Editorial Opinion February1, 2003.
By Michael Paré, Toronto ON
January 18, 2003 marked a remarkable day in history when, 20,000 protestors took over Toronto streets to say "NO" to war in Iraq. Protesters also called for an end to sanctions, implemented more than a decade ago, that have cost the lives of more than 500,000 men, women and children across Iraq and have brought extreme poverty and malnutrition to thousands of others.
More than 50,000 people have taken to the streets in Washington, DC, more than 200,000 in London, and thousands more across the European continent - to express outrage at the United States' government and its unilateral and imperialistic foreign policies. Amongst the dozens of groups that endorsed the protests were the Canadian Peace Alliance, Toronto Committee Against Sanctions and War on Iraq, Canadian Labour Congress, United Church of Canada, Toronto Labour Council, CUPE Toronto, Science for Peace, Steelworkers of Toronto, Canadian Arab Federation and Centre for Social Justice and other liberationist movements.
But one community was notably missing was the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender movement. There was no visible queer presence at any of the protests and to date no major national LGBT organization in Canada (except for the United Church of Canada) has spoken out against an impending war with Iraq.
Many ask the question, "What does a war with Iraq have to do with queers? And why does opposing a war with Iraq, or any other country for that matter, have anything to do with the 'gay agenda?'" The answer is - EVERYTHING! Since September 11th, 2001, the United States has more than tripled its national defense budget in the name of "security," and in the name of a "war of terror." The consequences of our national attention being focused on war has led many to lose focus on the critical issues facing some of the most vulnerable in our society, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, people living with HIV and AIDS, homeless youth, and low-income families, amongst others.
Poverty amongst low-income LGBT families remains far from our radar screen, as though there are many who can afford to go to $250 tuxedo dinners to watch straight celebrities get an "Equality award." Our inner cities remain some of the most destitute places where thousands of our young queer people of colour live, grow, and thrive. Social and economic justice, basic human rights, life, liberty, dignity, remain far away from our $250 dinners, our $150 circuit parties, or our $2,000 gay and lesbian cruises to the Mediterranean and Cancun.
Meanwhile the Bush administration continues to beat the drums of war, rallying nations around the world to support the ousting of the "axis of evil." The Canadian government is playing peek-a-boo. But the truth of the matter is that a war with Iraq will only mean, that more funding will be taken away from the issues that affect all of our lives and the lives of our loved ones - both queer and straight.
Only a few decades ago, at the birth of our movement for freedom and liberation, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people understood that single-issue politics would not win us any thing. Decades ago when we took to the streets to fight police brutality we understood that fighting multiple oppressions through a multi-lateral, multi-issue platform was the only way to gain our liberation. But today, few of us remember this history.
Queer people have been at the forefront of social and economic justice struggles since the beginning of our fight for equality. The feminist movement, the labor movement, the struggle for human rights, the struggle for immigrant rights, and economic justice for poor people - all have actively involved lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Only a few decades ago LGBT people were likened to Communists, and the federal government was on a witch-hunt to weed out queers from its ranks, liking them to Cold War spies.
Today, we have fallen victim to our own "comfort," the majority of us living in urban cities where we are seemingly "safe," under the guise of laws that protect our sex lives, our jobs, our relationships, and our homes.
Today, LGBT people across Canada, live in a world where our acceptance has almost been won, where our freedom is strong in almost every major city, and in a society that understands our lives better than ever before. But while we have grown accustomed to being "accepted" many members of our community have forgotten that most of this country remains a haven for homophobia and intolerance. Ironically most of this oppression is supported and in some cases funded our own government through institutions like schools and the church (and mosques and temples).
The LGBT community in the Canada has abandoned its roots. When national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations fail to voice their opposition to government policies that clearly impact the lives of so many queer people in this country, our movement has failed. When we as a community, cannot join together and ally with the wider progressive movement, a movement that so many of our elders came from, we have collectively failed and have lost our battle for freedom and liberation.
The war on Iraq IS a queer issue, not only because it will affect LGBT people in the military, an item high on our "gay agenda," but also because it will take away from social welfare programs that we as a community rely on the most, and because it will impact each and every one of our lives.
The great Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
Let us embrace the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. who envisioned a world where human beings lived side by side in peace and harmony without death and destruction at our doorstep each and every day. Let us envision a society that invests in its people, ensuring them their basic human rights - to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The answer is not war. The answer lies in building and promoting social, civic, and governmental institutions that promote peace and tolerance. That is the only answer if we are to see social, racial, economic, gender, and sexual justice ultimately prevail. That is the only answer if we truly want to see the liberation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in this country and around the world.
I urge all queer Canadians to stand up today and join the fight! Join the struggle for liberation and freedom, and let our government know that war is not the answer to the struggles that our world faces. Our destiny is ultimately doomed if we let anger, hatred and prejudice, all of which are rooted in war, take over.
The alternative to war is rooted in our hearts, our souls and in our minds. Are we that afraid to delve deep inside and search for the truth?
Gay editorial Archives Toronto Whorlpool Magazine.2001
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