Editor's note: Mr. Maclennan writes in relation to the BayToday story Despite protesters, families enjoy Midland drag queen storytime event
Let’s actually read the entire piece before commenting for once.
When did we accept hate online or in person as just, “A Day in the Life”? When did most Canadians sit quietly and not speak out against hate? When did we stop showing our support at events to prevent those that want to spread hate from wanting to be seen? Why are so many using the charter of rights to justify hate-filled protests even though the charter does not protect against hate?
As we look at all the comments online, we see people say, “I am not against the gays but….” or “I am not homophobic but…” or “I have a gay friend….” or “I have a black friend….”, but then they make a comment that is completely full of hate against another person. I will bet you lunch, once people read this piece, some of you will make some hateful comments, whether blatant or some type of covert hate.
You are probably sitting here going, covert hate? Yes, it really is a thing and we are sure some of you are guilty of it. Some of you may not even realize it, while some of you know you are doing it. For example, Pride Radio Canada which plays music like other radio stations, created online ads for their social media to gain some market share, no different than any other radio station like KissFm, MooseFm etc., Yet, they get comments like “Nope.” Then get other comments like, “Peddos”, “Groomers” and so many more, and those are the nicer ones. “Nope” on social media pages is a powerful word, but the question comes, does this person write “Nope” on all the other radio stations' social media ,and the answer is, you guessed it, “Nope.”
What they are doing is a covert form of discrimination. If you treat someone else differently than you treat all your family and friends or other people similar to you, that is actually discrimination. It does not matter whether you have a gay friend, a black friend, or part of the community you are part of or not it is still homophobic, it is still racist, it is still transphobic, it is still just spreading hate no matter how you try to defend it. Nope implies a lot.
The reason some people have made those comments, even though Pride Radio Canada plays music like any other radio station around the world, is because the station has the word Pride in its name. It seems to be a trigger to so many white straight men. Yes, we are calling out white straight men because almost every hate comment came from a white straight man. If this statement triggers you, then we suggest you look at what you have done because you know you have said things that are probably discrimination. If you are a white straight man, and not triggered to defend yourself from the above statement, then you probably are not the problem.
Now, you are asking, “How do you know they were white straight men?”. We know this after reviewing their personal social media pages, and they are very proud white straight men. Does this mean all white straight men are the problem? No, of course not. There are many white straight men, who stand up against hate, and believe in equality and equity.
It raises the question though, why are so many hate comments coming from white straight men? A good friend once told me that many white straight men are bitter because they were promised the American Dream. You know the one, “You can have anything you want if you want it bad enough. Nothing is off-limits to you. You just have to take it.”
But what happened to this American Dream where all the white men run everything? Well, let me tell you.
Women got the right to vote. The majority of society recognized that women deserved equal rights and equal pay and are also just as capable as any man in the job market and performing the same job. Although, you would not know this if you looked in many boardrooms of companies around the world.
Then, most of society realized that it was wrong to have “White Only drinking fountains” and that is not ok to hang someone from a tree for being a different colour. We also realized that is not ok to walk down the local street and beat someone to death because they are a homosexual. Many Canadians decided that every person deserves clean drinking water. We can keep going, of course, but we think you get the picture.
Have we done better over the years, yes we have, but we still have a lot of work to do.
When you have someone protesting a drag queen story time saying they are grooming children, but they have said nothing to the catholic church or other various religious organizations for the actual crime they committed against children, we know this is not about the children, this is about the 2SLGBTQ+ community, especially trans folks who have become this intense target. And if you cannot see that, then you are part of the problem.
No drag queen has ever been charged with a crime against children at a drag queen storytime. Not once. Those videos some of you share to justify hate are usually from adult events in bars. It’s strange, you never see a live video feed on social media from these hate individuals from an actual drag queen story time, do we? But that would no longer fit the narrative they are spreading.
Let us be really clear, trans rights are human rights. Trans women are women and trans men are men. This is no blurred line here. It is fact and recognized by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal and Canadian Human Rights Code. Sadly, many trans folks face hate and violence every day because they are in fact trans. You do not have to be a trans person to see the ongoing hate towards them. And let’s be really honest, if you are worried about what parts someone has to go in a washroom, that says a lot about you, not anyone else.
There is an old saying, “I think they protest too much” meaning you are pointing at something you are and you want to be them. We are there to pee. I have no concerns about who else must pee in the washroom, because I want to do my business and leave, not hang out in a washroom because there are much better places to hang out in. Aren’t there stalls anyway with locks?
Before you make your comment, think about what you are going to say and read the information in full before making your comment. And if you feel the need to defend the hate or those spreading the hate either in your face or covertly, you need to ask yourself, “Why am I triggered by this that I must defend myself and others?” Because if you write that comment you are thinking right at this moment, then you are probably part of the problem that is causing hate to spread faster than STIs. Hate is not in humans. We learn it and we can certainly unlearn it and it's damn time we did.
If you are silent when hate is being shared or spreading and do not call it out, you are complicit in hate. We cannot be silent when it comes to any form of hate. Even just reporting a post that has hate in it, even covert hate, is doing something. But standing together against hate is doing it right.
