A decision to raise the Pride flag outside Ottawa’s city hall in support of Olympic-linked protests against anti-gay laws in Russia is highlighting the tensions that continue to surround the subject in this country.
The rainbow pride flag, a symbol for the LGBTQ community, was hoisted at city hall a day before the Olympics’ Feb. 7 opening ceremony as a sign of support for ongoing protests in Russia over laws banning same-sex “propaganda.” The Russian laws essentially prohibit any sort of public defense for non-heterosexual relationships and has been a major source of controversy leading up to the games.
There have been all sorts of controversy surrounding these laws and the games, especially after world leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, refused to attend the opening ceremony. Also Vancouver councillor Tim Stevenson, who is openly gay, was sent to represent their city at the Olympics as a protest against the laws.
After Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson announced on Twitter that the flag would be raised for the duration of the Olympics, one unnamed person replied to the mayor with the comment: “This is stupid and a waste of time. You’ve lost my vote.”
The mayor then responded to the critic’s comment, saying: “If you have that point of view, I really don’t want your vote.”
Watson’s tweet and the subsequent exchange went viral on several websites, including the Huffington Post and Reddit, and was retweeted thousands of times.
“I just found the comment was rather rude, calling the idea stupid, and when he said he wasn’t going to vote for me I was just being honest and said, well if that’s your opinion I really don’t want your vote,” says Watson. “I think people were surprised to see a politician be blunt like that, but I just felt I was trying to be polite but honest with him.”
The City of Ottawa’s decision to raise the Pride flag followed a similar move in St. John’s, which was then repeated by cities across Canada, including Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto — even with opposition from that city’s embattled mayor, Rob Ford. A similar attempt to raise the flag in Brockville was unsuccessful after Councillor Jeff Earle raised his hand in opposition to the required unanimous vote.
Ford told reporters in Toronto he did not agree with the raising of the flag and wished it to be replaced with a Canadian flag.
“This is about Olympics,” Ford argued. “This is about being patriotic to your country, this is not about someone’s sexual preference.”
Though Watson understands there will be differences in opinion over the decision to raise the flag, he believes the city’s opposition to these human rights abuses had to be known.
“It’s not a question of taking away from the amazing work that our athletes are doing, and I would never support a boycott because I think boycotts just hurt athletes,” says Watson. “But I think this legislation, approved in the Russian parliament, is a wakeup call for all international organizations that maybe in future we shouldn’t be rewarding bad behaviour with something as prestigious as the Olympics.”
Even though there have been some negative responses to the city’s decision to raise the flag, most reactions have been positive. The Ottawa LGBTQ community has been especially appreciative of the city’s actions.
Jer’s Vision, an Ottawa-based international youth support group that works to eliminate bullying, homophobia, transphobia and other forms of discriminatory behaviour, has been very active in supporting the fight against the restriction of LGBTQ rights in Russia and helping to get the international community involved.
Jeremy Dias, the director and founder of Jer’s Vision, says he’s thankful for the stance Watson and many other Canadians have taken.
“It’s so heartwarming,” he says. “I think Canadians, regardless of their political association or geography, are truly saddened by the idea of human rights moving backwards.”
He adds: “Discrimination against LGBTQ people is not something that we want to allow, it’s not something that we want to enable, and so we’re going to say something about it, we’re going to stand up to it.”
Dias urges Ottawa residents and anyone who wants to get involved with the protest to visit his organization’s website — http://jersvision.org/LGBTRussia — to learn how they can participate.
The Pride flag will continue to fly at City Hall until the Sochi Games end on Feb. 23.
Watson’s vocal support for the flag-raising may prove to have been a good political move, as well, after he gained 3,100 new Twitter followers within 24 hours.
As Carleton political science student and Centretown resident Sophia Bain says “It’s the largest way a municipality can support a public issue. It’s more than just a quote its a visual statement… he might have lost one vote, but I’ll vote for him.”