Rainbow crosswalk. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
August 2019
Groan!! Ralph Goodale recently unearthed a video clip of Andrew Scheer from 2005, in which Sheer states he is against same-sex marriage. In other news, prior to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, slavery was still socially acceptable in the southern United States and a significant portion of the southern population were slave owners.
In a pathetic display of chutzpah, Goodale fails to mention that he voted against parliamentary motions in 1995 and 1999 to legally recognize same-sex unions, as did many other Liberals including Chretien and Paul Martin, some of whom are in the current Liberal caucus. One could argue the actual number was 35 if you count the “No” votes of the 3 former Liberal members who were sitting as independents at the time.
Even Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton were also against same-sex marriage around the same time as Scheer expressed his opinion.
Normally I would argue that one person’s past actions/opinions don’t mean another person’s present actions/opinions are correct either, but the fact is the same-sex marriage debate was a very contentious issue on Parliament Hill two-plus decades ago, dividing members within all the parties. A lot of people, politicians and the general public, disagreed with same-sex marriage back then, just as they did with homosexuality in general back in the 1960s, an attitude that included many “liberal-minded” people.
Do I need to remind people that prior to 1969, homosexuality wasn’t just socially unacceptable to most people, it was a criminal offence in Canada. North American society has evolved since then.
I’ll go on record here as stating that back in 2005, I wasn’t in favour of same-sex marriage either, although I was a bit of a fence-sitter as I was more like 51% against and 49% in favour. I’ve since changed my opinion and today, I have no problem calling a man’s male partner his “husband,” or “wife” for a women’s same-sex partner. This is in contrast to a very socially and politically liberal family member, who refuses to do the same. And to think that as a big and small “C” conservative, I’m supposedly the “unenlightened” one.
I also had a similar opinion of the idea of Sikh RCMP officers being able to wear a turban. My objections were strictly confined to the ideas that a Mountie wore a stetson, not a turban; that the stetson was such an iconic image that I couldn’t imagine any other head-covering, and that service in the RCMP was voluntary, not mandatory. I served in the military, where everyone dresses the same (conformity) and if you don’t like that idea, you are not forced to join up. My opinion back then was that if a Sikh wished to wear a turban, they couldn’t be a uniformed RCMP officer.
Upon reflection over time, I reminded myself that turbaned Sikhs had served proudly and honorably in the British army for centuries, without destroying the “image” of the British military (quite the opposite, I believe). As I’m not a hypocrite, I had to concede that my initial opinion was wrong.
Some people have personal or religious reason’s for their disapproval of same-sex marriage, but as long as those views don’t lead to things like denial of human rights, discrimination, hate crimes or violence, up to and including death, people are entitled to their opinions.
Stephen Harper was openly pro-life, but he made it clear that the abortion debate was not open for discussion, even when he had a majority government and could have very easily rammed through any legislation he wished.
I can’t recall or find any specific reference to Andrew Sheer stating that his personal opinion on same-sex marriage has changed, but he is on record that as leader of the Conservative caucus, he will not try to re-open the debate on same-sex marriage, even going so far as to remove the “traditional definition of marriage” from the conservative party policy book in 2016, much to the disgust of social conservatives within the party.
Further, as tweeted by Brock W. Harrison, Director Of Communications at Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition in relation to Goodale’s revelation, “Mr. Scheer supports same-sex marriage as defined in law and as Prime Minister will, of course, uphold it.” Is that clear enough?
Similarly, why does it really matter if Sheer doesn’t wish to march in a Pride parade? Standing up for the rights of the LGBT community is not defined only by whether he attends Pride parades or not. If someone professes to be against a carbon-intensive lifestyle, but has the carbon footprint the size of Australia from numerous homes, boats, cars and airplane travel, they are not credible.
This of course, is beside the fact that Andrew Scheer could march right at the front of the parade, holding the rainbow flag, and the usual crowd would still say that he’s homophobic.
Hell, he could probably come out as gay and he’d still be called homophobic.
Seeing as the Liberals like using video clips from the past, why don’t we show clips of Justin Trudeau, like when he says how much he admires China’s “basic dictatorship;” his insinuation that Quebecers are better “..because we’re Quebecers;” how he wants to “phase-out” the oil sands and the jobs it provides (our version of Hillary’s coal miner statement); how veterans “Are asking for more than we are able to give right now;” how the accusations about SNC-Lavalin were false; Trudeau elbowing Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the chest; his dress-up tour of India; the many clips of him forgetting his lines, like his cringe-worthy “paper like drink-box water bottles sort of things” moment, and many, many other gems. Maybe Justin has changed his opinions too and would welcome the opportunity to correct the record.
One final point of the issue of abortion, another wedge issue the Liberals are trying to re-ignite by saying Sheer will outlaw abortions if elected because he is staunchly pro-life; Trudeau stated in 2011 that while he was against abortion due to his Roman Catholic upbringing, he would defend the right to seek legal abortions in Canada.
That’s the same stance Sheer has publicly made known, yet the Liberals are still trying to paint him as having a “secret agenda” to criminalize abortion again. Disgraceful.
Sources: https://www.thepostmillennial.com/liberal-hipocrisy-on-gay-marriage-botched-scheer-smear, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Members_of_the_38th_Canadian_Parliament_and_same-sex_marriage
