On Nov 28, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a tearful apology to the LGBTQ+ community on behalf of the government of Canada.
Trudeau spoke to a packed chamber in the House of Commons, referring to decades of “state-sponsored, systemic oppression and rejection” against the LGBTQ+ community as “our collective shame.”
The federal government is shelling out $110 million to compensate LGBTQ+ civil servants whose careers were sidelined by the systemic discrimination to which Trudeau referred.
Matti Villeneuve, chairman of Fierté Timmins Pride, says, “A lot of people have experienced discrimination, lost jobs, on the part of the government due to their sexual orientation. This will help many move past it.”
Studies show that it’s not just civil servants who experience workplace discrimination. In a 2015 report by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, In & Out: Diverging Perspectives on LGBT Inclusion in the Workplace, 29 per cent of LGBT+ respondents said they had experienced discrimination in the workplace compared to just 3 per cent of heterosexual and cis-gendered respondents.
One doesn’t have to look far to find local examples of discrimination in the workplace against individuals who identify as LGBTQ+, however it’s difficult to find people willing to go on the record.
One transgendered male told TimminsToday he was singled out by a former employer and told he was “not a real man” when he was unable to lift a heavy object that even his cis-gendered co-workers couldn’t lift on their own.
He was forced to try to lift the object on his own to prove his masculinity, resulting in a hernia.
He also expressed fear of retaliation by his former employer if TimminsToday published his name.
While Villeneuve appreciates the progress that Trudeau’s speech represents, he says, “There’s still work to do.”
This work, he contends, includes fighting for the rights of gay males to give blood, and supporting legislative efforts like Bill 24, which passed in the Alberta legislature on Nov. 15.
Bill 24, an Act to Support Gay-Straight Alliances, prohibits teachers from outing students who join gay straight alliances.
Ending LGBTQ+ discrimination starts with listening to people who sometimes don't understand their own biases, Villeneuve says. “Because of my position, I have a lot of people approach me to discuss these issues, and I just listen. Many realize as they are talking that their arguments are not making a lot of sense and they have a light bulb moment.”
Only time will tell if Trudeau’s public apology will result in “light bulb moments” for future anti-discrimination legislation and workplace anti-discrimination policies.
