SHOCKING: The Alberta NDP Supports Removing the TQ+ from the LGB
Will we be seeing some apologies?
Today was the annual Calgary Pride Parade, and I attended for the first time in years to show support for my good friend Lois.
Lois was marching with the NDP contingent wearing a hoodie and a pride flag cape with the intrusive TQ+ triangle cut out.
(By the way, you can buy attire and accessories with that amazing design from Nina Paley.)
The liberated pride flag, as we like to call it, is our way of symbolically taking the gay community back from the pernicious elements of queer theory that have infiltrated it. The flag once symbolized the liberation of same-sex attracted people, but it has been colonized by a totalitarian ideology that asks us to pretend sex either isn’t real or isn’t important, that is destroying the rights of women, and that is harming children.
The NDP welcomed Lois to march with them with open arms. She was even asked to hold the banner!
Many NDP MLAs were happy to take pictures with Lois in her statement-making attire, including Rachel Notley:
Janis Irwin:
David Shepherd:
And Brooks Arcand-Paul:
As the parade passed by where I was standing and I went out to hug my friend, Rachel Notley also very kindly agreed to take a picture with both of us.
We hope that none of these MLAs have to apologize for being photographed with us. Lois was marching as a proud transsexual who believes that sex is real, that same-sex attraction is real, and that children shouldn’t be sent down a pathway of medicalization for being gender non-conforming. Lois was marching for people like me, a lesbian who has been with my female partner for 16 years and who believes that I would have been encouraged to transition had I been born a little later.
Unfortunately, even as I was putting together this post, Brooks Arcand-Paul posted and then deleted a picture of Lois and himself.
You see, we both regularly get accused of bigotry, homophobia, and transphobia despite being same-sex attracted (and Lois being transsexual). Pride should be inclusive of people like us. Unfortunately, despite all of the lip service given to “diversity,” diversity of thought is rarely welcome.
I will say this—Lois did not encounter any harassment for what she was wearing, and the NDP was nothing if not kind. Likely this was because most people didn’t actually notice the flag nor realize what it meant.
We know that the NDP doesn’t actually support what Lois was standing for, and we know they probably would have not wanted to be pictured with her if they did.
We are grateful that all went smoothly, as we did have some concerns that Lois might upset the wrong people and end up in a potentially scary situation. Even having to worry about something like that is unfortunate. There were many flags and statements that we don’t personally approve of proudly displayed all throughout the parade, and I wouldn’t dream of telling people how they can express themselves.
Maybe, one day, we won’t have to wonder if our presence and our preferred flag might cause a stir—or worse—if we don’t fly under the radar. I’d say Lois has made a big and positive step toward allowing that to happen, and I hope she can serve as inspiration for others.
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Hey I have a question. How do you justify using she/her pronouns for a man? Especially with all the men who appropriate womanhood. If your friend were to commit a crime against a woman, would you still use she/her pronouns?
I used to do this all the time, just to be nice and "respectful" but in this current social climate, I don't feel that I owe it to anyone, to refer to them with pronouns that do not correlate with their sex. I always try to use the correct sex pronouns, or I just use refer to the person by their name.
When I saw that bit cut out of the "Progress" Pride flag, I thought of the Communist emblems cut out of the Romanian flag during the Revolution.
Intrusive symbols can be cut out and the missing symbol is itself a symbol of resistance.