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Valentine Crawford, who
served as the parade organizer
and was the former Pride Prince

George president, elaborated
on the difference between a
parade and a march when he
stated, “We've arrived. It’s not a
protest movement anymore - it’s
celebrating that community with
everybody.”

He then explained,
“There were a lot of people who
showed up [after registration]
and wanted to _ participate.
We don't turn anybody away.
There were [Royal Canadian
Mounted Police] members in red
serge this year. We have more
paramedics, more non-profits
participating.”

Even the churches have begun
to accept what some biblical
texts condemn.

Anglican Archdeacon
Peter Zimmer is an example of
this when he explained, “I’ve
been involved in support for
the gay and lesbian community
since the 1980's. | remember
when there were 140 people
at that first Pride Parade here,
and about 15 spectators -most
of whom turned their backs on
us. I’m happily married and as
straight as they come, but we're
all people.”

Again it is important to
remember that LGBTQ rights
had not always existed and
a look at the history of the
LGTBQ community in Canada
is necessary to see just how far
they have come.

In the early 19th century,
the entirety of the British
controlled North American
colonies had declared sodomy
an act to be punishable by
death. That’s indeed horrific, but
surviving written reports on the

subject explained that political
figures were very reluctant to
enforce such a punishment
and there is no. surviving
evidence that any “sodomites”
received the death penalty.

However, the history of
these laws and the reluctance
to enforce said laws do
not take into account that
there were various LGBTQ
individuals who lost their lives
to angry mobs and vigilante
justice during the time period,
so keep that in mind.

The 20th — century
saw some slight changes
to Canada’s legal codes for
the LGTBQ community, and
although a step in the right
direction, they were still rotten.

Between the 1940's
and 1960's, gay men were
targeted by the scientific and
legal field. They were deemed
“criminal sexual psychopaths”
and “dangerous sexual
offenders.” Although they
no longer faced the death
penalty, they were ostracized
by almost every institution.

In 1967, Bill C-150 was
introduced by Pierre Trudeau.
For those of you not familiar
with Canada’s various
Bills, Bill C-150 was a very
important bill, possibly the
most important bill to pass
in Canada. It allowed for the

decriminalization of same-
sex sexual activity, the
legal practice of abortions

and contraceptives by the
Canadian public and also also
set regulations on lotteries,
gun possession, divorce,

drinking and driving offences,
harassing phone Calls,
misleading advertising and
cruelty to animals.

That is a_ pretty
monumental bill to pass and
it is no wonder Trudeau later
became Prime Minister.

The 1970’s would see
Canada’sfirstofficial Gay rights
march and Quebec became
the first province to prohibit
any form of discrimination
because of someone sexual
orientation. This was notable
accomplished in part to the
negative public reaction
towards the use of raids in gay
communities and bathhouses.

The 1980’s was even
more productive ensuring the
creation of the first openly gay
and registered charity and that
as far the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms was
concerned, the “right to the
equal protection and equal
benefit of the law without
discrimination” should include
sexual orientation, but this
would not be completely
amended and resolved until
the 1990's.

The early 2000's
would be a landmark for
LGBTQ community when
the Hendricks and Leboeuf
v. Quebec debate came to
an end and the two men
would be legally allowed to
marry one another, ultimately
demolishing the definition of
marriage only applying to a
man and a woman.

cont. on next page...

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