Canadian Election Fears...

People actually call themselves queer theorists? I mean I'm familiar with "queer theory" and I guess I've heard people refer to others as queer theorists, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone label themselves that.

I would say that's pretty accurate, although they would never cop to it in today's climate. Basically the Conservatives are not fans of diversity in general, much less diversity of sexuality. You get the impression many of them would like to have "White Canada" policy much like they had quite explicitly in Australia up until the 1970s.

Oh, as much as the NDP has become more centrist of late (sadly), I'm pretty sure they are far more committted/interested in establishing equality than the Liberals are. The Liberals were pretty much pulled kicking and screaming into same-sex marriage, same-sex spousal rights, same-sex anti-discrimination legislation--you name it, the Liberals were not initially that supportive of it.

Good question... I haven't looked into it. I think most people's default is to assume the Greens are progressive across the board because they're progressive environmentally but actually there are a number of former Reform and Progressive Conservative and "new" (read: Reform/Alliance) Conservative members of the Green party, so assuming the Greens are pro-gay might not be the most accurate pairing. They really are primarily "one issue," and while I think that issue is monumentally important, it does mean you have to look carefully at the rest of their platform.

Well yes, but happily the Conservatives were polling in majority territory in the 2nd to last election, which resulted in a Liberal minority, so polls are useful but hardly 100% accurate.

Another positive thing, I think, was how the Conservatives were eager to squash one of their member's private bills that would restrict abortion through a back door because they didn't want to have to defend their anti-abortion stance to the Canadian public, approximately half of which is female.

Now if only the other parties would do way more to capitalise on their regressiveness!

As for stem cell research, that might be an interesting problem for the Conservatives just because the largest and arguably most influential demographic group in history, the baby boomers, are all getting to the age where they'll start really feeling the effects of diseases and conditions which could quite conceivably be treated by stem cell research efforts. I'm thinking of Nancy Reagan's support for stem cell research despite the fact that she was married to the modern "heart and soul" of the most conservative/regressive version of the Republican party in the US ever. It's similar to how it's much harder for someone who identifies as politically conservative to be anti-gay if they actually have one or more loved ones who are gay. Personal connection can often override lifetime voting patterns (thank the gods).

Bad blanket to use... because honestly, my experience has been shock at how many non-straight people are ignorant (or worse, dismissive) of any real feminist ideas and theories, how many of them participate in relatively oppressive religions, and how many of them are politically conservative. In an ideal world, you'd think that having faced pretty monumental oppression/discrimination/hardship (or at least having the potential to be subjected to it), queer people would just naturally be able to make the connection between their oppression and the oppression of other groups... but in the real world, that doesn't seem to hold.

Unfortunately, we're all generally raised in an environment rampant with sexist, heterosexist, racist, and homophobic values and beliefs, and so while having to deal with being non-straight gives people an opportunity to challenge those defaults, it doesn't mean that everyone will necessarily take that opportunity. So there are definitely racist gay people, sexist gay people (especially men), self-hating gay people... you wouldn't think there would be, necessarily, but there are. I know of one gay guy who is not only super pro-Harper, he loves McCain and Palin, which to me is incomprehensible. And those people usually claim (until the cows come home) that it's because they're a person who happens to be gay, and that being gay is not the only thing about them and not the be-all and end-all of their lives. And I appreciate that sentiment and I've come to realise that being gay is a lot more important to me than it might be to other gay people, but it seems to me that when you have political parties who are fundamentally opposed to sexual diversity and personal freedom that surely that overrides how you feel about economic policy or the military or religion.

Sadly I've not been able to talk any of these politically conservative gay people around. I just don't see what good lower taxes are if you can lose your job because you're gay or be denied housing, be denied the chance to make medical decisions for your loved ones, etc.

And people can be really quite... well, dumb about voting. For instance, my mother voted BC Liberal in 2001. The BC Liberals are the major pro-business, right-wing political party in BC (whereas the federal Liberals are centrist, and can lean somewhat left on social issues). But the other major party in BC is the NDP, which is pro-union, and my mother wasn't a big fan of unions, mainly because when my dad was a business owner, they (my parents) feel they got screwed by them. Fair enough--that was their experience.

So my mum votes BC Liberal in 2001 and they get elected in a highly disturbing landslide: we're talking 77 of the 79 seats go BC Liberal. And what does my mum complain to me about within the first 6 months or a year of them taking office? She complains that the government has cut chiropractic coverage from our basic universal medical plan and upped the montly premiums from $36/month to $54/month.

And I'm like, "Mum, what did you think they were going to do?! It's hardly like they ever claimed to be the party of the little person who makes a regular income! They want to increase the privatisation of healthcare... of COURSE they're going to cut coverage and raise costs!"

So there you go... people will actually cut off their noses to spite their faces when it comes to politics. And not every queer person is as open-minded as it might seem they should be.

So yeah... Canadians should do whatever they can to prevent the Conservatives from keeping power or gaining more, because they are bad, bad news for the non-normative, and the non-normative includes anyone who ain't straight.

Plus they cut funding to the arts and Harper actually said he thinks the fucking MARKETPLACE should determine more of what gets produced and developed! RIGHT--because capitalism is a really good starting point for creative decisions! GAHHH! It makes me want to scream.

And that's not even getting into how glorious the failure of neo-liberalist "free market" capitalism has been shown to be with all the very recent government bailouts of financial institutions! You know what government bailouts of the financial sector are?! PURE SOCIALISM! That's right... the US government, under Bush and the Republicans, is following incredibly socialist ideals to attempt to stave off the collapse of their economy! So much for the wonders of the "free market," huh, boys and girls? But I guess it's all right as long as we still don't have to provide universal healthcare, because socialised medicine is just wrong. Totally wrong. People should fend for themselves... unless they're rich investors and CEOs and the like, in which case taxpayer money should leverage for all it's worth to fix the problems which corporate greed and government abdication of regulatory responsibility created in the first place.

But don't mind me... I'm just a neo-Marxist and we all know Marx is an idiot because unrestrained capitalism is so obviously the way to go! OMMMMM invisible hand! OMMMM laissez-faire!

:lol:

 

So I realize this thread is a bit old now, and the Liberal, NDP and Conservative views on gay marriage have already been stated. But, since I'm doing a school assignment where we've actually got to go and vote in school, I've been reading through most everything on all the different party sites, and here's a quote from the Green Party's page on the issue for anyone who is curious:

"Canadians believe in freedom from discrimination. This includes people having the right to live their lives without being discriminated against for their race, creed, ethnic background, political beliefs or sexual orientation. A majority of Canadians applaud the fact that Canada was one of the first countries to sanction same sex marriage. Canada's Charter of Rights and laws now do a reasonable job of prohibiting discrimination. However we must be vigilant to ensure these laws are respected in practice and delivery.

Our Vision

In 1996 the Green Party of Canada became the first federal party to officially support the inclusion of same-sex couples in civil marriage, and we are pleased that this issue is now settled. However, much prejudice and discrimination remains, and transgendered people are rarely even considered when laws and public policies are created.

Our vision is of a world free from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, a world in which difference is accepted and even celebrated.

Green Solutions

Green Party MPs will:

* Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to explicitly include gender identity and gender expression as protected grounds of discrimination.
* Amend the Criminal Code to include gender identity and gender expression in the hate sentencing and hate propaganda provisions.
* Repeal s.159 of the Criminal Code.
* Support public education to end prejudice and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
* End the targeting by Canada Customs of LGBT bookstores and other LGBT businesses.
* Ensure Canada advocates internationally for an end to state-sanctioned discrimination and violence against LGBT people."