|
Hey, moral majority: make up your mind about gays The Supreme Court's April 2 decision, which forced the Alberta government to recognize the rights of gays and lesbians, has Alberta's moral majority in an uproar. Social conservatives, longtime opponents of both abortion and gay rights, were furious with their leader Ralph Klein, who refused to invoke the notwithstanding clause in order to opt out of the Supremes' pro-gay ruling. But an ugly inconsistency appeared among the arguments of the anti-gay camp itself. >> Opponents of gay rights have long argued that human rights legislation which includes the term "sexual orientation" will encourage more and more young people to choose to be gay. They add, while citing sketchy statistics, that it is a particularly unhealthy lifestyle, leading to all sorts of disease and addiction, culminating in a shortened lifespan. In other words, the state should not be in the business of promoting the gay lifestyle. >> But at the same time, social conservatives have also argued gays are an elitist class, living better and higher on the hog than their straight counterparts--certainly not a group in need of civil rights protection. Witness Roy Beyer, a spokesperson for the Alberta-based Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC), quoted in a Globe and Mail article the day after the court's decision: "By every objective measure, economic income, cultural influence and political clout, Canada's homosexuals are a privileged, even pampered community, carrying none of the natural burdens of families," (an argument strikingly similar to those made by the Third Reich about Jews prior to WWII). >> So what's it going to be boys? Are gays sick, depraved individuals headed for the morgue way sooner than everyone else or are they "privileged" and "pampered"? >> CFAC quickly changed its tune when the Mirror called to inquire about the rather glaring contradiction. Spokesman Bryan Rushfeldt had no comment on the health-and-lifestyle issue and insisted the organization wants the notwithstanding clause invoked for "reasons of democracy only." Alberta indicated what they wanted in two lower-court decisions, he said, and that's why CFAC is urging Klein to act--case closed. "I don't really want to talk about my personal opposition to this ruling," he said. "The people of Alberta have spoken and that should count for something." --Matthew Hays
|