Queer activists and communities were rattled late last week by a sensationalist and inaccurate report of same sex marriages performed in Canada being made void. While the reporting turned out to be false, our communities were given a frightening reminder that the struggle to ensure our rights and well-being is far from over.

A Supreme Court ruling followed by an act of parliament has enshrined marriages between same-sex couple into law. Nothing is a given when it comes to queer people under the current government but marriage rights come as close as it gets. It’s time to start showing the same solidarity around the many outstanding and neglected queer issues in Canada.

Queer youth are 5-6 times more likely than heterosexual youth to commit suicide. Trans youth are 10-12 times more likely. Canada currently does not have a national strategy on suicide.

A homophobic former legislator was put in charge of the Canada Human Rights Museum; which omitted any reference to the struggles of queer and trans people for dignity and rights. While this issue was resolved, it shows a clear bias in the appointment of non-partisan political offices.

Rights of immigrants and refugees must be a priority for queer communities. In a recent case, an immigration judge denied a queer youth refugee status because he had never had sex with a man even though his life was at risk if he returned to his home country. In another case, a prominent Toronto artist was threatened with deportation despite building a life and contributing greatly to the cultural life of his new home in Canada.

It’s not going to get better unless we make it better. It’s time for queer communities and our allies to act on the issues that affect us.

Posted by Evan Coole on Wednesday, January 18, 2012