As Pride Season kicked off in June, senators showed their support with senators’ statements, personal reflections and — in a Senate first — the introduction of colourful drag kings.
Senator Kristopher Wells was elected co-chair of the Canadian Pride Caucus, a non-partisan group of parliamentarians from the Senate and the House of Commons. He replaced former co-chair and founding member Senator René Cormier; Senator Martine Hébert was elected vice-chair.
These ringing endorsements of Pride show how senators give minorities and underrepresented groups a powerful voice in Parliament. While members of the Pride community still face hardship, every statement of support, every expression of allyship and every act of understanding brings Canada one step closer to being a country where everyone is truly valued for who they are.
Colleagues, as June is both Pride Month and National Indigenous History Month, I want to acknowledge that I am speaking from the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people.
This month is an opportunity to celebrate the rich history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, and to thank all those members of Indigenous groups who identify as two-spirited and generously share their realities and world views.
As two-spirit teacher Alex Wilson of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation said, “Two-spirit identity is about circling back to where we belong, reclaiming, reinventing, and redefining our beginnings, our roots, our communities, our support systems, and our collective and individual selves.”
Pride Month is indeed a time to reflect on support systems that help 2SLGBTQIA+ communities thrive.
Today, I would like to pay tribute to the allies and, in particular, to the parents who listen, show compassion and lovingly accompany their children on this difficult journey of affirming their differences. Thank you to senators Diane Bellemare, Paula Simons, Marty Deacon, Marc Gold and all the other parents out there.
At a time when issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression are under high tension in our country due to the unprecedented rise in hatred toward 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, we are at a crossroads. We must be there, speak out and act, because there is no place in our country for violence, no place in our provinces, territories, regions or municipalities for hatred, and no place in our schools for discrimination and bullying.
All human beings are precious, and they deserve respect no matter their age, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
For parents and those who are working in schools to support our children in asserting their identities, know that you are not alone. We are here and will continue to work alongside you to ensure the well-being of all young people who identify as members of the queer community.
It is a collective responsibility, colleagues. Whether we are members of the queer community, allies or just citizens, Pride Season is the perfect time to show our support and work together with compassion.
As the late, great Quebec songwriter Jean-Pierre Ferland once sang, “We’re so lucky to have each other, so lucky to love each other.”
I will add that we’re so lucky to live in this magnificent country.
Let’s continue supporting one another, and loving each other with the conviction that equality, diversity, inclusion and freedom are values that all Canadians share. Let’s commit to living these values 365 days a year.
Honourable senators, I rise today to celebrate Pride Month and the Canadian values of respect for diversity, inclusion, acceptance and understanding.
I salute the Canadian Pride Caucus and our seven senator colleagues who are members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community. Thanks to Senators Cormier, Wilson, McBean and Wells for your interventions and for welcoming drag kings Cyril Cinder and HercuSleaze to our chamber.
Last year at this time, I made a Pride Month statement which I referred to as a love letter to my mom, Betty Patterson — now almost 98 — and my brother Patrick Patterson. Patrick is my Irish twin.
I mentioned that Mom was born 60 years after Confederation, into a Canada where homosexuality was hidden and forbidden by state and church. She was 42 in 1969, when homosexuality was decriminalized, and she was 77 in 2004, when the Supreme Court of Canada issued an opinion affirming the federal government had the authority to define marriage to include same-sex couples.
My brother Patrick was born in 1955 into a Canada where what he was was illegal and to be out — to be himself — was frankly dangerous.
My Pride Month love letter to Mom and Patrick celebrated both of them for the courage, love and unequivocal acceptance that emerged as Patrick’s truth about his homosexual identity was brought out from the darkness into the light.
Honourable colleagues, I’m sure that none of us would want our children, grandchildren, the kids next door or anyone to have to hide who they are. Just imagine the suffering that would cause.
As we celebrate Pride Month 2025, I’d like to draw our attention to transgender kids in Canada and to the 2SLGBTQI+ communities internationally.
In October 2023, in response to the so-called parental rights movement, the 1 Million March 4 Children, and the threats to the rights, safety and health of transgender kids at that time in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Alberta, a number of us spoke in the chamber on the importance of Canada developing its national Action Plan on Combatting Hate.
