Since 1986 EGALE has been fighting for gay rights in Canada. Originally an acronym for "Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere" it has since expanded to include the Bisexual and Transgendered communities, and is now simply known as EGALE Canada.

EGALE is broken up into 5 regions from coast to coast:

· British Colombia & The Yukon,

· Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut,

· Ontario Capital Region,

· Ontario (excluding Capital Region),

· Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Each territory has one male and female representative. Those representatives have been vital in bringing important issues to light.

"We have been very involved with the equal marriage issue and have been involved in a variety of court cases about the issue," Stephen Locke, male chair for Alberta/NWT/Nunavut told Gaycalgary.com. "We were involved in the Kimberly Nixon case in Vancouver, where a transsexual woman was denied the chance to be a peer counselor with the Vancouver Rape Relief Society because she wasn’t a ‘born woman.’ Our position is that Transsexual women are women, and should not be discriminated against because of their born gender. There is a same-sex adoption issue in New Brunswick, and we supported the Marc Hall case of the teenager who wanted to bring his boyfriend to the prom. Any sort of GLBT rights case that has federal implications; EGALE is usually involved with it somehow."

Locke was asked to join the organization when EGALE took notice of his rallying against the Goliath Bathhouse raids.

"I was involved with the response to the Goliath’s raid and organizing the defense fund and doing publicity against the raid. That brought me to the attention of the EGALE board who needed to fill the male position for the Regional Director of the Prairies, NWT and Nunavut region. Gilles Marchildon who was the director resigned to take on the position of overall director of the organization. They appointed me to the board to fill out the rest of that term and then I was elected to the position."

Since then Locke and the other members of EGALE have seen both the organization and the human rights issues explode.

"There has been phenomenal growth within the organization, in the past year we have gone from a 2 person office to 5 staff as well as numerous volunteers. The Organization is based out of Ottawa, because it’s easiest to lobby politicians there."

Locke feels that there has been an incredible culture shift in recent years. Things have changed a great deal from the mid 1970’s when Chris Vogel and his partner Richard North applied for a marriage license in Winnipeg in the mid 1970’s.

"It was seen as totally outrageous even in the gay community. That was one of the first gay rights pushes were we said ‘equal is equal.’ Regardless of personal opinion, even though some people may not partake in marriage, [it] doesn’t mean that George and Michael down the street or Kate and Michelle down the hall can’t get married. There has been a real shift in perceptions in and out of the community over the past twenty years. Now the gay community says we should have equal rights."

EGALE was a vital part of the 1997 Delwin Vriend case which saw the Supreme Court force changes to Alberta’s Charter of Human Rights.

"Back in the 80’s I was pushing for was sexual orientation inclusion in [Alberta’s Charter of Human Rights]. At that point in time you could be fired, evicted, refused service or not be offered employment due to being gay. We were fighting to have that included, and it wasn’t uncommon for people to say ‘Well I am not discriminated against, how does this affect me?’ That has changed now and people realize that it is important that gays and lesbians be allowed things like spousal benefits, inheritance rights and human rights protection. The heterosexual community has also become more accepting of this idea; there is still debate but its part of the public agenda."

At times it can be difficult to "rally the troops." It is human nature sometimes to not care a great deal about things that don’t affect us directly.

"The GLBT community is not a particularly political one. Most people just want to live their lives, they aren’t interested in the arcane world of gay politics. People sometimes don’t concern themselves with these issues until it happens to them. Then they say ‘Why isn’t someone doing something about this?’ People are, but it is behind the scenes work. The whole idea of ‘lobbying’ is a handful of people sitting down with an MP or MLA and lobbying them to vote for a certain side of an issue."

EGALE continues to fight the good fight towards giving the GLBT community equal rights.

"It will probably be a couple more years but we want to get the marriage issue resolved. The long-term goal is for EGALE to put itself out of business. We want to see a day when we have full equality, where it really doesn’t matter if one is GLBT, you still have ALL the same rights and responsibilities that every other citizen in Canada has. We aren’t there yet."

It takes a great deal of resources and funds to keep EGALE running, and Locke encourages people to visit the website and find out more about the organization and how they can be involved.

"EGALE does really important work, and we currently have 3800 members across Canada. Lobbying and the sort of work that EGALE does costs money. We are always working close to the line financially without operating in a deficit. This sort of work needs to be supported. There are a number of areas EGALE is involved in that may be a match for them. I would encourage readers to consider taking a membership in EGALE. Membership fees are open ended, because every bit helps."

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Contributor Jason Clevett |

Topic EGALE | Politics |