June is Pride Month – a time to celebrate and unite in solidarity to defend and promote the human rights of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Now more than ever, we need to stand up against homophobic and transphobic policies and laws that strip people of their basic human rights.
Right-wing hate groups are on the rise not just internationally, but also in our own backyard. Just last week in Ladner, vandals threw black paint on the entrance of a church and the window of a minister’s office where the Pride and Progress flags were flying.
Violence against 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and communities is regularly on the news.
Even drag queen story time events in libraries here in B.C. and across Canada have been disrupted by hateful protests.
International outrage
While there’s been much progress on enshrining the human rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals in Canada and other countries, it is still illegal in 64 United Nations member states to identify as 2SLGBTQIA+, and the death penalty is imposed in about a dozen of those countries.
Even south of the border, numerous states have recently passed their own anti-LGBTQ laws, including restrictions on preferred pronoun use in schools, and on the ability of transgender youth to access washrooms that are consistent with their gender identity.
And in May, Florida joined 15 other states in banning gender-affirming care for minors.
The Hospital Employees’ Union has taken several recent steps to improve representation and the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ workers in the union and in the workplace.
Last fall, the union elected six new diversity vice-presidents to the Provincial Executive, including a diversity vice-president representing 2SLGBTQIA+ members.
And in the last round of facilities bargaining, the union negotiated groundbreaking provisions to protect transgender workers, including access to paid leave for gender-affirming surgical procedures and revisions.
Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, and live in a world where they feel safe at home, at work and in their community.
But Pride Month is also a time to celebrate the advancement of 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and their contributions to our society. We encourage HEU members to attend local Pride events in their communities.
You can find a list here.
Happy Pride Month!