Tag Archives: homophobia

Religious homophobes aim for Burnaby School Board

Posted on by

Saturday is municipal election day across BC. This means dozens of people (typically around 30% per municipality) will show up and cast their ballots for mayors, councils, and school boards.

While the big issue in Vancouver has been the Occupy Vancouver tent camp set up on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery, in Burnaby the clash is over the school board.

This past year, members of the Burnaby School Board passed an anti-homophobic bullying policy. It generated a lot of heat from conservative religious groups who saw this policy as somehow threatening their right to raise homophobic children.

These parents felt so wronged that they formed a group called “Parents’ Voice” with the goal of taking over the Burnaby School Board. I should mention here that in addition to fireworks at Halloween, metro Vancouver is also unique for having political parties in municipal politics.

Parents’ Voice is now in more hot water for some anti-Islamic comments associated with a website linked to the party’s founder.

Continue reading →

Taking the wrong side

Posted on by

As the resident American on Canadian Atheist, I’m usually keeping one eye on what’s going on back in the States. Earlier this week Ophelia Benson posted on Facebook the following article: LGBT “Welcome” Ad Rejected by Sojourners, Nation’s Premier Progressive Christian Org. Here’s the rejected video in question:

This video shouldn’t be controversial — but if you’re forced to view the world through the eyes of a Bronze-Age morality, suddenly this welcoming video becomes a threat.

From the article:

you can imagine our dismay when Sojourners refused to run our ads. In a written statement, Sojourners said, “I’m afraid we’ll have to decline. Sojourners position is to avoid taking sides on this issue. In that care [sic], the decision to accept advertising may give the appearance of taking sides.”

Taking sides? What are the sides here? That young children who have same-gender parents are not welcome in our churches? That “welcome, everyone” (the only two words spoken in the ad) is a controversial greeting from our pulpits? That the stares the young boy and his moms get while walking down the aisle are justified? I can’t imagine Sojourners turning down an ad that called for welcome of poor children into our churches. So why is this boy different?

Sojourners is one of the most prominent progressive-Christian organizations in the States — and if they can’t stomach the message of this ad, what does that say about their views toward the LGBT community?  I’m fascinated by the resistance of religious people to giving full rights to ALL members of our society: whether they’re fighting it tooth and nail like the Mormons and California’s Proposition 8, or being more subversive in their rejection, like Sojourners.

It’s just another example of the imprisoning and hurtful power of religious dogma. I’m glad I got out when I did.

Gay Republican presidential candidate to “expose Mormons” and “harass” Romney

Posted on by

This story is nothing but win.

I don’t even need to comment, I’ll just quote a couple tidbits and let you go read it.

The candidate — the man behind the wheel, the man who can’t find his lane — is a guy named Fred. He’s exploring the possibility of running for president of the United States.

He is doing this as an openly gay Republican who’s never held elective office, using money he amassed as a conservative consultant who helped torpedo Michael Dukakis with the Willie Horton ads in 1988 and worked for the tobacco industry to stave off smoking bans in California in the ’90s.

Fred Karger, 61, is a nice guy.

He wants his country to see that. He wants young gay people to see him run for president. He’d be the first-ever openly gay presidential candidate for a major party if he formally declares. He can see himself as the moderate voice in a debate crowded with hard-liners.

…

His goal is to get into a debate and nudge the GOP’s conversation, like Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) did in 2008. He wants to make other candidates answer for their statements (or lack thereof) on gay rights. He wants to crash the party.

And from the Atlantic:

"There’s two reasons I can do this," Karger told me last month when he stopped by the Atlantic’s offices on a trip to DC. "One is I’m openly gay and that’s never happened before–never before has an openly gay candidate run for president."

The other, as he put it: "Exposing Mormons." Should Karger’s run gain attention in Iowa and New Hampshire, his prime target for ruckus-making will be Mitt Romney, who, he says, follows a severe anti-gay ethos as an "obedient" Mormon.

There’s also a poll on the Washington Post article (the first one) that needs crashed “Do you think America is ready for an openly gay president?” I see 58% homophobic responses. Let’s change that!

Sask court rules people have to do their jobs

Posted on by

In Saskatchewan a controversy has been brewing after a government-hired marriage commissioner refused to wed a gay couple a few years ago.

The refusal was solely based on intolerant religious grounds, as the commissioner in question was a Baptist minister.

Feeling persecuted since as a white Christian heterosexual male he could no longer continue persecuting others, he appealed to the courts to allow his bigotry to continue unabated. He found allies in the right-wing Saskatchewan Party government who sought the court’s advice on two bills which would protect people who didn’t feel like doing their job.

The first bill would allow any commissioner to refuse any client because of whatever personal beliefs they had, while the other bill would only allow exemptions for commissioners hired before gay marriage was legalized in Canada. Both bills required an alternative commissioner to be referred to the couple.

