| Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
It is a great honour and privilege for me to be here this morning. I am very thankful for
this opportunity. Just think of it. It is just before Halloween and Roseanne Skoke's worst
nightmare is here speaking as an openly gay professional. Let me point out that I am not receiving an honourary degree, nevertheless I am greatly honoured by your being here today. I was not so courageous as to proclaim my sexual orientation so openly when I was a student here. At the time I felt that I had enough to deal with in getting my courses and completing my studies. Getting a degree is of such fundamental importance that the risks involved in dealing with any negative consequences that might be brought about by an honest exploration of an individual's sexuality make it very difficult for our people to engage in such honesty at university. I am convinced that this is a problem that continues. Your bravery and honesty in just being here today will be immensely helpful to someone who is struggling alone with his or her homosexuality. That person will learn of this occasion and for the first time learn that he or she is not alone in the struggle. Since our people are three times as likely to commit suicide, the probabilities are that this occasion will save a life by giving someone the hope and courage which will prevent that person's suicide. Congratulations, it is a wonderful legacy to this university. One of the things I want to do today is to let it be known that Roseanne Skoke's worst fears will be realized. Together we will change the scope and definition of "family" in Canadian laws and society. It is high time this archaic institution was changed. Control of our living situations has been left to the religious fundamentalists and right-wing fanatics for far too long now. Just look at the result. Dysfunctional and broken families are the norm, not the exception. The truth is now, as it has always been, that the abnormal family is the one in which the same male and female stay freely in a sexually monogamous pair-bonding relationship for their entire adult lives. Children, women, social minorities and the disabled are being forced to live in poverty as the only alternative to the abuse they may suffer in their lives. Surely it is wrong when women are forced to raise their children alone and in poverty. It is just as wrong to force those less able to compete for their place in society to live in poverty. This is not something that we can put away from us and ignore. The repercussions affect all of us. It is not the divorce rate that is the problem. The problem arises when people are denied alternatives to living in an unhealthy situation. High taxes and governmental deficits are the usual slogans howled by those on the political right to scare citizens and governments away from dealing with social justice items. What good is a balanced budget when the weak in society are forced to live on the streets without food or shelter? What good is a low tax rate when only those who can pay for hospitalization are able to obtain adequate health care? What use is a definition of family that allows only a few to participate? How many of our citizens do we put in prison before we realize that it is less expensive to operate welfare programmes than it is to operate prisons? Yes, it is time we changed the definition of "family" to allow those of us who are in long-term, same-gender relationships the opportunity to enjoy the same safeguards, privileges and obligations that are allowed for others in our society. If the institution of marriage is so fragile that allowing same-gender couples to marry will destroy it, then what good is it anyway? Before the gay community had to deal with A.I.D.S., those suffering from cancer and other terminal illnesses were left alone in a darkened room to die. Now there are palliative-care programmes as well as home-care programmes which our community took the lead in developing. Our role is to try new things to lead society toward better lives for all people. The models of care our community developed for our own people have been used directly to provide these same programmes for others. We have made a positive difference in the way our society treats the sick and dying. It is now time for us to deal with the "family". It really is good to be back here today. Those of you who know me know that I simply fell in love with Nova Scotia and the Annapolis Valley when I arrived here some nineteen years ago. I am originally from British Columbia. I grew up on a dairy farm near Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. There were some good years there and I had a great childhood. My parents were good to me, but after a while it became apparent to me that farming in British Columbia was not what I was meant to do with my life. I managed to avoid having to deal with most issues in my life by drinking alcohol to excess. However, it seems that this strategy only works for a while. Then those issues which have been suppressed arise again. There may have been help and information available at the time to help explain the difficulties I was experiencing, but I did not find it. When I reached thirty years of age I felt that I simply could no longer live in British Columbia and so I left to see if I would find a life I could live or if I would just wither away and die. The year was 1977. I hitch-hiked to Toronto that summer and that is where and when I met Lloyd Simmons. At the time we met I had no idea that he was to be the major part of the new life I found, but if you do the arithmetic, then you will realize that next year will be our twentieth anniversary. Lloyd is also an Acadia alumnus. He is a graduate of the class of 1954 and 1955. At that time if he had been found to be homosexual he would have been dismissed from the university for no other reason and his career would have been over before it started. Lloyd taught high school on Prince Edward Island for thirty-two years and then took early retirement when it was offered to him in 1983. He was a very respected and loved high school teacher. When he retired the people there brought forward a petition