The Point

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Vriend and on and on

Back in Edmonton, this year's Day of Silence* went by yesterday, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the Delwin Vriend case. The Supreme Court's ruling in his case came 7 years after he'd been fired from his position as a chemistry teacher at King's College for being gay.

It forced the Alberta provincial government to amend our human rights legislation to protect citizens from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

From the March 30th issue of the Journal:
In the following years, Edmonton has lost its reputation for being gay unfriendly, say local gays and lesbians. The gay drain to Vancouver and Toronto has stopped. The majority of gay people are out of the closet, with some coming out as early as junior high school.

Verbal and physical abuse of gays is far more rare. And, because of the Vriend decision, no longer can gay people be fired from their job simply because they are gay, a practice that had been going on in Alberta for decades.
So many people fight for us before we even arrive. What's that old saying - a society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit?

Learning about Delwin Vriend, I felt a sense of privilege and a sense of responsibility this week. Lots of work to do. Let's get at 'er.

*Full disclosure: this Vue issue from last year's Day of Silence features an interview with my friend Ryan pretty prominently. It was actually the first time I'd ever heard of him. Life.

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posted by Christopher at 10:07 p.m.

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