GSA Canada

Greetings, friends. As many of you may already be aware, the new Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Mr. Stephen Harper, is following in his colleague, President George W. Bush's footsteps and attempting to make same-sex marriage illegal in Canada.

I want to invite all of you, whatever your gender or orientation, to join this, my community, (GSA stands for "gay-straight alliance" and this community is open to all, regardless of gender or orientation) and leave a message here pledging support for the Canadian people to be allowed the fundamental human rights granted them under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This includes the right to not be discriminated against on the basis of gender or orientation.

To deny persons of alternate orientation the right to civil or religious union with their chosen partner, is a violation of their Charter rights and Mr. Harper needs to be reminded of this; as well as the fact that Canada is not the United States - we are a sovereign nation and as such, are capable of independent thought.

As well, please take a moment to visit this website:

http://www.equal-marriage.ca

It will explain the issue, present you with the facts and provide you with the opportunity to write to every Canadian M.P. as well as put your name to a petition which calls for this issue to be dropped for all time.

If you would take the time to leave a note of support here, join my community, and spread the word about the equal marriage campaign website, the petitions, etc., I would be most appreciative.

Sincerely,

Jake

GSA Canada

my question of the day is this: is there a canadian equivalent of the matthew shepard foundation?

i've googled, to no avail.

My name is Jake and I live in Toronto. I have created this community in order to provide a free, safe forum for Canadians and non-Canadians alike to talk, share, discuss and reach out to others, both in their own country and elsewhere. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, GSA stands for Gay Straight Alliance. It is my hope that this GSA Canada LiveJournal Community will bring people together from all walks of life, ethnic groups, age ranges, genders and orientations with the express purpose of creating dialogue, opening minds, challenging preconceptions and breaking down barriers.

One of the most groundbreaking films of our time, Brokeback Mountain, has created a strong impetus towards opening channels of communication between gay and straight people, and I am eager to build on this foundation. I am starting with my own country as it seems to me that Canada has a reputation for being more liberal, more "gay-friendly" than other nations - after all, same-sex marriage is legal here, and our national Charter of Rights & Freedoms guarantees freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. This may indeed be true in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, but what about the rural areas of Canada? Are you free to be "out and proud" in Crossfield, Alberta for example? How about Northern Ontario? What is it like to be a gay male teen attending school in somewhere like Englehart or Smooth Rock Falls?

GSA Canada seeks to serve as a sounding board, listening post, agony column, sympathetic ear and discussion forum for issues surrounding the central theme of sexual orientation. Above all, we seek to actively promote understanding and acceptance between gay and straight people, and to encourage straight people to join in the spirit of community in order to create strong bonds between gay and straight persons. We are all the richer for sharing, learning and supporting each other in the struggle to evolve into better human beings.

My hope is that by creating strong alliances between gay and straight people in our own communities, we can present a united front against those who seek to undermine the progress that has been made in the fight for freedom and equality for all persons. Gender and orientation should be irrelevant to politics and policy and to community and society - who we choose to love should have no consequences upon our lives as human beings.

Please feel free to post questions, problems, ideas, streams of consciousness, odd ravings, rants, et al. If you have a particular problem, please enter the subject line "Agony" and I will answer to the best of my ability. Others are of course free to, and indeed, encouraged to, post comments in response to Agony postings as well - the more advice the better and I certainly do not claim to have all the answers!

There ain't no reins on this one.

Sincerely,

Jake