Quebec to table anti-homophobia action plan
By Jessica Murphy, THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL - Revellers at Montreal's gay pride parade had one more reason to celebrate on Sunday: Quebec's wide-ranging action plan against homophobia, years in the making, is expected to be tabled this fall.
"It's a big step," said Jasmin Roy, spokesman for Montreal Pride.
He said the gay and lesbian community expects the new plan will lead to "enormous" results in the fight against discrimination.
"That's why we're marching: to say that finally, this year, Quebec will have a policy against homophobia."
Roy said that despite the fact giant strides have been made in the acceptance of gays and lesbians in the past few decades, many challenges remain.
"We still have to work to apply the law," Roy said.
The action plan uses as its framework the recommendations put forward by the Quebec human rights commission's 2007 report into homophobia in the province.
The report, commissioned two years earlier by former provincial Justice Minister Yvon Marcoux, found discrimination to be present in the province's schools, health centres and work places. It also found homophobia to be a burden carried disproportionately by Quebec's homosexual and bisexual youth - government statistics suggest they're six to sixteen times more likely to consider or attempt suicide.
Quebec's current justice minister, Kathleen Weil, is at the forefront of the plan.
While she's not ready to discuss its details, she says the government will deliver not just promises but "real actions - what we'll do and how we'll do it differently."
"Minorities are often confronted with obstacles, obstacles that stop them from reaching their full potential as human beings," she said.
"Society can't afford that, can't afford to lose these great people."
Immigration Minister Yolande James is also heavily involved in the project.
She says taboos surrounding homosexuality remain strong within many immigrant communities and she hopes the proposal will spark change in Quebec and outside the province.
"We've always been avant-garde in our progress towards equality and I think this policy will allow us to do more and continue to be the front-runners," she said.
"When we speak of Quebec in foreign countries we make sure we re-iterate equal rights and the importance of diversity."
The plan comes on the heels of an announcement in May that the Quebec government is spending half a million dollars on an education campaign meant to improve the lives of gay, lesbian and transgendered seniors, a project overseen by the minister responsible for seniors, Marguerite Blais.
Blais, who has long championed gay rights, says the new plan is an example of the province's progressive culture.
"Quebec is a very open society," she said, highlighting Quebec's legalization of gay marriage in 2005.
Still, the government has faced criticism from the political opposition and union groups for dragging their heels.
It's 40 years this month that homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada and opposition MNA Amir Khadir says no significant measures to fight homophobia have been adopted in Quebec.
He called for the governing Liberals to name a minister responsible for gay and bisexual issues and to increase its funding to relevant community groups.
"It's time to act," he said.
Statistical analysis is one of the most fraudulent exercises in the history of mankind. We can even take a poll to prove it.
