The recent Liberal campaign policy announcement focusing on providing security for organizations and groups at risk of hate crimes has neglected to include LGBTQ groups.

At a campaign stop in Winnipeg this week, Stephane Dion announced a $75 million fund to help provide security for "ethno-cultural and religious organizations" which have been subject to or are at risk of being targeted by hate crimes. "We see this as a critical part of any government plan to fight racism and hate propaganda," said Dion.

The program, a result of extensive consultations by the Liberal Caucus Task Force for Security Funding for at-Risk Communities, specifies that the funding is only for ethno-cultural places of worship, educational institutions and community centres. Despite being frequent targets for hate crimes and vandalism there are no clauses which allow for LGBTQ community organizations or centres to apply for this funding.

"Hate propaganda against our community is all too often cloaked as religious in nature," Helen Kennedy, Executive Director of Egale Canada said, "raising the question of whether churches which preach intolerance might be eligible for protection whereas advocacy organizations and groups such as Egale Canada would be left to provide their own security."

LGBTQ persons are a high risk group for discrimination and targeted hatred accounting for nearly one in three incidents. According to 2006 Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Report, Hate Crime in Canada, 56.3% of all incidents were listed as violent and half of all victims were between 12 and 24, the age range also most vulnerable to suicide.