Dear GayCalgary:
Thanks ever so much to Premier Redford and Health Minister Horne for restoring full funding to transgender reassignment surgery, a health matter which should never have been discontinued in the first place. As we celebrate the Premier and Danielle Smith joining Edmonton’s Gay Pride celebrations, this is like a true win for the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender community. As I have stated before, being a man, but living as a woman and having spent many thousands for medications to prepare myself to change into my true feminine self, this policy reversal is like having a huge boulder lifted off of my shoulders. Now maybe I can recover some of the costs I have incurred and be honourable in paying back my creditors first. I personally am not gay, I will still be attracted to females only, whether I am gender species male or female, but for those that are in the LGBT community, I am ever so proud. Tie that in with our superb Edmonton Public School Trustees acting as Pride Parade marshals and Alberta’s level of tolerance for this great community has gone up exponentially this week.
Graciously,
Walter Dean Blake, aka "Juanita Diane"
Dear GayCalgary:
The media is abuzz this week about Jason Kenney’s bizarre email to members of the LGBTTQ community lauding the Conservative government’s work to help persecuted gays and lesbians in Iran.
This government is now trying to sell itself as a great defender of gays and lesbians abroad. And yet in contrast, at home, the Conservatives have consistently tried to undermine the equality rights of the LGBTTQ community. From trying to roll-back same-sex marriage as one of their first orders of business when first elected in 2006, to removing (and having to be shamed into re-adding) a mention of gay rights from the "Discover Canada" booklet for new immigrants, to cutting funding for Toronto Pride, to allowing Bill C-32, which makes changes to allow non-resident same-sex couples that were married in Canada to divorce, to languish for months on end, this government’s record on LGBTTQ issues is nothing short of shameful. In addition, we will not soon forget the hurtful and inflammatory statements against gays and lesbians made both inside and outside Parliament by Conservative members, including several who are now cabinet ministers.
The queer community is right to question the Conservatives’ sincerity when it comes to issues affecting them and we should be resolute in calling them out on their hypocrisy.
The Canadian government should be a leader on the world stage in the fight to combat discrimination against LGBTTQ persons, but it must be equally resolute in its work to ensure LGBTTQ equality here in Canada.
Dr. Hedy Fry
Liberal Health Critic
MP, Vancouver Centre