Some communities have experienced difficulties in having pride day/week proclaimed—others have received broad support from mayors and city councils. The following list identifies just some of the different experiences that communities have faced as they approach their mayors and councils.
After two unsuccessful attempts, the lesbian and gay community has succeeded this year in obtaining a Pride declaration from City Hall.
The support of the province was demonstrated by the participation in last year’s parade of both the Provincial Attorney General and the Chief of Police.
The coordinators of Okanagan Lesbian and Gay Pride Week have been proactive in seeking to obtain Pride proclamations from municipalities in the B.C. interior.
To date, proclamations of Lesbian and Gay Pride Week have been granted by the Regional Districts of Central Okanagan and North Okanagan and from the mayors of Armstrong, Coldstream, Keremeos, Lake Country, Lumby and Spallumcheen. Summerland has proclaimed "Lesbian and Gay Equality Week". Definite refusals have been issued by Enderby, Kelowna, Oliver, Osoyoos, Salmon Arm and Sicamous. No response had yet been received from Peachland, Penticton, Vernon and the Regional District of South Okanagan.
A number of municipalities have subsequently decided to no longer issue proclamations to anyone, including the Regional District of North Okanagan, Enderby, Coldstream and Lumby. Oliver has specifically implemented a new policy of refusing proclamations for "controversial" issues, or to any group seeking a proclamation based on race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.
In Kelowna, the Mayor last year refused to issue any proclamation containing the word "pride", a term which he felt should not be "co-opted" by the lesbian and gay communities. A complaint to the provincial Human Rights Commission has been laid, and the mayor is claiming that proclamations constitute an endorsement and the principles of free speech require that he not be forced to endorse something he does not agree with.
A request was made in 1997 and 1998 for the Mayor to proclaim Pride Week. The City has refused to declare Pride Week based on a policy that prohibits the declaration of anything that could be considered "divisive" within the community.
There is currently a complaint before the Saskatoon Human Rights Commission based upon the refusal of City Hall last year to issue a Pride proclamation.
A complaint was filed with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission several years ago because the Mayor refused to declare a proclamation for pride. The Commissioners, however, refused to send the complaint to an adjudicator on the basis that the Mayor’s decision may be protected under the free speech provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Manitoba Human Rights Commission did, however, "urge" the Mayor to issue a pride proclamation which was never done.
After the Ontario Human Rights Commission decision concerning Hamilton was issued, Mayor Susan Thompson of Winnipeg decided to stop issuing proclamations completely.
On May 9, 1991, Joseph Oliver on behalf of the Hamilton Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) requested that Mayor Robert Morrow proclaim the week of June 13-16 as Gay Pride Week.
After hearing no response from the Mayor, Mr. Oliver contacted the Mayor’s office and was told that no such proclamation request could be found. Mr. Oliver then hand-delivered another copy of the package to both the Mayor and councillors and spoke to several councillors at City Hall to garner support. A meeting was held between Mr. Oliver and the Mayor, at which time Mayor Morrow claimed that he would not issue the proclamation. Mr. Oliver then filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
According to Mr. Oliver’s statement of complaint, the Mayor’s reasons for refusing the proclamation were:
"a) He believed it would set ‘our’ cause back stating that ‘By proclaiming Lesbian and Gay Pride Week, it will cause your movement more harm than good’;
b) He expressed concerns for ‘vulnerable and sensitive members’;
c) He did not believe there would be a City Consensus to support the proclamation;
d) He felt the timing of our request was not right."
The Ontario Human Rights Commission found that the Mayor did discriminate against the complainant on the ground of sexual orientation, and ordered the Mayor to pay $5,000 in compensation.
The attempt to see Pride recognized in Ottawa has had a long and chequered history.
In 1990, a proclamation for Pride Day was passed by City Council. Alderman George Kelly subsequently forced a reconsideration of the vote, however, because he was offended that the proposed date for Pride Day coincided with Father’s Day. As a result of the reconsideration, the decision to proclaim Pride Day was reversed.
Two days before the march, Ontario Court Justice Allan Austin ruled that the City Council’s action was discriminatory and ordered that the City reinstate the proclamation to declare Pride Day. Judge Austin observed that the Ontario Human Rights Code is intended to "discourage acts which maintain or aggravate discrimination. The affidavit evidence satisfies me that the withdrawal [of the proclamation] here did maintain and aggravate a discriminatory situation." This decision was subsequently overturned on procedural grounds however.
In 1995, the Pride Committee asked the mayor to issue a proclamation declaring the week of July 13-21 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Week.
The Councillors fought over whether or not to include ‘transgender’ in the name. Finally, they struck out all the words "lesbian", "gay", "bisexual" and "transgender", proclaiming simply "Pride Week". Council also changed the wording of the text of the proclamation. The revised proclamation declared that Pride Week celebrated persons who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual but, instead of using the word "transgender" referred to those who led ‘alternative lifestyles.’
After this debate, many people pointed out that the name should not be decided by councillors, but should be defined by the LGBT communities. As a result, in 1996, the Pride committee members did not ask for a Mayoral proclamation. Instead, they wrote their own, and then contacted politicians in the region asking them to show their support by signing the proclamation.
In 1997, for the first time, the City Council passed a proclamation stating that Pride Week celebrated the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities in the city of Ottawa.
In 1998, the Pride Week Committee successfully obtained a letter of support for Pride Week from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. A copy of that letter is attached.
A proclamation has recently been signed without difficulty by the Mayor, for the second year running.
Mayor Mel Lastman agreed to support lesbian and gay Pride in the Megacity, issue a procalamation and participate in the parade, provided that there was to be "no nudity". Pride Committee marshals agreed to enforce the "no nudity" rule.
In 1995, the lesbian and gay community organization HALO asked the Mayor to proclaim Pride Week. The Mayor refused, claiming that she had developed a policy not to issue proclamations dealing with "abortion, sexuality (heterosexual, homosexual, celibacy), anything that could cause controversy in the community, anything that would promote illegal activity, or anything that would incite hatred toward a group."
A complaint was subsequently laid with the Human Rights Commission. The Board of Inquiry found that the Mayor’s refusal to proclaim Pride Week was discriminatory. The Board described the Mayor as "a self-professed evangelical Christian [with] strong religious views on a number of issues, including abortion and homosexuality". The Mayor’s "policy" was itself found to be discriminatory, since it was designed, at least in part, specifically to deny the legitimate request of the lesbian and gay community. As a result, both the Mayor and the City were held liable, and fined $10,000.
In 1995, Kim Hill and Allison Brewer, on behalf of the organizations Fredericton Lesbians and Gays (FLAG) and the New Brunswick Coalition for Human Rights Reform, requested that Mayor Woodside proclaim June 23-25 as Gay Pride Weekend.
Mayor Woodside refused to proclaim Gay Pride Weekend. In a letter Woodside remarked that "...this decision is based solely on the inappropriateness of dealing with matters of sexual orientation in Council Chambers. This decision also reflects our community’s feeling about this issue."
In June of 1995 both Hill and Brewer filed a complaint with the New Brunswick Human Rights commission stating that Mayor Woodside had discriminated against them based on sexual orientation.
An inquiry date is scheduled for mid-July. The Board of Inquiry has granted EGALE intervenor status to support the efforts of FLAG and the New Brunswick Coalition for Human Rights Reform. A copy of EGALE’s brief is part of this kit.
In the heart of the riding previously occupied by notorious anti-gay crusader Roseanne Skoke, a Pride proclamation was successfully obtained last year.
Pride Week has been successfully proclaimed this year.
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