Right-Wing Canadian Women's Group Insulted by Human Rights

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O Canada, the land of free health care and legalized same-sex marriages. Sometimes, from up here on our porch of "progressiveness," it can be fun to look down on our American neighbours and shake our heads at the dysfunctional political debates that dominate CNN. A friend of mine once told me that the best thing about being Canadian is "getting to live like an American without actually having to be, you know, an American." In political terms, this means we get to live in a democratic nation, but our government isn't partially elected by a large population of white Southerners who tend to disagree with things like science.

It's a fairly condescending notion, but there's an element of truth to it. Stephen Harper has done his best, often crossing his own backbenchers, to keep social issues like abortion and marriage equality out of the public debate. But that doesn't mean social conservatism in its most heinous manifestation—bigotry—doesn't exist in the Great White North, it's just not popular enough to win a federal election.

Enter REAL Women, an NGO with a political orientation that could accurately be described as slightly-right-of-bonkers. Last Wednesday, the group issued a press release attempting to shame Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for speaking out against homophobic laws in Uganda and Russia. As I wrote about a few months ago, the Canadian government gave over half a million dollars to a homophobic relief group in Uganda, so it takes a pretty extreme perspective to make a pseudo-closeted Conservative cabinet minister look like a hero of LGBT causes, but that's what REAL Women have somehow managed (even if our country might actually be run by a gay mafia).

The other sticking points for REAL Women were the $200 000 Baird gave to "special interest groups" in Uganda, which Landoldt considered "highly offensive" to taxpayers, along with Baird's open criticism of Russia's anti-LGBT laws, which he has referred to as "mean-spirited and hateful." The laws in Russia, which have outlawed information on LGBT issues from being given to minors and have banned Pride parades, have attracted a great deal of media scrutiny lately, given the consequences they might have on athletes and tourists at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

I really wish I could direct you to the press release itself, because it reads a bit like one of those fake advertorials that run in The Onion. Example: "It is a fact, that homosexual activists in Canada are intolerant of any resistance to their demands, and, as such have become a tyrannical minority" (sic, obviously). Unfortunately, I can't link you to the press release because REAL Women's website has been down since Friday. I can, however, link you to a August 2 cache of the site, which largely consists of republished op-eds from our country's most obnoxious pundits (at least one of whom has publicly opposed REAL Women).

According to REAL Women, it is "insulting" for leaders of Western countries to their own cultural values on other nations who don't share those values. In other words, they think it's a little of rude of John Baird to ask the Ugandan government not to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. "According to the culture and the religion of, you know, Uganda, it's not a human rights issue." REAL Women national vice-president Gwendolyn Landoldt told CBC News "It may be unwise by Western standards, but who are we to interfere in a sovereign country?"

Cultural relativism is a pretty silly sentiment to extend into the sphere of human rights, but the part about interfering in a sovereign country is more than a little hypocritical coming from this particular group. Judging by REAL Women's website, their entire purpose is to encourage the state to impose socially conservative values on the entire population. Officially, REAL Women "speaks for women who support the values of traditional marriage… We see the fragmentation of the family as one of the major causes of disorder in society today."

In other words, they don't like it when gay folks get married. Claiming that marriage equality is somehow a "threat" to "traditional marriage" or "families" is a standard technique used by homophobes to support homophobic policy without actually admitting to any homophobic sentiment. The trick is to turn the actual issue around and behave like a victim. Hence, REAL Women has accused "homosexual activists" of being "intolerant" and "tyrannical" as if it were every gay man's sole intention to destroy nuclear families with effete hand gestures and colourful shirts.

The Foreign Affairs office has handled this conflict rather well, although it helps that very few media outlets have taken REAL Women seriously. Baird asserted that most Canadians don't think homosexuality should be criminalized (duh) while his aides held a meeting with representatives from REAL Women. Apparently, they had a civil conversation and agreed to disagree.

John Baird has the support of the Prime Minister. The Conservatives were elected with the help of centrist voters who are more concerned with the economy than advancing regressive social causes. REAL Women won't affect any policy at the moment, and most pundits (including right wing ones) have balked at the extremity of their opinions, but it would be a mistake to think that Canada is somehow "above" these issues. REAL Women have 50 000 members who stand behind the group's disinterest in protecting homosexual lives in Uganda; a great deal more Canadians would oppose marriage equality if the issue were brought back to Parliament.

Earlier this year, Harper faced criticism from backbenchers who wanted to bring abortion back to the public debate. Small-c conservatives are divided about about the current administration's policies on LGBT rights abroad. All this means that if Stephen Harper loses control over the Tories—whether by retiring, losing an election, or failing to maintain a party revolt—these issues will likely return to parliament. Remember, it wasn't too long ago that an admitted creationist lead the official opposition.