Working on the Stories Project has afforded us privileged access to some of the many inspiring Canadians who played key — and often historic —roles in LGBTTIQQ2SA activism and awareness. One of these individuals is David Rayside, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and prominent queer and gender issues activist. Beginning in the mid-1990s, David led the establishment of what is today the largest centre for sexual diversity studies at a Canadian university. Among his successes as an activist, he was at the forefront of a lobbying strategy that resulted in the addition of sexual orientation to the Ontario Human Rights Code in 1986. Due in part to his efforts, Ontario became the second province after Quebec to make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation. It would be another decade before the same rights were afforded all Canadians such that, for example, gays and lesbians could no longer be denied housing or employment with impunity. When we met David, he shared his personal journey of coming out through his activities as an academic-cum-activist. He explained how he was always “a very, very political person.” Nevertheless, throughout the 1970s he remained disconnected from that decade’s gay liberation and lesbian feminist movements — a situation he found “increasingly odd and inappropriate.” Compounding this situation, he was not fully out and felt socially isolated from other gays and lesbians. David explained how reaching out to his peers was “a very new and nervous making venture” with “a certain, if declining, fear of being public” about his sexuality. He explained what finally lit a fire in his belly, prompting him to reach out and get involved. “I just became pissed off. There was an oppressive environment out there and political issues to address.” Listening to David describe his subsequent involvement coordinating a lobbying strategy to amend human rights legislation was absolutely fascinating. His following account is worthy of a movie script: “My university office became a nerve centre. A huge amount of correspondence was generated on my typewriter. I was making calls to people but had no access to [key political figures]. It felt overwhelming. Not even a lowly backbench MPP [Member of Provincial Parliament] would agree to meet with me. I had to rely on a hidden network of gay aides and senior officials who would feed information about what was happening to those at the core of the campaign. “It was then that I began doing interviews with TV, radio, and print media. I remember the first time I was on television to debate the issue. I was completely terrified. It was live to air. Nevertheless, I helped maul the Christian evangelicals on the opposite side of the table. “It helped enormously that my university office was next to Queen’s Park [Ontario’s provincial legislature]. I would go back and forth between teaching class and the legislature. When the amendment was coming up for a vote, I threw on my jacket and tie and ran across campus to Queen’s Park. I dashed into the public gallery in time to see the final vote. I then ran down the stairs in time to talk to journalists and celebrate our success.” As he stepped in front of the media scrum that day, David cemented his credentials as an important public figure for the gay and lesbian community. He also capped off a complicated process of stepping out of the closet in a highly memorable and unique fashion. A 1996 federal government amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Act explicitly included sexual orientation as a prohibited grounds for discrimination, affording all Canadians protection based on sexual orientation. Nevertheless, the same protection has yet to be extended nationally based on gender identity and expression. | |
3 Comments
12/7/2014 12:39:40 am
We tend to forget how much work has been done by the previous generation and we are taking everything for granted. I couldn't remember that the Fed Gov amended the Human Right in 1996.. It's not that far. Thank you so much for bringing us back some facts, fights, pictures and history of our Community.
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Denis LeBlanc
12/11/2014 07:17:58 am
While it was the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario that led the campaign for Human rights for gays, it was a collaboration with its many groups and members all over Ontario, including the wonderful David Rayside. In Toronto at the time of the photo were also Tom Warner, Chris Bearchell, John Argue, Richard McLellan, Dennis Findlay and many more who signed a copy of the Bill for the Archives (I was in Ottawa). Thanks for this. Almost 30 years ago already.
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Ron Levy
12/13/2014 01:25:01 am
Denis,
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The following blogs provide vivid accounts of discrimination perpetrated against people in Canada whose sexual identities did not conform to standards of the day. In equal measure, they provide stirring anecdotes about brave individuals who — in the face of overwhelming oppression — challenged ignorance and injustice. Archives
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