Dinosaurs spotted on Parliament Hill Outdated ideas face extinction If you thought Jurassic Park was the only place to find living, breathing dinosaurs, think again. A number of the dangerous beasts have been spotted on Parliament Hill. "In political terms, a dinosaur is someone whose ideas are so outdated that they face extinction," says EGALE President Denis LeBlanc. "They exist in a kind of time warp that is totally out of touch with the realities of the 1990s." Dinosaurs don't let facts get in the way. In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they persist in promoting the old myths -- that homosexuality is a "lifestyle choice," that it hurts "family values," that it can be "cured", that queers are to blame for pedophilia, AIDS, and a long list of society's woes. The vast majority of Parliament Hill dinosaurs are Conservatives, but the species has been observed in almost every party. Recent sightings include: * Conservative MP Ross Belsher (Fraser Valley West, British Columbia), who maintains that "sexual variations beyond heterosexuality are unnatural and perverse." He cites Biblical passages to back up this claim. Belsher even went so far as to call Prime Minister Mulroney in 1987 to tell him he would never support legislation to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation. He later sent a newsletter (at taxpayers' expense) to constituents explaining how homosexual rights undermine the traditional family. * Conservative Darryl Gray (Bonaventure-Iles-de-la-Madeleine) considers homosexuality "a deviant factor of our society." * Conservative anti-abortion crusader John Reimer (Kitchener) has been one of the most outspoken opponents of lesbian and gay rights on Parliament Hill. * Other Tory MPs who have stated their opposition to an equal rights amendment include Energy Minister Barbara Sparrow (Calgary Southwest), Don Blenkarn (Mississauga South), and Ken James (Sarnia-Lambton). * Al Johnson (Calgary North), chair of the Tory "family caucus", has publicly argued against "special rights" for lesbians and gays. * Reform Party MP Deborah Gray (Beaver River) has also indicated her opposition to an equal rights amendment. * New Democrat Les Benjamin (Regina Lumsden) replied to EGALE's questionnaire with snide comments that make it clear he's not a keen supporter of his party's positions on lesbigay issues. We were not displeased to learn that Benjamin is retiring from politics. * Finally, there's Liberal MP and black sheep Tom Wappell (Scarborough West), who once told a gay constituent that homosexuality is a "lifestyle choice which is not practiced or condoned by the vast majority of Canadians [and] is not in accordance with the biology and physiology of the human body." With support from pro-life groups, Wappell ran for the Liberal leadership, and later tried to take over the party's national executive. He recommended keeping refugees in unused military bases, and rejecting all refugees testing positive for HIV. In a memo to MPs, he linked homosexuality to pedophilia, bestiality and necrophilia. EGALE believes that election time is dinosaur-hunting time. We may not be able to defeat homophobic MPs in the most conservative ridings, but we can expose them for what they are. If you're interested in obtaining more information on the views of these and other dinosaurs, you can call or write to EGALE in Ottawa. Often the dinosaurs' own words are the best ammunition to use against them. Dinosaurs consider homosexuality unnatural, perverse, and deviant. 538 words