Colleagues, we can see the danger of what is happening south of our border, where the culture wars seep into politics and have resulted in the rolling back and trampling of rights.
Today, more than 70 countries worldwide criminalize consensual same-sex conduct. Six countries impose death penalties, and in a further six countries, death is a possible punishment.
Honourable colleagues, as we celebrate Pride Month with pride, let’s maintain our efforts to ensure the rights of all 2SLGBTQI+ people are protected, no matter their age or where they live.
Honourable senators, every June communities across Canada come together to celebrate Pride Month. It’s a time to honour the diverse identities of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Despite our growing visibility — as Prime Minister Mark Carney said at the Pride flag raising — the community is in a precarious position and is facing backlash around the world.
Recently, I was interviewed for a TV program, and during my introduction the host stumbled. She introduced me as a member of the “LGBTQ — argh! XYZ community!” She threw up her hands, in part exasperated and in part entertaining the audience, turned to me and said, “What is it, anyway?”
That didn’t feel great. She wasn’t just tongue-tied; she blew it off.
She dismissed the gay community for a cheap laugh. She didn’t do it with malice, but in that moment she just didn’t consider me.
What is the right thing to say when addressing the gay community? I don’t know. I’m gay. That doesn’t make me an expert in all things gay. I’m not even an expert at being a lesbian. I know myself. I know my story.
What I do know is that it’s not an alphabet soup of labels. Every letter in the acronym matters. I used to say simply LGBT. Now, I lead with the Indigenous 2S, for two-spirit, and I include the queer community: 2SLGBTQ. More fully, I say 2SLGBTQIA+.
What should you say? It depends a bit on the context, but the most important thing is to understand that each letter represents real people, real identities and real experiences.
As there are many people in the community, there are many explanations of each letter. As this is Pride Month, I encourage you to take it upon yourselves to dive in and do a bit of research.
Friends, how we lift each other up is important. Allyship isn’t about getting every word perfect every time; it’s about trying and showing up with respect.
Ah Ni Na. I first heard this Coast Salish word in a song during a ceremony where I was being gifted a drum for Team Canada. You hear it said when someone has fallen and needs to be lifted up. It means lifting up their spirit when you lift up their body. Ah Ni Na.
People are pushed down when others blow off the importance of using someone’s chosen pronouns or expressing care when talking about a community: any community, not just the gay one.
Colleagues, from the time I arrived here, I’ve gained the sense that, overwhelmingly, you are allies. In statements and conversations, I’ve heard that you have family and dear friends who are members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Sharing like that matters. Ah Ni Na.
Being part of a minority, feeling vulnerable and alone, is isolating. Getting up and feeling strong isn’t easy, but with the help of others it is easier.
If you’re ever unsure about what to say to be inclusive, that’s okay, and don’t worry if you’re just getting tongue-tied: No problem. Just be respectful. Take a moment to learn. Language matters, and everyone deserves to feel strong, safe and full of pride.
The history of the word “drag” has interesting origins. Some people believe the word originated with Shakespeare, with drag serving as an acronym for “dressed as a girl” during a time when women were not allowed on stage. Others believe the word originated from a time in theatre when large colourful dresses would literally drag across the stage.
Whichever story you believe, drag is most certainly an incredible and long-standing art form. Today, drag represents an important form of community building in the 2SLGBTQI+ community, and it’s a hugely popular cultural expression on television, including shows like “Canada’s Drag Race,” as well as Canadian works like Darrin Hagen’s book The Edmonton Queen and his play The Empress & the Prime Minister, and, of course, there is Michel Tremblay’s groundbreaking 1973 play Hosanna.
Drag, whether on stage, on screen or in the community, continues to make a powerful statement about equality in the way that it playfully challenges stereotypes and assumptions about gender and identity. Importantly, like all great works of art, drag makes us reflect, laugh and sometimes even cry.
