Congratulations (!) to the House of Commons on the occasion of passing the new bill, Bill-389, on Wednesday, Feb. 9 with the votes of Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois MPs.
On the face of it, the private member’s bill, introduced by MP Bill Siksay of NDP, elected from a B.C constituency, relates to a human rights issue. It is, supposedly, aimed at protecting from discrimination people who are in the process of changing or have changed their gender.
So far, so good.
But that is not where it stops.
Here is what Charles McVety, President of the Institute for Canada Values has to say: “Bill C-389 is a danger to our children. If ‘gender identity’ is enshrined in the Criminal Code of Canada, any male at any time will be permitted in girls bathrooms, showers and change rooms as long as they have an “innate feeling” of being female, according to Megan Leslie’s speech as she co-sponsored the Bill.”
“If I then try to stop such a man from showering with my little girl at the local pool, I could be in breach of the Criminal Code of Canada and could face imprisonment for two years.”
Now, such issues like gender identity and sexual preferences are quite sensitive and “personal” matters.
To the extent that rights and liberties of those individuals are concerned, yes, the law has to ensure that no discrimination is allowed on the basis of their gender-related complications.
But one cannot help feeling that what has been happening over the last decade is a bit overdoing that protection and leaning more to, sort of, glorifying homosexuality.
As one might remember, the movie “Brokeback Mountain,” with dubious cinematic qualities, was granted three Oscar awards in 2006. The film was about the relationship two gay men in a rural setting.
More recently, Ricky Martin, the Puerto Rican pop singer has been on the front pages around the world with the news that he is going to receive an award from a gay and lesbian organization for “coming out” as a gay person.
Why should anyone be awarded for admitting what they are?
The bottom line is that the North American liberalism is really pushing its frontiers to the point of irrelevance by shifting away from social issues to increasingly individual and private matters that should not be any business of the public domain.
But then again, somehow, gay and lesbian groups, with the money and influence they have under their control, particularly in the world of arts and entertainment, have grown powerful enough to exert pressure on political movements. Thanks to politicians’ unending enthusiasm to appease each and every constituency, one must admit that those groups have established themselves as an influential interest group.
It will be interesting to see whether the Senate will take the right action and stop the gender identity issue from turning into a code for privileged treatment for people with sexual complications.