Promoting greater awareness

Overcoming invisibility key to political change



   Because most lesbians and gay men are not recognizable as such
to the general public, many people believe that the community is a
very small one. One of the reasons politicians ignore us is that
they think there aren't many of us.
   Politicians who fail to publicly address sexual orientation
issues help perpetuate our invisibility. Few politicians are well-
versed on the issues, few attend lesbian and gay community
activities, and many seem reluctant to even say the words lesbian
and gay in public.


The EGALE questionnaire asked


Have you spoken in the House of Commons or elsewhere on sexual
orientation issues?



Kim Campbell: "Yes....I have been a strong advocate in a number of
forums for adding sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of
discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act."

Jean Chr‚tien avoided answering the question, and instead spoke
about the Liberal critics who address various sexual orientation
issues. As far as we have been able to determine, he has never
spoken publicly on sexual orientation issues since becoming Liberal
leader.

Audrey McLaughlin did not answer this question. However, she has
spoken publicly on sexual orientation issues on a number of
occasions.




Have you attended lesbian and gay community activities?



Kim Campbell: "Yes, I have attended a number of such activities in
my riding and elsewhere."

Jean Chr‚tien and Audrey McLaughlin did not answer this question.
We do not know if they have attended community activities.

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