Nanaimo city council states its solidarity with LGBTQ+ community

Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog says claims by “extreme elements” that children are being indoctrinated by the school board’s sexual orientation and gender identity framework are “baseless.” Photo: Mick Sweetman / CHLY 101.7FM

The City of Nanaimo is supporting the LGBTQ+ community as another march for “parental rights” is set to take place at City Hall on Saturday, Oct. 21.

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network says that “anti-2SLGBTQ+ activists, cloaking themselves under the ‘parental rights movement’ are taking advantage of normal parental care and interest, in order to surreptitiously build numbers for their fight against the self-identification of transgender youth.”

A statement from the city says council “stands in solidarity with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and condemns all acts of hate and violence towards members of their community.”

The statement says that council recognizes that people in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community face “hatred, ignorance and bigotry.” and that council wants to “make it clear that this is not okay. Diversity is the heartbeat of our city, and hate has no place here.”

The city also plans to raise the Pride flag at City Hall on Thursday where it will remain over the weekend.

City councillor Hilary Eastmure says that this came at the request of Nanaimo's LGBTQ+ community after the protests that took place on Sept. 20.

“I think the queer community saw a lack of support from the city, a lack of solidarity, and really called for us to stand up and say that there is no space for hate in our community,” she said. “There's no space for discrimination. The rights of trans people and the 2LGBTQIA+ community are not up for debate.”

Nanaimo Pride Society vice president Natalie Stewart called the city’s statement and flag raising a “good start” but she would like to see the city organize a town hall for people in Nanaimo’s LGBTQ+ community to communicate their concerns.

“I think it's a good gesture to show that they do support us,” she said. “I think we need to see tangible things to go along with that. There's a lot of difficulty in convincing people who aren't clear that a lot of the rhetoric that's going on is dangerous.”

Stewart says that the “parental rights” talking points mask latent homophobia and transphobia.

“A lot of it gets phrased as though it's just asking questions and just being concerned about kids, when so much of the statistics show that it's really not about protecting kids, it's about hiding queer people from society and we want the city to take that seriously.”

Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog says that the city has a long history of support for the LGBTQ+ community.

“I appreciate that the vice president referred to this as a good start. But candidly, this has been going on for a long time in this community, I would hardly describe it as a start,” he said. “In fairness, this is simply a continuation of what this council and previous councils have done over the years.”

The statement by the city also noted that the city is prohibited from discriminating against anyone who wishes to use a public service or facility by the BC Human Rights Code which includes protection against discrimination based on “gender identity or expression.”

Stewart, who is a woman of trans experience, says that she’s afraid of transphobic harassment when using some city facilities.

“I'm terrified to take my kids to the aquatic center now, because of these protests,” she said. “I'm terrified to take my kids anywhere where someone might think I'm kidnapping them just because I fit a description of somebody who might have been assigned male at birth. It's terrifying, it's angering, I just want to be able to live my life and be a good mom to my kids.”

Eastmure says the city needs to ensure a safe space for everyone who uses city facilities.

“I really think we need to look at our policies and make sure that we have safe space policies in addition to code of conduct policies for city facilities, and to really ensure that our policies are upholding what we believe in when it comes to diversity and inclusion,” she said.

Krog says that the views of the people who are protesting against the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity programs in schools are misinformed.

“The suggestion that there is some level of indoctrination, or you're teaching kids to be gay — which is some of the allegations from the extreme elements — is simply baseless,” he said. “The school district in our city is trying to ensure that students feel safe, that they get the knowledge and information that they need to make decisions about themselves and their own conduct and be able to enjoy the freedom to express themselves in our society.”

Stewart is calling on allies to attend the “March for Inclusion” on Saturday which starts at 1 p.m. in front of City Hall before marching to Maffeo Sutton Park. This is the same time and location as the planned march to “protect parental rights.”

“If you're somebody who would like to show your allyship, please come out and help support us,” she said. “Be a shield to hate because queer people are going through a lot right now and we could really use the assistance. Now's not a time to be quiet. If you come to Pride and enjoy Pride, help us out when it's hard too.”

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.