On March 13, 2019 the Vancouver City Finance and Programs Committee heard from speakers in favour of and opposed to a grant request by Vancouver Rape Relief. This is the audio of the speakers presentations. The city renewed the grant but listed the organization as ineligible for future funding.
Category: lgbtq2+
Someone else’s sex or gender identity takes nothing away from yours
We should accept everyone's declared sex and gender for two reasons. The ideal idea that anyone's biology is defined at conception is deeply flawed and in Canada's legal system the recognition of the sex or gender of others as different than at conception causes no negative consequence on anyone.
Human Rights in Doc form
People are asking me about the advocacy that led to being honoured with the being awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General in the name of the Queen and all Canadians. These two short docs by award-winning filmmaker Christine Lord tell the story of the events between 2014 and 2016 that led to … Continue reading Human Rights in Doc form
Sex designation: The US explores the wrong path
While BC was focusing on our October 20 local elections, the news broke in the US that the Trump administration is seeking to define transgender people out of existence by defining sex as binary and immutable. This is not a good thing. In fact, it is deeply troubling. A recent New York Times article describes the contents … Continue reading Sex designation: The US explores the wrong path
Teach hatred a lesson in irony…
A man has been wandering the streets of Vancouver since 6 October distributing flyers. There's no place for what he is writing and no excuse for him to be putting such homophobic and transphobic rants to paper and imposing them on innocent victims. First, I'd like to start by taking a moment to thank everybody … Continue reading Teach hatred a lesson in irony…
Like The UN, Jesus Would Have Called Conversion Therapy A Hateful Act of Torture. So should our Churches.
I was "disappointed" to come across a position today by Glenn Schaeffer of the Lutheran Church of Canada in support of conversion therapy, sometimes called reparative therapy. This is the practice of trying to change the sexuality or gender identity of people. In a recent CBC article, I learned that the Lutheran Church of Canada … Continue reading Like The UN, Jesus Would Have Called Conversion Therapy A Hateful Act of Torture. So should our Churches.
A diversity flag for faith could address supremacists
Inclusion is for everyone - except those who oppress others. If faith needs its own pride flag, let's ask for design ideas from people of faith that have not oppressed others.
