Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

The PSAC will be holding a Pride Conference in Vancouver from March 29 - April 1, 2007 for members who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or who otherwise self identify as a member of the Pride community.

To start planning for the Conference, we are seeking names of PSAC members who are prepared to serve on either the:

• Steering Committee
• Resolutions Committee

Interested PSAC members should complete the attached one page form and return to it me by e-mail (preferable) or fax by no later than midnight Tuesday, October 24th. The B.C. Region is entitled to one committee member who will sit on either the Steering or Resolutions Committee.

• Conference Committee form (doc)
• Conference Committee form (pdf)

I apologize for the tight deadlines, in Solidarity, Kay Sinclair.

Via Multi Union Pride

Delay requested by equality opponents

(OTTAWA - Sept 27, 2006 ) Before Parliament resumed for the fall session, it was widely reported that a vote on Mr. Harper’s motion to re-open the divisive equal marriage debate would take place in early October. However, as Parliament resumed, Mr. Harper privately told his caucus that the vote would be delayed until just before Christmas.

“We are calling Mr. Harper out on this delay,” said Laurie Arron, National Coordinator of Canadians for Equal Marriage. “We know that opponents of equal marriage have asked for a delay, because they know the motion will be defeated and that after the vote Mr. Harper will have to admit that the issue is settled.”

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via Multi-Union Pride

The fall session of Parliament begins today. That means we’re in the home stretch leading to a vote to re-open the divisive equal marriage debate, which Prime Minister Harper has promised will take place this fall.

We believe we’ll win this vote, and put an end to the threat that now hangs over LGBT people and all Canadians who believe in equality. However, equality opponents know this is their last chance, and they are going all out to pressure MPs. They wrongly say equal marriage is a threat to children and to religious freedom and that Bill C-38 was rushed through Parliament without proper study.

According to a September 4 Hill Times story, an alliance of 13 traditional marriage, family and religious advocacy groups will launch a 15-point lobbying campaign beginning on Sept. 18. The alliance will bring religious leaders, local leaders, and political leaders to Ottawa to meet with their respective MPs, and will have prayer rallies in front of MP offices across the country.

Read more at equal-marriage.ca and tell your MP you oppose re-opening the divisive equal marriage debate.

The Sky Is The Limit - 3rd annual AIDS Walk fund raiser

• Saturday September 16 2006
  (in the case of rain, the jump will be moved to Sept. 23)
• 12:00 to 5:00 pm
• 5112 Gladwin Road, Abbotsford

All Welcome! Join in the jumping fun or just come out to watch.

BBQ fund raiser at the jump site. All funds raised will go to the HEU Lesbian and Gay Standing Committee’s AIDS Walk fund.
Jumpers - please note:

• Jumps will be in tandem (with a certified expert instructor) from 10,000 feet.
• Cost: Jump day - $229^{.00 + tax}
• Prebook rate: $199^{.00 + tax}
• rate with a group of 10 or more: $189^{.00 + tax}
• A video of your jump is available for $95^{.00 + tax}

For more information or to join the team, contact Victor Elkins at 604-240-9880 or velkins@heu.org or visit heu.org

Thanks to Steve Houston & Amy Painter, BC Regional Council, for sending in some photos taken at the Vancouver Pride Parade. The theme for the Vancouver Pride Parade this year was “Love and Joy” Multi-union Pride presented and promoted “Peace and Love” as the theme of their float.

Click for the photos!

Cheers to Steve Houston, GLBT Rep on the BC Regional Council for passing on this timeline documenting the changing rights landscape for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in Vancouver and around the world.

1940s:

• In 1944, Sweden decriminalizes homosexuality.
• In 1945, the liberation of concentration camps by Allied forces; those interned for homosexuality are required to serve the full term of their sentences.
• In 1946, the COC (the Dutch acronym for Centre for Culture and Recreation), the earliest homophile organization, is founded in the Netherlands.

1950s:

• In 1950, the Mattachine Society, the first American homophile group, is founded in New York.
• In 1955, the lesbian homophile group Daughters of Bilitis is founded in San Francisco.
• In 1958, the Homosexual Law Reform Society is founded in the United Kingdom.

Continue reading more at thetyee.ca!

Greetings Everyone!

Vancouver Multi-union Pride evolved from the BC PSAC LGBT Support Group a number of years ago. Sister Diana Smith (National Component) successfully promoted the concept of a Multi-union Pride Committee that would represent the face of labour in the Vancouver Pride Society Parade and Festival.

We have grown in leaps and bounds over the years. We continue to be the largest single group in the Vancouver Pride Parade. We have won a trophy for “Best Political/Union Float” and are extremely well received by thunderous applause as we march past spectators along the parade route.

