(Untitled)

[slashpile]

I was so furious about the federal government's wretched "by the way" on same-sex marriage last week that I wrote to my MP for the first time ever. (Conservative, former fighter pilot) Got my e-form letter today that blahblahblah comments will be passed on blahblahblah. Thank god they reversed course.

Seriously, I wish I was rich enough to bribe

Comments

[caras_galadhon]

They reversed it? Thank goodness. Christsake, I have no idea what the hell they were thinking. Of course, Harper's been trying to slip his own anti-everyone agendas by from day one, so I shouldn't be too surprised.

[slashpile]

Yeah, they reversed course. But this was such an obvious trial balloon (like, if there hadn't been huge public outcry... ) that I really felt a responsibility to speak out. Literally, for the first time ever on anything. And I know that my asswipe representative probably won't even read it, but I did a few lines about how this was (a) fundamentally wrong, (b) appalling to me, one of the people he's supposed to represent, and (c) the kind of thing that seems to make people feel justified in hate acts. I'll be honest: (c) is the one that makes me the angriest.

[caras_galadhon]

Ugh, good point. It seems like they periodically give things a quick poke from time to time, just to see if the time's right to screw over anyone they don't approve of.

Good for you for speaking out! Hell, even if he never reads it, it still counts, because his office (and by extension, the gov't) has your opinion on record, and that's important, especially when it's one more voice to add to the crowd.

What gets me is isn't this now a Charter issue? So if the Conservatives think they can take away rights that have already been granted, I would think they'd be violating the Charter right to not be discriminated against because of sexual preference. *sigh*

[slashpile]

Well, technically it was a legal issue regarding the process for divorces in Canada, and the argument came from the lawyer defending the government's view of already-existing law. So it wasn't a Charter challenge per se? Although I suppose the couple could challenge, but that would be a separate case

[cherry_faery]

I'm not surprised that they pulled this crap but I think that their little pull out of it was even less surprising. I admit I'm not really that up on politics like I probably should be but this whole thing feels like Harper's way of saying "Hey conservative homophobes! I'm still totally on your side but I can't do anything thanks to these darn liberals!" to the voting public. (Even if I'm wrong, it was a repulsive move on their part and made me deeply embarrassed for my country for a day or two.)

[slashpile]

Oh, I'm so non-political, too. And I don't have TV so I'm pretty out of the main news cycle. But I was just livid about this.

My line in the sand is, you don't get to pull that "family values" bullshit when it HURTS PEOPLE WHO *ARE* MY FAMILY. (As an aside, I truly believe that I am doing this for the good of the bigots' families, too! They have gay people in their families, too, and they are hurting them. I know it's new, I know it's scary, but I happen to think that families are stronger when parents aren't hiding their gay hookups, and kids aren't being kicked out to the street so the neighbours don't find out, and people aren't becoming reconciled to their children's "lifestyle" at the sickbed, etc. Not to mention that our country is probably stronger when, for example, the RCMP isn't blackmailing gay men to "prove" they're security risks. And I'm not even going to talk about the evil that's done by shaming kids about same-sex abuse by authority figures. I will do whatever it takes to keep the doors open.)

[cherry_faery]

I absolutely agree with you on this, particularly the family values crap that they're always trying to pull. I think the FB It's Okay to be Takei community said it best when they pointed out how many straight people in the news can feel free to treat their marriage vows like they don't matter or have marriages that will only last for seventy two days. Apparently this isn't a threat to the institution of marriage but two men who have lived together for over a decade and have never strayed once on each other can't be recognized. I've come to the conclusion that conservatives are afraid of gay marriage because if it's recognized everywhere, suddenly they will have to be accountable for their own failings in that department when the world doesn't cease to be. (For the record, I've officially lost count of how many upstanding politicians have gone on record gay bashing and voting against gay marriage but they weren't above sleeping with someone who wasn't their spouse.)

[slashpile]

Dude. At this point, when anyone publicly expresses homophobia, I assume that they are gay.

When anyone privately expresses homophobia, I share this belief.

(I don't know that community, but Takei is awesome.)