Like every year, as the Quebec Pride celebrations approach, we are asked with skepticism: is a celebration and a public demonstration really necessary? Aren’t we already talking enough about diversity in Quebec, in our open and inclusive society?
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
They say that when we compare ourselves, we console ourselves. Last June, around 30 members of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist hate group, were narrowly arrested as they prepared to riot at a Pride party in Idaho, USA.
Two weeks later, a gunman killed two and injured more than 20 at a gay bar during another Pride event in Oslo, Norway. During this same “Month of Pride”, our communities celebrated the 6e anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, USA, which left 49 people dead.
Many add that in Quebec, it is not the same. That their homosexual uncle comes to the party Christmas and that her boyfriend is as well received as the other spouses. That their lesbian neighbor and her girlfriend seem to have no problem at the neighborhood daycare, that their non-binary colleague was very well received in the work team, that a trans author has just won the prestigious Prix des booksellers… And yet.
Last month, elected officials in the borough of Saint-Laurent, in Montreal, canceled without explanation Barbados story time in Barbados, a drag queen who organizes activities for children. In June, the same activity was able to take place as planned in Dorval, but not without a police presence: before the event, Barbada had received numerous hateful comments and threats.
Last winter in Montérégie, the JAG, a community organization, was attacked and received numerous threats, acts of intimidation and derogatory messages following the publication of a video on TikTok .
This attempt to undermine the work of an organization that raises awareness of the issues of sexual diversity and gender plurality in schools echoes the American “Don’t Say Gay” laws, by which states prohibit that the realities LGBTQ+ are discussed in schools.
Like what hatred goes beyond borders; intolerance and ignorance are cultivated in Quebec, as elsewhere.
Some rebel in their chronicles, in commentaries or other radio tirades: why give so much importance to this minority? woketo those unrealists whose demands we do not understand, to the “lobby queer who would like everyone to change gender and who is never happy, even with laws, charters, protection programs against discrimination… That’s quite enough!
No, obviously that’s not enough.
The incidents mentioned above are only a reflection of a society and institutions that are still discriminatory and poorly adapted. Thus, according to the results of the survey Knowledge on the inclusion and exclusion of LGBTQ+ people in Quebec 2019-2020many LGBTQ+ people still feel compelled to hide their identity, orientation, sexual practices or trans background.
For example, 63% of lesbian, gay, bisexual or queer in Quebec do not mention it at work and 58% say they have received indiscreet or offensive comments.
Nearly half of LGBTQ+ youth feel unhappy or depressed at school, and incidents of bullying are not uncommon. In the extracurricular context, half of LGBTQ+ parents avoid disclosing their sexual orientation for fear of discrimination.
While access to health care and social services remains unequal for LGBTQ+ people in general, trans and non-binary people are particularly affected by socioeconomic precariousness: 29% of them report having experienced discrimination in their looking for housing and almost half of those who live alone have an annual income below the poverty line.
Our lives that fall outside heterosexual and cisgender patterns continue to be ignored, shocked, disturbed and angered, enough for our fulfillment to still be met with disbelief and contempt, enough for violent incidents and discriminatory speech to resurface again. and even.
Even today, we must continue to be vigilant, to modify our laws and public policies to promote real inclusion. And to achieve this, visibility is one of our strategies. Since the first demonstrations led by trans, racialized people, among the most marginalized in our society, Pride celebrations have been an opportunity to make our lives visible and to stand up to hatred.
Yes, today we still need the Prides.
* Co-signatories: AGIR, Alliance Arc-en-ciel de Québec, ARCG – Seniors and retirees from the gay community, Gay Archives of Quebec, BLITSS, LGBTQ+ Community Center of Montreal, Lesbian Solidarity Center, Coalition of LGBT+ families, Coalition of aid for sexual diversity from A-T, Coalition of LGBTQ+ youth groups, Divergender, Divers-Gens, Diversity 02, Diversity KRTB, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Team Montreal – LGBTQ+ Sports and Recreation, Montreal Pride, Massimadi Foundation, Fondation Émergence, Gay and Gray Montreal, GRIS Estrie, GRIS Mauricie/Centre-du-Québec, GRIS Montreal, GRIS Quebec, Helem Montreal, Inclusion sport, Montreal, Interligne, IRIS Estrie, JAG/LGBT+ organization, Youth Idem, Youth Lambda, Young Creative Identities, Les 3 sex*, Dispensary/community health centre, Portail VIH/sida du Québec, Project 10, QueerTech/LGBT Group in Technology, RÉZO, health and well-being of gay and bisexual, cis and trans men , Sphere — Overall Sexual Health, TransEstrie, Trans Mauricie/Centre-du-Québec and Trans Outaouais