Queer Ontario Launch speech
Tonight we are celebrating two momentous occasions at once, the farewell to a leading provincial lgbt rights organization and the launching of a new queer rights organization in Ontario.
You have already heard from Tom the kinds of groundbreaking work the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario (CLGRO) undertook throughout its 34 plus year history. From the long hard won battles of getting ‘sexual orientation’ included in the Ontario Human Rights Code to getting same-sex relationships recognized; from sex laws concerns such as parks and washroom arrests and bathhouse raids to a critique of the policing of our communities; from arguing for our inclusion in employment equity and disability legislations to challenging ignorance regarding our issues in the health care, social service and education systems; CLGRO blazed a trail in this province demonstrating that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and in the latter years transgender communities were one to be reckoned with, sending reverberations throughout the country and internationally with its pioneering work and progressive social analysis.
Read more…