Liberal MP Scott Brison Photo Credit: CBC

Scott Brison, a Liberal MP, recently mailed out his Christmas card to constituents and supporters. As politicians’ Christmas cards go, it is pretty typical. It is attractive and depicts a pastoral scene. The only difference from other cards is that it includes Brison and his same-sex partner. It is also the first same-sex married MP Christmas card. Predictably, there were some hateful, homophobic comments posted on websites, and these sites removed these postings and closed the comments sections.

A few caveats are required. As a heterosexual male, I don’t claim to be an expert on gay culture, but I do sympathize with homosexuals and others when they are faced with discrimination and hostility. At the same time, I do not think it requires a lot of courage to do so, since I believe the level of hostility toward gays has diminished (although obviously has not been eliminated) over the past few decades. Homophobia in Canada, I believe, may now be approaching the degree of stigmatization that racism towards African Canadians has today. The stigmatization of these hateful sentiments, of course, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist or that polite racism and bigotry doesn’t occur.
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