Hate crimes have
increased consistently year after year for more than a decade with numerous violent and deadly xenophobic attacks . . . Today it is members of the LGBTQ2+ community
particularly those who are transgender, who are the targets of hate-motivated
narratives and violence.
By Fareed Khan
Whether Canadians know
it or not, there is a “war” being waged against members of Canada’s LGBTQ2+
community which has been increasing in intensity over the past year. The latest victims of this simmering conflict
are the University of Waterloo professor and students who were attacked
on June 28th by a knife-wielding assailant in a class about gender issues in a
hate-motivated incident. According to anti-hate
activists and many in the LGBTQ2+ community such an attack was predictable
given the increasingly hateful and bigoted narratives that have been directed at
members of the community by fringe elements in society, including by some right
wing politicians.
The rising chorus of
hate speech targeting those who are transgender, and the LGBTQ2+ community at
large, presents a clear and present danger to the safety and security of
members of these communities, and this attack is the latest indication that not
enough is being done by governments to push back against the waves of hate washing
over Canada’s borders. It demonstrates
why all levels of government need to take a united and coordinated approach to
fighting hate to prevent such incidents from being repeated.
The anti-LGBTQ2+
narratives that Canadians are witnessing, and which have been seen at
demonstrations against transgender students at some schools, are also being
fuelled by right-wing governments and politicians that want to diminish or
eliminate human rights protections for members of the LGBTQ2+ community.
The words and actions of
people like Conservative Party leader Pierre
Poilievre, News Brunswick Premier
Blaine Higgs, and Peoples Party of Canada leader Maxime
Bernier, denying the fundamental human rights of members of the LGBTQ2+
community are energizing and enabling those who embrace ideologies of hate to
act out their prejudices in a violent manner.
The words and actions of these politicians and their supporters should
be seen as an affront to the concept of human rights and the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms.
Pierre Poilievre, in
particular, has repeatedly been on the wrong side of issues around hate since
before he became Conservative Party leader.
His most recent transgression which legitimized anti-LGBTQ2+ hate was
his willingness to be photographed
with a man who wore a t-shirt with a “straight pride” message on it. The message said, “Thank a straight person
today for your existence,” above graphic symbols for a man and a woman, with “straight
pride” below that.
According to anti-hate activists this is seen as another dog
whistle shout out by the Tory leader to homophobes and transphobes, and the explanation
provided by his office as to why he was in the photo has been called a “lame excuse”
as the Conservative leader courts the votes of Canadian voters opposed to LGBTQ2+
rights.
As the leader of a national party that hopes to form government
Poilievre has repeatedly shown that he is willing to woo extremist and xenophobic elements of society to achieve
his political goals, despite his public statements denouncing them.
He has previously courted racists and white supremacists with his support
of convoy protesters during and after the Ottawa occupation in February 2022, and he
now seems to be trying to gain the support of homophobes and transphobes with this
incident at the Calgary Stampede.
The explanation
by Poilievre’s office that he posed with “hundreds of people” at the Calgary Stampede
and does not read t-shirt slogans is an excuse which does not hold water, according
to anti-hate activists, since he travels with a staff entourage whose job is to
make sure these kinds of mistakes do not happen. If his staff were doing their job they would have
seen the slogan on the t-shirt while the man was waiting in line for his photo op
with Poilievre, and could have prevented the now controversial photo from being
taken. The fact that this did not occur means
either that the staff around Poilievre hold homophobic and transphobic views or
that they are incompetent. Either way it
does not reflect well on the Conservative leader.
Since
they were defeated in the 2015 federal election the Conservative Party has been
adrift politically as they try and create the conditions for a victory over Justin Trudeau’s
Liberals. Part of their strategy seems to
be to embrace extremist elements, including racists, bigots, homophobes,
transphobes and others who believe in hateful ideologies, all the while hoping that
Canadians do not notice how they are drifting to the extreme right on the political
spectrum, an area occupied by fascist and extremist elements of society.
Under Poilievre, and former leaders Erin O’Toole and Andrew
Scheer, the Conservatives have repeatedly engaged with various hateful elements, as well as turning a
blind eye when MPs within the Tory caucus have said or done distasteful things. But when they have been caught and called out
on their willingness to welcome these objectionable and extremist elements into
their political tent they respond with weak excuses or after the fact apologies,
which become meaningless over time as such incidents are repeated.
Since
2015 the Conservatives have joined hands with anti-Muslim bigots to undermine the government’s efforts
to oppose Islamophobia, even after the deadly 2017 Quebec City
mosque shooting. They supported racist,
white supremacist and extremist elements connected with the convoy occupation of
Ottawa in 2022. Some Tory MPs were happy to meet with a neo-Nazi member of the European Parliament earlier
this year, and claimed ignorance about her well-known anti-immigrant and
racist views when questioned by media about why
they met with her. And then there is the party’s distasteful history of
opposing the advancement of LGBTQ2 rights, whether it came to equality under
the law for homosexuals, gay marriage, and now transgender rights.
Since 2012 police-reported
hate crimes have more than doubled, with hate crimes
based on sexual orientation or gender identity increasing by 77% and 64% respectively
in 2021. According to a 2021 study more than 99% of hate crime victims don’t file police reports. The report also showed that Canadians are more
likely to be victims of hate crimes than be involved in a car accident.
Hate crimes have increased consistently year after year for
more than a decade and there have been numerous violent and deadly xenophobic attacks during that time. Today it is members of the LGBTQ2+ community,
particularly those who are transgender, who are the targets of hate-motivated narratives
and violence.
Consequently, Canadians who
oppose hate need to stand with members of this community to protect and defend their rights, and governments need to step up to the plate
and implement a comprehensive national anti-hate strategy led by the federal
government and coordinated with provincial and municipal governments if there
is to be any hope of successfully pushing back the narratives of hate that are
spreading across the country. If Canadians
care about fulfilling the vision of the “just society” that Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau spoke of more than 50 years ago then it is up
to all who believe in a pluralistic, diverse, inclusive and accepting Canada
to stand with those who are LGBTQ2+ at this moment in history to ensure that we
all have the right to live in peace, have our human rights protected and defended,
and be accepted for who we are.
Fareed Khan is a human rights activist and founder of Canadians United Against Hate.
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2023 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.
