June is Pride Month; a celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S+) communities.  Pride month is a reminder that life is about bringing people together of all walks of life under a shared rainbow of diversity and inclusion. Treat people equally, regardless of sexuality, race, gender identity, religion or any other label that might be used as an excuse to compromise their basic human rights. 
Canada has a history for Pride, which you may or may not know. Here is a timeline of some of the events in history that lead us to today:
1969: Canada decriminalizes homosexuality acts with the Criminal Law Amandement Act
1971: A protest on gay rights was formed for the first time 
1973:  The concept of “pride” was first created and was know as the first Pride week back in  August 1973
1981: A mass arrest in Toronto of under 300 gay men was the biggest  in Canada and is known as ‘Operation Soap Police’ 
1988: A first openly gay member of Canadian parliament was announced in an interview
1995: Sexual orientation was included in Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
1996: Sexual orientation was included in the Canadian Human Rights Act
2000: Police raid a lesbian nightclub which followed protests and eventually a legal lawsuit 
2003: The first same-sex couple were married in Ontario
2005: Canada legalizes gay marriage 
2013: Parliament extends human rights to transgender people in Canada 
2016: The Pride flag raises on Parliament Hill 
2017: Canadian Human Rights Act expanded to Gender Identity & Expression and also makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender identity or expression.
2017: The first transgender mayor was elected in the municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec
2019: WHO declares transgender is not a mental disorder

 

Cityline is bringing back our CSA-nominated digital series, this time with a focus on LGBTQIA+ topics, don’t miss it!

 

When it comes to country music, and most recently with TJ Osborne of Brothers Osborne announcing he was gay, we hope more people in the country industry and around the world feel they can be who they are, love who you love.

 

https://youtu.be/8YuWAZmD0aU

Filed under: June Pride, LGBTQ2S+, PRIDE