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International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia 2021

“The pandemic has shown once again just how important solidarity is. Solidarity between folks from different backgrounds, and solidarity between countries. When one of us is suffering, we all suffer. It’s essential that we show solidarity with our LGBT friends around the world.” — Larry Brown, NUPGE President

Ottawa (14 May 2021) — On May 17 we celebrate the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB). The theme for IDAHOTB 2021 is “Together: Resisting, Supporting, Healing!”

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) invites all members to participate in IDAHOTB activities. Many are occurring online and are free to join. You can find a list of international events on the official IDAHOTB website or Canadian events on Queer Events’ website.

“The pandemic has shown once again just how important solidarity is. Solidarity between folks from different backgrounds, and solidarity between countries,” said Larry Brown, NUPGE President. “When one of us is suffering, we all suffer. It’s essential that we show solidarity with our LGBT friends around the world.”

“NUPGE is proud to celebrate the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia,” said Bert Blundon, NUPGE Secretary-Treasurer. “We strive to make our unions an inclusive space and a place to foster LGBTQI2S+ success. We resist discrimination in all forms.”

LGBTQI2S+ in Canada

Canada is often hailed as being a progressive country when it comes to LGBTQI2S+ rights. And while that’s true in some cases, it doesn’t mean we are completely free from discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia.

Only 3 years ago, the Conservative government of Ontario repealed the 2015 Health and Physical Education curriculum and planned to revert to a version last updated in 1998. The old curriculum was inadequate to cover topics such as same sex relationship, gender identity, gender expression, and other topics critical for safety and healthy development of LGBTQI2S+ children and helps foster understanding for cisgender and heterosexual children. Not only was the Conservative government prepared to fail the students, they went as far as setting up a website (dubbed a snitch line by critics) where parents could report instances of teachers who continued to teach using the 2015 version of the curriculum.

Just this month, CBC News reported that CN Rail was denying a man access to his deceased husband’s pension because CN Rail didn’t recognize same sex relationships at the time of the husband’s retirement. The fight to access the pension has been going on for 9 years. Also occurring this month was the Halton Catholic District School Board’s decision to not fly pride flags at their schools during pride month (Global News).

The good news is that in all cases mentioned above, the LGBTQI2S+ community and allies rallied to reject these decisions. We all must continue to speak out about discrimination against LGBTQI2S+ people.

Intersectionality in LGBTQI2S+ issues

When we talk about LGBTQI2S+ rights, it’s important to make sure we’re talking about all LGBTQI2S+ people. The Stonewall Riots, an often cited turning point in American LGBTQI2S+ history featured BIPOC at the center of the resistance. Gay City News published a history of the riots and wrote that, “Marsha P. Johnson and Zazu Nova, both transgender, were black, and there were some black and Latinx youth among the homeless street youth who were the first to lead the charge against the police. Several Latinx men were also among the first to resist or attack the police.”

It’s important to build solidarity between communities. People from racialized groups, different religions and cultures, and with different abilities face discrimination on multiple fronts. We must stand with them against the other forms of discrimination they face. If we don’t, we are failing members of the LGBTQI2S+ community.