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Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians marched in Sao Paulo on June 17 in the city’s 10th Annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March, which organizers said was the world’s largest pride event. The police gave the French wire service AFP an estimate of 3 million participants, at least 500,000 more than in 2005. Organizers had been afraid turnout would be lower because for the first time the event was being held on Saturday rather than Sunday, to avoid conflict with the Australia-Brazil World Cup soccer match, held in Germany on June 18. Many participants wore the national team’s colors.

Despite the festive nature of the march, the organizers stressed a call for an end to attacks on gays. A homosexual, male or female, is murdered every three days in Brazil because of sexual orientation, according to Brazilian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March Association spokesperson Nelson Matias Pereira. [El Universal (Caracas) 6/17/06; El Nuevo Herald 6/17/06 from AP]

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Here are some photos of the 6th Annual Iqaluit Pride and Friends of Pride picnic. The National Component Human Rights Committee (BC) was one of the picnic’s sponsors! Click them for a larger view …

On June 28, 2005, the House of Commons passed Bill C-38 by a vote of 158 to 133, marking the end of one of the longest and most thorough debates MPs have ever had. The Senate passed the bill on July 19 and it became law on July 20, 2005.

One year later, Canadians have largely moved on. Canadians for Equal Marriage commissioned Environics Research to conduct a poll asking Canadians whether they support equal marriage and whether they wish to re-open the equal marriage debate.

By a more than a 2 to 1 margin, Canadians who expressed an opinion consider this matter settled and are against having another vote. Even a majority of Conservative voters (52%) are against re-opening, while only 38% want to re-open the issue and 10% did not express an opinion.

The poll also asked whether “same-sex couples should have the same right to civil marriage as opposite-sex couples.” 59% of all respondents agreed, only 33% disagreed and 8% did not express an opinion.

In response, a June 20 Globe and Mail editorial titled “Really, get past it” said of the CEM poll: “Fairly worded questions, and the answers were clear… Mr. Harper is raising an issue that most Canadians see no need to revisit. Take it off the agenda.”

For more details, visit equal-marriage.ca.

“Why are so many gays still hiding in the closet? Prominent Persons Need to Come Out for Sake of Young People”

Toronto Pride has chosen the theme “Fearless” this year. Yet the number of gay and lesbian athletes, politicians, business and labour leaders who are still in the closet gives the theme a tinge of irony.

Being out of the closet starts when you stop speaking in the third person about a group of which you are a member.

When I was 16, it confronted me for the first time. A football player made a really denigrating joke about “fags”. Do I defend “us” or “them”?

When my father told me he beat up queers when he was a teenager, do I say “we” or “they” have a right to live without constant fear of being bashed?

When you are rising in Parliament to fight for equal marriage, do you refer to them or us?

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The PSAC, along with our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender sisters and brothers invite you to celebrate the various “Pride” events happening in cities and communities across Canada in June or August.

“Pride Week” marks the anniversary of the “Stonewall Riots” which occurred in New York City in June of 1969. The Riots were the turning point in the increased resistance to oppression and harassment caused by policy and by government officials. A strong, diverse community of “Pride” has evolved since the riots and the PSAC is proud to be part of the continuing struggle.

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Via Canadians for Equal Marriage: The equal marriage issue is heating up on Parliament Hill, and we need your help.

Although we’re ahead in the vote count, equal marriage opponents are asking Mr. Harper to delay the motion to re-open the debate. They want this delay so they have more time to mobilize against us.

Stephen Harper has confirmed he’ll hold a vote on re-opening equal marriage. So the only issue is when. How long will he delay that vote? Until he thinks he has the votes to win? Until after the next election?

THE ONLY WAY TO PREVENT THIS DELAY IS TO CONTACT YOUR MP!! Do it now so they know we won’t tolerate a delay. Do it now so they know it’s not okay to pander to the religious right. Go to www.equal-marriage.ca/election.php to e-mail your MP in just a few clicks.

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The 4th edition of the National Day Against Homophobia will take place on May 17th, 2006.

Its objective is to fight homophobia in the job world and in the sport. The job world is not spared from homophobia. It is an extremely difficult environment for gays and lesbians, even if some environments may be more tolerant than others. As is often the case for other forms of discrimination, the workplace needs to make it a point to offer a homophobia-free environment.

Discrimination in the workplace is the concern of all those involved, workers, unions, employees, the Minister of Labour and the Commission des normes du travail. Client-worker relations, employer-employee relations and relations between employees themselves must be through respect. Homophobia needs to be listed on anti-discrimination programmes; it should also go hand in hand with an implementation policy and include any necessary corrective measures.