asking him to stay. Happily, however, he decided to come with me to Ontario in 1985, while I completed my law degree at Queen's University. These years with Lloyd have been exceptionally good and I am glad that he decided to spend them with me. Even though I fell in love with Nova Scotia, we felt that Toronto offered the best economic prospects for me at the time. The summer of 1977 is also when I met Robert Stead and was introduced to Nova Scotia. He and Lloyd actually are cousins. I want to take this opportunity just to say how very fortunate I am to have two such fine people in my life. I have Lloyd to bring the stability to my life that allowed me to complete university, including law school and the bar admission course in Ontario. It was Robert Stead, however, who brought me the opportunity to begin studying at university. He encouraged me to begin studying at Acadia University. I started by taking correspondence courses and then when they went well enough I started full-time studies towards a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. My high school experience had such little relevance to me as a gay person that I had no idea whatsoever I had any aptitude for scholastic work. It was much to my surprise that as I began to complete the courses I kept getting passing grades. Eventually I completed my Bachelor of Business Administration degree and then I was also able to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree. My time here at Acadia University was made wonderful by such individuals as Robert Stead. I also met Vernon Ellis, Matt Hughes and many others. We all became good friends have stayed in touch with each other. In fact, we are lobbying our friends to move to Toronto and join us there. Life in Toronto has its attractions. It is not so bad as we might have been led to believe after living in small towns. We came amazingly close to making Toronto in particular, and Ontario in general, the cultural capital of the world. In 1994, if the infamous Bill 167 extending full legal spousal recognition to homosexual relationships had passed in the Legislature of Ontario we would now be dealing with a massive inflow of the most talented and gifted people the world has to offer. As it is now we are not doing too badly. Life for homosexuals simply does not get any better anywhere than it is in Toronto. The most surprising thing, especially after seeing some eight hundred thousand people celebrating together on Lesbian and Gay Pride Day, is the realization that most homosexuals do not live in Toronto. The fact is that each and every small hamlet and village, as well as the farms and woodlands, have homosexual people living there and there are many more of us out there than most would imagine. This is wonderful and just as it should be. But, it is a fact that has been hidden long enough. The current wisdom is that the best way to deal with homophobia is simply to let people know that when they meet you they are meeting a homosexual. As people get to know us their fears evaporate. Homosexuals then become that nice man or woman down the street instead of some almost naked apparition cavorting in some riotous performance away in Toronto. Unfortunately, coming out so publicly does have its dangers. As free as life is in Canada for homosexuals, the freedom could disappear quite quickly. It has happened before and could happen again. There is still much work to be done before we can relax. Germany in the 1920's was a very enlightened place. Berlin was just as free as Toronto is now. There was a flourishing homosexual culture there. Berlin was a world center for all kinds of lesbian and gay organizations and groups. One of them was Dr. Magnus Hirschfield's Institute of Sexual Science which was a world center for enlightened research about homosexuality. They conducted studies, offered seminars, held discussion groups, and provided scholars and the public a library of more than ten thousand priceless volumes covering the history, psychology, physiology, spirituality and biographies of many lesbian and gay people. Gays and Lesbians began to feel fully accepted in society and after a decade of liberation no-one took the political warnings seriously. Well, as we now know, Adolph Hitler was named chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, and took absolute power in Germany on February 27, 1933, after burning the Reichstag and blaming the communists. On May 6, 1933, Magnus Hirschfield's Institute of Sexual Science was demolished and the irreplaceable library was burned book by book in a huge bonfire. The arrest and imprisonment of homosexuals began almost immediately. As we also know, after perfecting their methodology on homosexuals, the Nazis turned their attention to the Jews. As we examine history, if we do not wish to repeat the past we should be saying to ourselves what lesson is there for us now? How would this relate to our present situation? Well, I would suggest that often it is our gay and lesbian people who are the first to learn that those in power do not have the best interests of society at heart when they are put in positions of power. I would point to the Canadian military as a prime example. This organization was once filled with magnificent courageous individuals who waded ashore on the beaches of Normandy and crawled through the mud of Europe so that the scourge of the Nazis I have just referred to could be abolished. The personal sacrifices of these individuals cannot be overstated. I know that many of these people were lesbian and gay because I have met and talked to some of them. I will also tell you that one of the joys of living in Toronto is that I have
been able to meet such wonderful people as Michelle Douglas and her partner Rose. Michelle
was thrown out of the military when they discovered she loved a woman and would not give
her up. Michelle led her class at military training school and is a very gifted and
intelligent woman. To me she is an example of the finest citizen Canada could produce and
is someone whom I would be proud to have stand on guard for me. I consider myself lucky to
have her as a friend. |
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