Gay vote key in 30 ridings
Concentration in urban areas gives us clout



   Lesbian and gay voters could determine federal election results
in at least 30 ridings across the country, according to an informal
EGALE analysis.
   That's enough clout to significantly affect national results in
a close election.
   Lesbian and gay voters are a force to be reckoned with, and
candidates are openly courting their votes.
   While there are lesbians and gay men in all of Canada's 295
ridings, they tend to be concentrated in downtown urban areas. That
concentration is particularly high in areas like Montreal's Village
de l'Est, the Church-Wellesley neighbourhood in Toronto,
Vancouver's West End, and Ottawa's Centretown.
   To a greater or lesser degree, there are areas like this in
every major Canadian city, in downtown areas and around
universities.
   That concentration gives us a lot of clout. If the community is
mobilized, their votes are more than enough to swing a riding one
way or another, especially in a close race.

Vancouver Centre: high-profile race

   One of the most high-profile contests is in Prime Minister Kim
Campbell's riding of Vancouver Centre, a riding with one of the
highest concentrations of lesbian and gay voters in the country.
   Campbell won the riding by less than 300 votes in the 1988
election. She subsequently infuriated many of her constituents
when, as justice minister, she introduced a human rights bill that
would restrict the rights of same-sex couples. 
   In this election, Campbell will be facing NDP candidate Betty
Baxter, an Olympic athlete, businessperson, and a proud lesbian.
Liberal candidate Dr. Hedy Fry has also been courting lesbian and
gay voters.
   Conservative MP David MacDonald also faces a tough fight in the
downtown Toronto riding of Rosedale. He won the seat in 1988 by
fewer than 100 votes.
   Voters in the riding elected an openly gay city councillor, Kyle
Rae, in the 1991 municipal election.
   And sexual orientation issues played a big part in a 1993
provincial by-election here, when the candidates for the three
major parties were a lesbian, a gay man, and a male heterosexual.

Courting gay voters

   Federal Liberal candidate Bill Graham has been running ads in
the gay magazine Xtra for months. NDP candidate Jack Layton, a
former city councillor, is frequently seen at lesbian and gay
community events.
   A 1992 article in the Toronto Star estimated that there are more
than 300,000 lesbians and gay men in Toronto.
   In Ottawa Centre, NDP candidate Marion Dewar is challenging
Liberal MP Mac Harb, who won the seat by fewer than 300 votes in
1988. A former Ottawa mayor, Dewar has actively supported the
city's lesbian and gay community for years. She was Grand Marshal
in this year's Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade.
   And in the downtown Montreal riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie, the
candidates know that lesbian and gay support is vital to success.
Candidates include Bloc Quebecois MP Gilles Duceppe, Liberal Robert
Desbiens, Conservative Yvan Routhier, and New Democrat Alain
Gravel.
   A 1988 article in La Presse estimated that lesbians and gay men
account for as many as 20,000 of the riding's 56,000 voters.
   Similar scenarios are being played out across the country, in
Halifax, Moncton, Quebec City, Hull, Kingston, Winnipeg, Saskatoon,
Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria.
   EGALE spoke to community activists across the country, and to
officials from the political parties, and concluded that at least
30 ridings have a significant concentration of lesbian and gay
voters.

Dinosaurs an embarassment

   "We're long past the days when it was considered a big risk for
politicians to support lesbian and gay rights," says EGALE
President Denis LeBlanc. "In the 90s, the reverse is true:
politicians who oppose equality for lesbians and gays are seen as
dinosaurs, and as embarrassments to their parties."
   LeBlanc points to the recent U.S. election as evidence of the
growing political influence of lesbian and gay voters. Studies show
that many gay Republicans voted for Democrat Bill Clinton, and
helped put him in the White House. Gay-bashing rhetoric by
Republican politicians clearly hurt their campaign.
   "Lesbian, bisexual and gay voters are much less timid than in
the past," LeBlanc says. "We are demanding to know where
politicians stand on the issues, and why so little progress has
been made on human rights at the federal level. Most of all, we
want to know what politicians will actually do if elected to
represent our communities."





"In the 90s, politicians who oppose equality for lesbians and gays
are seen as dinosaurs, and embarrassments to their parties."

Denis LeBlanc
President
EGALE

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