As we mark the start of this year’s Pride Season, sadly it is our drag performers and gender-diverse communities that are under heightened attack. We are witnessing a deeply disturbing trend of anti-trans and anti-2SLGBTQI+ prejudice and discrimination taking place globally, in the United States and, yes, even here in Canada. This populist wave of so-called gender ideology is not just about harmful rhetoric; it is fundamentally about dismantling the hard-won progress that countries like Canada have made over decades.
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Canada’s legalization of same-sex marriage. This achievement is a standing matter of pride for our country and shows us all what can be accomplished through the work of advocates, allies and champions. This momentous change was led by countless individuals who, conversation by conversation, helped to open hearts and minds so that in the end, love won.
If history tells us anything, it is that we can never rest in the defence of the progress that we have made, and we can never stop the work of building a more just and inclusive society.
Honourable senators, last week we were reminded by a different King that Canada is the sovereign nation of the true north strong and free — free to love whom we love, free to be who we are and free to live proudly in a country where we can fully express ourselves.
This Pride Season, I hope I speak for all my honourable colleagues when I say that we stand on guard and we will always defend diversity and the fundamental rights and freedoms that Canada is built upon.
To all Canadians from coast to coast to coast, I wish you a happy summer filled with Pride, love, laughter and hopefully a colourful drag performance or two.
Colleagues, those of you who know me will know I’m passionate about the need for Canada to realize its full economic potential. I envisioned my first speech in this place to be about the economy. Instead, I am compelled to speak on another issue: our protected rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and our duty as senators to safeguard those rights for minority groups and all Canadians.
Human rights should be table stakes for our country, but in recent times, we have seen such rights eroded around the world as well as here in Canada. While I recognize that Bill S-218 will not dictate any provincial government’s use of this clause, I rise today to support the intent of Senator Harder’s bill: that we in this chamber might inspire future governments in its measured use.
Colleagues, today I hope to provide some rationale as to why the notwithstanding clause should be used only as a tool of last resort.
In 1982, the same year that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into effect, a young teenaged boy struggled with the realization that he was attracted to men. He lived in fear that this information might get out and lead to ridicule, bullying and, almost certainly, violence. It is sad to think he was safer in some ways back then than some kids are today, over 40 years later. In those days, no province was pushing through legislation that would require his teachers to disclose his identity to his parents or to anyone to whom he did not want it disclosed.
A decade later, that same young man had come to embrace his difference and, indeed, had taken on a leadership position in his community, championing queer rights among other things.
Then one night in December 1996, that confidence was shaken. As he was walking home from the pub with some friends, a car screeched to a halt and three male teenagers leaped out of the vehicle. One of the teenagers fractured the face of the young man with a tire iron.
As some of you may have guessed, that once-young man now stands before you in the Senate of Canada.
As I look back and reflect on those periods of my life, I often ask myself where I would be today had I not been kept safe or had my rights not been respected. Sadly, we see today that many young people are at risk of losing those rights. The intolerance that led to my attack is alive and well and, indeed, growing again in our country, fuelled by politics of division that are putting minority communities at risk.
As I was preparing these remarks, I had the opportunity to have a discussion with the mother of a young transgender girl. Here is what she said to me:
“We didn’t ask for a transgender child. Nobody hopes for a more difficult life for their child. The lives of transgender children are debated in legislatures around the world … governments decide on a whim whether our child is allowed or not allowed to exist. Some party leaders and candidates running to be elected to political office are willing to sacrifice transgender children in a vain attempt to win votes from constituents. Our child is like any other — she wants to play, learn and grow. We didn’t ask for a transgender child, but our lives are brighter, richer and more fulfilled because of it. She is exactly who she is meant to be.”
This family, whom I know personally, lives in fear that a future government may well invoke the notwithstanding clause to target the trans community for political gain. Can you imagine living in fear of democracy in Canada?
Provincial governments of all stripes have used the notwithstanding clause since the enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982; more recently, populist governments have championed it for very specific and targeted groups. This is inarguable.
Although implementing a framework governing the use of the notwithstanding clause in a federal context has no direct impact on decisions by provinces that choose a different path, it offers an opportunity for Canada, and for us, here, to lead by example. In time, one province, then two, and then others might follow.
Maybe one day, that transgender girl will stand here as a senator, and her first speech will be about the economy.
