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Capital men: Réal Ménard and André Boulerice
How times change. For one thing, the lumberjack image been transformed into a totally queer icon. But perhaps more importantly, there are now fags in the sovereignty movement. Tons of them. And in an era where there are still few elected politicians in Canada who are out, two of them are from Quebec. And both are sovereignist: Réal Ménard in Ottawa, the Bloc Québécois MP from Hochelaga-Maisonneuve; and in Quebec City, André Boulerice, the Parti Québécois MNA for Sainte-Marie-St-Jacques.
Ménard is currently gearing up for yet another vote on gay rights in the next session of the Commons. His private members' bill, which calls for the government to change the definition of "spouse" in all federal laws to include same-sex partnerships (marriage law, tax law, everything), will be debated this fall. "I fully expect it will be put to a vote," he says. Meanwhile, Boulerice has been actively lobbying within his own government for an update to Quebec's gay-rights legislation. Quebec, once considered a leader in anti-discrimination measures against gays and lesbians, now ranks among the followers. But Justice Minister Serge Ménard recently announced his intention to change the law and extend benefits to same-sex partners, not just in the Quebec public service, but possibly in the private sector as well--something no other province has done. Réal Ménard, who's known Boulerice for over a decade, says Boulerice deserves credit for Ménard's announcement: "Quebec may soon lead the way on this issue, and it will be thanks in part to him." --Philip Preville |
There was once a time in the sovereignty movement, back in the early- and mid-'60s, when nationalists would insult federalists by associating them with homosexual behaviour. Quebec federalists, the hardcore separatists would say among themselves, liked getting fucked up the ass by the English in Ottawa. Nationalists were real men, descendants of lumberjacks and voyageurs.
Ménard's outing in 1994 caught most people by surprise--himself included. It happened right there, on the floor of the House of Commons. Former Liberal MP and moral-majority mouthpiece Roseanne Skoke started spewing bile about how homosexuals are deviants and child-molesters, and Ménard got so angry he stood up and began a tirade of his own, demanding she retract her words. Ménard never actually said he was gay, but by the time he was done berating Skoke everyone had pretty much got the message. "I knew I wanted to come out at some point," Ménard says. "I just hadn't planned to do it right then."