Since Saskatchewan, like all provinces, allows for clergy to solemnize legal marriages to whomever they deem appropriate and refuse those they disagree with (no province to my knowledge has a law mandating that clergy must marry gay couples), the court has properly deemed both proposed bills unconstitutional.

If you are morally or religiously opposed to a part of your job, it’s not your employer that needs to change your job, you need to look for another line of work.

The only possible exception here applies when what you are opposed to is something that is a violation of a universal right.  No employer can require you to rape or steal (killing is arguably allowed in certain circumstances for the military and police forces), but they can ask you to treat all clients equally.

Despite recent arguments over Canada’s multicultural approach to dealing with pluralism, it’s good to see that our courts refuse to tolerate intolerance.

Support skeptical education in Uganda

Posted on by

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I blame the holidays and then a subsequent lack of motivation to write, but hopefully that will slowly dissipate and I’ll return to my regular frequency.

For now, care of the Atheist Alliance International, I direct your attention to their commendable efforts to rid Uganda of superstition by building a school and teaching critical thinking.

Uganda has recently made headlines for its abhorrent attempt to enact a bill to make homosexuality a crime, punishable by death. While we may lament pseudoscience in Canada like Wi-Fi fears and homeopathy, they are small fish in comparison to the damage that this bill is presenting.

Since schools aren’t free, they need your support to help continue the fight against dangerous superstition and intolerance, so go and donate what you can today.

A campaign against a homophobic charity

Posted on by

Mark at Slap Upside the Head, has started a campaign to get the Canadian Revenue Agency to revoke charitable status for Exodus Global Alliance.

This “charity” is a homophobic US Evangelical group that seeks to “proclaim freedom from homosexuality.” They run anti-gay conferences where they attempt to “cure” gay people and counsel families with gay people in them.

They have been registered as a religious charity since 1999 within the category of “Missonary Organizations and Propagation of Gospel,” which basically means that our government considers curing gay people worthy of issuing tax receipts for (while at the same time also sanctioning gay marriage). While we (and I presume to speak for everyone here) at Canadian Atheist take exception with the propagation of religion as a charitable activity, it is especially disgusting to see such an endorsement of hateful, discriminatory practice by our own system.

So what can you and I do?

First, read more from Mark, and learn what’s going on. Then write CRA to complain. And finally, share this story so more people can get the word out.

Mark’s even provided a form letter to use to file your complaint:

I’m concerned that the activities being performed in Canada by Exodus Global Alliance, a registered charity, do not meet the criteria of a public benefit as defined by the Canada Revenue Agency.

Exodus’ primary activities include the promotion and treatment of homosexuality as a mental disorder—a notion not supported by the medical and psychological community. Since homosexuality has not been listed as a disorder in medical literature since the mid 1970s, it does not require treatment as promoted by Exodus. Several respected medical and psychological associations, incuding the American Medical Assocation and the American Psychological Association, have issued official statements attesting that such treatments may even result in serious psychological harm.

For these reasons, and in the interest of Canadians, I believe Exodus Global Alliance’s charitable status should be re-evaluated according to the Canada Revenue Agency’s public benefit criteria.

Which can be sent to:

…Contact Revenue Canada’s Charities Directorate at 1-800-267-2384, or write to them:

Charities Directorate
Canada Revenue Agency
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5

You can also contact the Office of the Commissioner and Office of the Deputy Commissioner of the CRA:

Mrs. Linda Lizotte-MacPherson
Commissioner — Chief Executive Officer of the CRA
7th Floor
555 MacKenzie Avenue
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5

Mrs. Lyse Ricard
Deputy Commissioner of the CRA
7th Floor
555 MacKenzie Avenue
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5

It’s about time that we started challenging the promotion of religion as a basic charitable activity.

Time to quit Christianity

Posted on by

There’s a story in The Province newspaper today about a 17-year old teenager who recently felt she had to quit her church.

Tory Inglis felt she was no longer welcome at the First Presbyterian Church in New Westminster (part of metro Vancouver) after they confronted her about a picture of her at the recent Pride celebrations.

Tory is a brave, young individual and it’s awesome to see her stand up herself, and it’s even better to see her parents stand with her.

It’s dangerous to hold too tightly on to any tradition. Growing up in that church probably meant a lot more to Tory than I will ever know (having never grown up in a church), and I’m sure she’s thinking that she will lose many friends in the process. If any tradition requires you to hate yourself, it’s not one worth keeping.

And Tory, if I may speak directly to you, don’t feel that you have to join another church this fall as you plan to. Take some time to discover yourself and your beliefs. Check out a number of different organizations and question everything. Try the BC Humanists or Centre for Inquiry Vancouver, as both of our groups marched together in the parade this year.

See, we’re a bunch of smiling, friendly people. :-)

Now stop worrying, and enjoy your life.

WordPress theme: Kippis 1.15