LGBTQ Issues – Page 2 – The Hungover Pundit

Pride 2019 Part 7 – The Reports

For the first time in quite a while I’m getting back to the blog. I’m going to do my usual caveats: between health problems, the COVID-19 lockdown (we’re currently on day 101 of a very strict self-isolation) other projects, major dental surgery and a family crisis, I’ve let my writing fall by the wayside. I need to stop doing that, I know. Inertia is difficult to overcome when you’re in pain, and that’s an explanation, not an excuse.

Ironically, the other problem I’ve faced is that there’s so much going on in the world that it’s difficult to get started. With the coronavirus pandemic, the anti-lockdown/paranoid racist protests, the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing massive reaction across the US and the world, the ongoing police violence towards protesters… it’s overwhelming. As a writer, having too much to address is often as bad as too little.

Like, where do you start?

Well in my case, I’m going to start with yesterday’s release of Scott Bergman’s Independent Review Into The Events Surrounding Hamilton Pride 2019. (The full 125-page report can be downloaded in PDF format from the criminal-lawyers.ca website, and the executive summary has been published at in its entirety at Raise The Hammer.) Mr. Bergman’s report was commissioned by the City of Hamilton to understand what happened before, during and after last year’s attack by hate groups against Hamilton Pride, particularly regarding the behaviour and reactions of the Hamilton Police Service.

Pride 2019 Part 6 — Not The Way Forward

Last Friday CBC’s Samantha Craggs published a story about the Hamilton Police Service’s post-Pride analysis; apparently she’d gotten a copy of a document called “The Way Forward“, outlining the response to “concerns raised by members of the LGBTQ at a meeting in August.” Along with a great deal of pious insincerity about how “[The HPS] is committed to self-reflection — words matter” and how they “must consider the impact of its words, active listening and working towards restoring trust” the document proposes an “action plan” for the HPS to improve their relationship to the LGBTQ+ community in Hamilton, including several specific recommendations:

– The creation of an “online portal” to educate the general public about hate crimes.
– Implementing “more officer training.”
– Resurrecting the long-defunct LGBTQ+ advisory committee.
– Appointing a uniformed officer to be an “official liaison” with the LGBTQ+ community

Election Day

Monday is election day here in Canada. We’re having a federal election (for my American readers, Canada has three tiers of government: Federal, provincial and municipal) and all the polls are showing that it’s a neck-and-neck race between the incumbent Liberal party under Justin Trudeau and the Conservatives under Andrew Scheer. The popular vote projection at 338Canada.com shows the gap between the two parties as less than the margin of statistical error. (For my American readers again, there are three-hundred and thirty-eight seats in the House of Commons, hence the name. In order to have a “majority” government, one party needs to hold at least 169 seats.)

While the outcome is impossible to predict, it’s clear the Liberals are going to lose the majority they’ve enjoyed — and done very little with — over the last four years. Whether we end up with a minority Liberal government or a minority Conservative government is… well, it’s too close to call, really. It’s so close that I haven’t even bothered to have a bet riding on this one, although my personal preferred outcome would be a weak Liberal minority government with the NDP holding the balance of power in either a formal or informal coalition agreement.

Mobilizing on Church Street

This coming Saturday, September 28, a self-proclaimed “Christian values” group has announced that they will march through the centre of Toronto’s “Gay Village”, the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood. The group, which calls itself “Christian Positive Space,” claims that they chose Church St. to march on only because of the traditionally-Christian connotations of the word “Church”… and therefore, according to the group’s spokesperson David Lynn, are only be promoting Christianity and not homophobia.

I have only two words to respond to that claim: Bull. Shit.

This march comes after months of so-called Christian street preachers — including the same “Brother Phillip” of the hate group “ServantHOODs” who incited attackers during the June 2019 Hamilton Pride event — showing up in the Village and harassing the LGBTQ+ community on the streets. This harassment has been to the point where police have arrested David Lynn himself (although, alas, not charged him) for disturbing the peace.

What We’re Doing Wrong

I’ve noticed some worrisome trends in the anti-hate movement in Hamilton and I feel that its time to address some of those concerns before they grow too big to handle. I’m going to start with a caveat: This isn’t directed any any specific individual. If you feel like I’m talking about you, well, suppress the urge to be outraged and ask why you feel singled out. It’s not my intention to upset folks, but there are issues developing within the movement that need to be addressed.

I’m also going to add a second caveat: This is not about me virtue-signalling, which is nine-times-out-of-ten a pejorative term used by the alt-right and other bad-faith actors in order to shut down legitimate criticism and necessary self-examination. I’m speaking, throughout, as a white cis-male activist who’s got twenty years of experience in progressive circles, and mea culpa, I still fuck up more often than I’d like.

This post is intended as constructive criticism, with a definite emphasis on constructive. But it still needs to be said and from the basis of someone with experience, I’m going to step forward and say it. And frankly, if it pisses you off then it pisses you off… but do us both the courtesy of honestly examining why.

First, let me address what we’re doing right: We’re keeping the pressure on the fascists. We’re refusing to allow fascists, racists, homophobes and other organized hate groups uncontested access to public spaces in Hamilton and elsewhere… and while it might seem like a sisyphean task, it’s an essential one. The hate groups are trying to outlast us; we simply cannot let that happen.