosexuality was criminalized and during this time, Britain possessed an enormous amount of power over Canadian policy. Due to this, it was extremely difficult for Canada to change its policy regarding gay culture as Britain wouldn’t see to it. For countless years, homosexuality in

There are many religious organizations that are against homosexuality; however, the separation of church and government still exists and that makes an argument discretionary in terms of legality. Since Canada was not, in any sense, founded on Christian religion we should not tie Christian beliefs to our government. Citizens should not expect their government to express and defined Christian beliefs. As a Christian, I may not be a strong believer but I believe that there should be a great distance between the church and the government because I do not want others to be governed by laws who does not believe in religiously and there are many religions than just Christianity that have different beliefs and values. When it comes to homosexuality,

Acts of homophobia are an everyday occurrence in American schools. Sometimes acts of homophobia are very overt such as bullying or committing violence against a person you know or perceive to be a homosexual, but more often acts of homophobia are more subvert, comments, looks and body language that is exhibited around people believed to be homosexual. There are also times when homophobia maybe unintentional, such as assuming that all couples at a dance are going to be heterosexual and consciously or unconsciously allowing there to be a double standard on how same sex and hetero

Families were worried that if their child was exposed to homosexuality, or were themselves gay, that their morals would be tarnished and they would embark towards promiscuous behaviour. Books were given to teens providing advice on how to reach “normality”. They were trying to scare kids into believing that heterosexuality was the only option and anything otherwise was not normal. They also wanted to guilt the children into believing that being gay would not only ostracize yourself, but would also shame your family. Families would tell their children that they needed to be heterosexual to defend Canada. They would also use examples from Canadian society as per what would happen if they did end up gay. Examples like how the

​Canada is often seen as a leader in the gay rights movement and it has a long history of providing rights to those that identify as homosexual (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016; Cotler, 2015). As far back as 1969, Prime Minister Trudeau passed Bill C-150 which amended the Criminal Code to decriminalize “gross indecency” and “buggery”; if committed between two consenting adults if they are over 21 (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016). The Code was further amended to drop the age of consent for anal sex from 18 and 14 for other sexual activity and it was recognized that a higher age for consent of anal sex was unconstitutional (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016). Since then there have been many changes to the political and social system in Canada to be able to improve the rights not only individuals whom are part of the LGBTQ community, but also for those whom are in same sex relationships (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016). As of 2005, same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada; however, there is still debate of whether or not same-sex legalization has legitimized same-sex partnerships within society (Colter, 2015). Many cases that have come before the court regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriages have argued that the actions of society are a direct violation of people’s s.15 rights in the Constitution; which allows for every person to be treated equally and bear the freedom of religion (Supreme Court Judgements, 2004). It will be argued that Canada has created equal rights for

The struggle for equality has been intense, and still continues to this day. With this being said, much progress has been made in establishing respect and external acceptance for all individuals sense of identity. For example, in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Same Sex Marriages, marking a pivotal point in the civil rights movement for the LGBTQ community. For many, this act helped to support their sense of self, a right that been denied for so long. The United States effectively validated the LGBTQ community, giving this group all rights granted to all other citizen’s, However, the creation and acceptance of this community has not had positive benefits for all members. The Gender Binary has been changed, but many distinctions

In the last decade, Canadian courts have increasingly recognized gay marriages. This recognition has been long overdue as the Canadian gay community was routinely oppressed prior to this string of court rulings. This was a definite victory for Canadian democracy, seeing that a minority group has had its rights protected. Paul Martin, after having presented the Civil Marriage Act, described it "as a natural and necessary evolution of minority-rights protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms." (Den Tant, 2005) However, there are certain inconsistencies with this seemingly pluralistic approach that have become more apparent in recent years. Canadian democracy may be defined as "majority rule, minority rights," and with