Queer rights set bar higher — even in baseball

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The recent furor over Blue Jays baseball player Yu­ nel Escobar’s anti-gay slur has subsided, but it dem­ onstrates a number of things.

(Escobar played through a game with the words “Tu Ere [sic] Maricón” [“you’re a faggot”] outlined in his under-eye shadowing. This was caught on camera by a fan and went viral.)

Blue Jays honchos responded with a three-day sus­ pension and an obviously insincere apology by Esco­ bar. The fact that a penalty was imposed at all tends to show that there is increased sensitivity even in the corporate media to homophobia. There were fewer than the expected phony excuses offered for Esco­ bar’s conduct, and plenty of outrage at the slap-onthe-wrist penalty. His financial penalty was less than $100,000 out of a multi-million-dollar salary!

Public workers show Vice president, OPSEU Local 532.

TORONTO—Anticipating the harsh wage restraint bill soon to be presented to the Ontario legislature, public-service work­ ers put solidarity on display at a large, lunch-time rally on Sept. 12 outside the Ministry of Environment building. Nearly 170 workers rallied to save public ser­ vices and jobs. Passing motorists honked their horns in support of the union flagwaving crowd. The employer could not fail to notice.

The event was co-sponsored by locals 8 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 2012 of the bargaining units in that Ministry —the Ontario Public Service Employees Unions (OPSEU), The Association of Man­ agement, Administrative and Profession­ al Crown Employees of Ontario (AMAP­ CEO), and the Professional Engineers of the Government of Ontario (PEGO).

The event, the first of its kind in this round of bargaining, sets an example for workers across the province. Many yearn to see a mass rally fill Queen’s Park against the big business “austerity” agen­ da, and in defense of collective bargain­ ing rights, much like the teachers’unions demonstrated on Aug. 28 in front of the Ontario legislature.

OPSEU Local 532 took the initiative to organize the solidarity event. The aim was to cut across the rivalries that some­ times plague the labour movement. It was a good opportunity to show the em­ The increased awareness of homophobia in Ontario has several sources. At its heart is the determined struggle by queer rights activists and their allies that resulted recently in victory on two major issues:

The passage of “Toby’s Law” mandates inclusion in the Ontario Human Rights Act of gender identity and gender expression. The Accepting Schools Act ad­ dresses the issue of anti-gay bullying, specifying that students in Catholic schools have the right to form Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) and to name them what­ ever they wish (see Socialist Action, August 2011).

Both these victories, and the more recent one of Quebec students on the tuition hikes issue, show that when you fight uncompromisingly for what you want, you can win. That’s not guaranteed, of course. What is guaranteed is that if you don’t fight, you lose.

Another victory is that Queers Against Israeli Apart­ heid (QuAIA) marched in the 2012 Toronto Pride pa­ ployer that members of the Ontario pub­ lic service, and working people in gen­ eral, will not take lightly cuts to public services and attacks on the labour rights with which we won a decent standard of living—now threatened by the present crisis.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, in his spring budget, demanded major conces­ sions to balance the books at the expense of public services. He has threatened to privatize ServiceOntario. Now he is pro­ moting the so-called Protecting Public Services bill. It would allow the govern­ ment not just to freeze the wages it pays to 500,000 unionized employees—in­ cluding nurses, home-care workers and hydro linemen—but roll them back. It would give Cabinet the power to remove or modify salary grids—as was done to the province’s teachers. rade with a sizeable contingent. But the fight for free speech at Pride will continue. Pro-Zionists at City Hall recently pushed through a motion via the (mayor’s) executive committee instructing city staff to amend the city’s anti-discrimination policy to prohibit the phrase “Israeli apartheid,” ignoring advice that such a manoevre would not survive a legal challenge.

On the gay marriage front, the latest figures from Statistics Canada show the number of same-sex mar­ riages rose 181% between 2006 and 2011, although overall not a large number. Of course, these numbers are voluntarily provided, and many folks do not trust any government agency to maintain their privacy, so the data should be taken with a large grain of salt.

Commentators from the queer community made the point that large numbers of long-term couples have not gone the marriage route. Nonetheless, it does demonstrate that there’s a demand. This is somewhat ironic, considering that the institution of marriage is declining rapidly in most imperialist countries. n The government could also unilaterally change or eliminate any non-wage bene­ fits unionized public sector workers now receive.

And the bill would bar unions from ei­ ther striking or appealing such decisions to the courts. Authoritarian powers like those could last until 2018—when the government expects the budget to bal­ ance.

Challenging such laws in court, as the education workers’ unions are doing, is grossly inadequate. Needed is a campaign to educate everyone—through action.

The time has come for an unlimited general strike. Let’s massively occupy the front lawn at the legislature. We should enlist the support of all working people and the entire public, because everyone stands to lose by the attacks on rights and services now underway. n