Pierre trudeau gay
Tag Archives: Pierre Elliot Trudeau
The Calgary Chinook Fund supports charitable organizations providing services, programming, and knowledge, for and about the LGBTQ2 society. They also annually present a hero award. Notably, this year’s hero was consequential to our historic human rights struggle. At their October fundraising dinner, the hero award was given to Bill Wuttunee, posthumously, in the presence of family and friends. Here is what was said at the event by the Chinook Fund’s Gordon Sombrowski.
Oki
This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the proclaiming into law, the amendments to the criminal code which partially decriminalized homosexuality and therewith began the process of adjust that has led toward equal rights for the LGBTQ2 community in Canada. In seeking who to give our Hero Award to this year, we wanted to identify the fiftieth anniversary of the alter to the rule. In working with the Calgary Same-sex attracted History Project and Kevin Allen, the Chinook Fund Committee happened upon an incredible man who was a stalwart ally and champion for the male lover community in Calgary and who has all but been forgotten. Unfortunately, we did not find this man until
Even before Confederation, Canada had outlawed homosexuality. Same-sex relations were technically punishable by death, reflecting a time in Western history unfriendly to homosexuality. But in 1868, when the Dominion of Canada was only one year mature, the Criminal Code would instead prescribe jail time and flogging for what it deemed an "act of gross indecency." Homosexuality was viewed as a cross between an illness, an do of sexual deviance, and evidence of immorality; those who were found out were often stigmatized socially and professionally.
By the mid-20th century, things were finally starting to change. Maintaining a degree of anonymity, gay rights activists across the country began writing in support of decriminalization as early as 1949. By 1964, mainstream media had even turned sympathetic with Maclean's Magazine running a historic two-part series entitled "The Homosexual Next Door." That same year, Canada would earn its first gay rights company, the Association for Social Facts (ASK), which formed in Vancouver. In addition to the widespread lectures it sponsored and the discussion groups it organized, Question also published and distributed a newsletter and opened Canada's
I hope you’re not sick and tired of all the coverage of Pierre Trudeau’s death. I for one think it’s marvelous and inspiring, because I expected today’s cruel Canadians to respond with a “Ho hum, and where’s my tax break?”
It’s worth noting his impact – direct and indirect – on the lives of Canada’s gay men and lesbians.
Trudeau was instrumental in decriminalizing homosexuality in the 1960s – as summed up in his known 1967 sound-bite, “The express has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.” As justice minister in 1967, and as prime minister in 1969, Trudeau helped put an end to silly laws which criminalized gay sex. Many such laws still exist and are enforced in the US.
Politicians since Trudeau haven’t had the balls to legislate on matters of equality and justice. But despite their cowardice, Trudeau’s legacy has allowed us legal victories in the past two decades.
As politicians ignore plain legislative changes which would deal with gay issues, we are left to engage in lengthy and expensive court battles. The courts, in turn, defer to a Trudeau invention: the Canadian Charter
Pierre Trudeau
1919-2000
Who Was Pierre Trudeau?
Pierre Trudeau was the 15th prime minister of Canada, an office he held for nearly 16 years. Many of his policies evolved from the revolutionary ideas of the 1960s. He helped prevent Quebec from separating from the rest of Canada in 1980 and championed a new constitution for the country, which greatly advanced Canadians’ civil rights. His son, Justin Trudeau, followed in his footsteps to get Canadian prime minister, though not during Pierre’s lifetime. Trudeau died in 2000, just short of his 81st birthday.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Pierre Elliott Trudeau
BORN: October 18, 1919
DIED: September 28, 2000
BIRTHPLACE: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
SPOUSE: Margaret Trudeau (1971-1984)
CHILDREN: Justin Trudeau, Alexandre, Michel, and Sarah
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Libra
Early Life and Career
Pierre Elliott Trudeau was born on October 18, 1919, and raised in the wealthy Montreal suburb of Outremont. His mother, Grace Elliott, was of both French and Scottish descent, so Trudeau and his two siblings grew up speaking both French and English. His family was quite wealthy by the time he was a teenager, as his father, a businessman and law