Alberta Extends Political Protections To The Gays, But Still Feels Free To Discriminate Against The Gays

Bill 44, the much maligned and impossibly obtuse legislation sitting before the Alberta provincial government, who will vote on the measure Monday evening, is a slight of hand political trick, meant to appear as one thing, while being another thing all together, and late today, gay and lesbian groups in the province were determined to find any means necessary to upend the bill. In theory, Bill 44 is an attempt by the province to fall into line with a Canadian Supreme Court ruling handed down eleven years ago that protected and strengthened the rights of gays and lesbians in this country, in particular from discrimination based on sexual orientation.

While the bill will finally “enshrine” the protection clause into the province’s Human Rights Code, it will also provide a parental provision offering a parent the right at any time to remove a child from curriculum thought to be offensive, like sexual orientation, consequently creating two classes of citizens, separate and not at all equal, and in effect sanctioning discrimination based on sexuality –the very thing the bill was meant to correct. As to the question as to whether the authors of Bill 44 were being ironic or simply stupid, seriously stupid would be the correct answer.