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Hello,

We are pleased to invite youth to attend Camp fYrefly, which is our 3rd annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified, and queer (LGBTQ) youth leadership retreat. Youth from across Canada will join us for four days of learning, fun, and making new friends. Camp fYrefly is an adult-facilitated and peer-led leadership camp for youth ages 14 to 24, and it is held in Edmonton, Alberta. Registration for Camp fYrefly is now open. The registration deadline is June 15, 2006.

The registration fee is $25.00, which reflects a greatly subsidized rate which we hope will allow many youth to attend the camp. Space is limited to 55 youth participants and we expect a full camp this year! Please register early!

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Egale is writing to you because the upcoming Census 2006 treats same-sex couples unfairly. We’re hoping you will take a simple action to show your support for same-sex couples across Canada.

The census form instructs same-sex couples who are married to check the ‘Other’ category at the bottom of the list of relationships, rather than checking the top box marked ‘Husband or wife.’

Egale Canada, the national organization which advances equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-identified people in Canada, is recommending that same-sex married couples list their relationship as ‘Husband or wife’ rather than ‘Other.’ According to Statistics Canada, either response will be captured correctly as a married same-sex couple. In addition, Egale is calling on all concerned Canadians to add a comment on Page 6 of the questionnaire, such as ‘Same-Sex couples deserve equal treatment.’

Please take further action to make express your support for same-sex couples. Please visit http://www.egale.ca/census2006, and see how easy it is to make your voice heard.

The prime minister avoided the issue in his April 4 Speech from the Throne (meant to outline the government’s agenda for the upcoming session), so Canadians for Equal Marriage held a press conference the following morning. In the media theatre on Parliament Hill, Emily Turk and Cynthia Misener, a lesbian couple hoping to marry later this year, called on Harper to reveal his intentions.

“Nobody should have to plan their wedding under this kind of threat,” they said.

Within two hours, Justice Minister Vic Toews responded by confirming the government’s plan to hold a vote on re-opening the equal marriage debate “sooner rather than later”. Harper himself said a vote would take place “within the life of this Parliament, probably in the fall.”

So, once again, the equality of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-identified people is threatened, and the right of all Canadian couples to access civil marriage is hanging in the balance.

Read more at equal-marriage.ca.

Stephen Harper has issued a wake-up call to Canadians. He has made clear his government will table a motion to reopen the divisive debate on equal marriage. In his own words, this will happen “sooner rather than later” after Parliament resumes sitting on April 3.

When Mr. Harper became Prime Minister, our opponents went into high gear. When he appointed Vic Toews as Justice Minister, they cheered even more.

Vote Marriage Canada (formerly Defend Marriage Canada) gave ex-MP Pat O’Brien a new permanent job as its Executive Director. A few weeks later, Focus on the Family, the Canadian branch of a powerful American religious right organization, opened an office in Ottawa under the banner of the Institute for Marriage and Family Canada. IMFC is specifically focused on convincing MPs to support their “family values” agenda, starting with turning back the clock on equal marriage.

These are just two examples of how opponents of equal marriage, backed by their powerful American friends, are preparing to unleash a multi-million dollar campaign to take away those precious rights we fought so hard to establish.

With a vote looming and our opponents mobilizing we have no choice but to act. We can’t afford to stand idly by while millions of dollars are mobilized against us. We can’t afford not to answer this wake-up call as a vote in Parliament looms.Read more at equal-marriage.ca

A vote to take away equal marriage is coming, and we must take action to defend our rights. That’s why Egale has decided to resurrect Canadians for Equal Marriage.

After years of debate and unanimous rulings by courts in 8 provinces and the Yukon, on Wednesday, July 20, 2005 equal marriage became the law of the land.

Parliament decided. It clearly and loudly proclaimed that same sex couples are equal in value and equal in law.

Now that is threatened. Despite polls showing 2/3 of Canadians do not want a Harper government to bring the equal marriage issue back to Parliament, Prime Minister Harper insists there will be a vote on rolling back equality.

Read more at Canadians for Equal Marriage.

The 1st World Outgames Montréal 2006 are proud to announce that Ms. Martina Navratilova has joined their Circle of Champions. Ms. Navratilova will actively participate in the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights, which will be held for three days before the Opening Ceremony of the Outgames. The world-renowned tennis champion and sports legend will present the Declaration of Montréal with Olympic medalist and Outgames Co-President Mark Tewksbury at the Opening Ceremony on 29 July 2006.

Read the rest of the newsletter at montreal2006.org. Reminder: there is funding availble for one member from each PSAC region to attend the conference. Read the details here.