Just too big a leap for MP to honour Pride
In June, the city of Toronto looks pretty gay. I don’t mean this in the idiotic, pejorative, prepubescent way — i.e. “Did you see that dog with the cone on its head? I know, so gay, right?”
I mean it in the literal, homosexual sense.
The CN Tower glows every colour of the LGBT rainbow; storefronts in and far beyond the Church and Wellesley village don the multihued flag.
And come parade day, straight and otherwise straitlaced politicians — men and women whose idea of a wild night out ordinarily involves a T-bone at Ruth’s Chris Steak House — mount elaborate floats and smile for the camera as scantily clad revellers hose them down with squirt guns.
In light of the recent massacre in Orlando, Fla., where a gunman murdered 49 people in an LGBT nightclub, Toronto is visibly prouder and gayer than ever.
Even city residents who have faced and continue to face rejection or violence on account of their sexual orientation and gender identity, can take some solace in the fact that hundreds of local coffee shops, drug stores and liquor stores have embraced the Pride spirit — and in many cases have announced support for the victims of the Orlando shooting.
Next weekend, Justin Trudeau will become the first prime minister in our nation’s history to march in Toronto’s Pride parade.
But downtown Toronto does not resemble the world at large.
Downtown Toronto does not resemble Canada.
Downtown Toronto does not resemble Steinbach, Man., a city of roughly 13,000 people, where some elected officials aren’t so keen on celebrating sexual diversity.
Just ask Ted Falk, a Conservative member of Parliament and Steinbach resident who announced this month that he will not attend the city’s first LGBT Pride parade on July 9 because his “values” preclude him from doing so.
“Even without a scheduling conflict, my decision to not attend would be the same,” Falk wrote in a statement to the Star. “I’ve been clear on this issue many times, and have made my position public on my values of faith, family and community.”
The scheduling conflict Falk refers to is the region’s popular “Frog Follies and Agricultural Fair,” an annual frog-racing event where participants race northern leopard frogs and the amphibian that jumps the furthest wins the day.
Ironically, the organizer of the frog-jumping fest (which, by the way, sounds awesome) urged Falk to attend the Pride parade instead of the agriculture fair.
“This is the first Pride event (in Steinbach)” Marie-Christine Bruce told the Winnipeg Free Press. “It is historic and important.”
For Falk though, it appears frog solidarity reigns supreme.
This is a shame, says Michelle McHale, a spokeswoman for Steinbach Pride, because the small city could really benefit from government visibility and support at its first Pride event. “Some people are closeted here and go to Winnipeg and are (only) out on the weekends,” she says. “There’s definitely this unspoken thing, if you are making those ‘lifestyle choices’ keep it to yourself.”
Falk’s comment — that his “values, family and community” prevent him from attending Pride — suggest to McHale that the MP believes “LGBT people are not part of the community and we do not count as families.”
Unfortunately the Steinbach city council may share that view, as it released a lukewarm statement about next month’s parade. “Council has not officially endorsed the July 9 Pride March,” it reads. “Steinbach residents will decide for themselves whether they wish to attend this event.”
That’s a far cry from John Tory rocking rainbow beads and Olivia Chow dancing around in a feather boa.
In other words, that’s a far cry from Toronto, a city that is utterly spoiled, Pride wise; a city whose liberalism we shouldn’t mistake for a national norm.
It is very cool that Justin Trudeau will march in Toronto’s Pride parade next weekend. It’s a milestone for Toronto. It’s a milestone for good hair. But it’s not a milestone for LGBT rights.
Because in a post-gay marriage, post-Kathleen Wynne Canada, a big star on a big gay stage no longer constitutes big change. A small star on a small stage does. Let’s hope Ted Falk skips the amphibian race in favour of human rights.
Because if he wanted to, if he cared to, he could bring about more change for LGBT people in his own community than the prime minister can on a national stage.
(Though I must admit, I’d be sore to miss the frog race, too.)