By Pepper Parr
August 12th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
The definition appeared in a media release from the city’s communications department.
I had never seen something like this before.
2SLGBTQIA+ (TwoSpirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual)
This expansion of the acronym to refer to the community has gone too far.
The symbols are important -let’s not demean them with acronyms that lead to ridicule.
The fight to get the Pride community the respect it deserves has been long and hard; it has taken decades to get to the point where the community is recognized and not shunned, dismissed, shamed and hurt.
The political leadership has once again gotten over-enthusiastic and in the process hurt the people she chooses to speak for.
The Pride Community can speak for itself.
Gazette readers are commenting – some examples.
Brave step – smart move. One in every ward in the fullness of time.
Agreed (name withheld). “I do not have the time of day for this passive aggressive approach orchestrated by the mayor. She created the survey (not staff). Now there are 2 rainbow crosswalks in Ward 2 and not one of them is in front of city hall. She will hide behind the survey results but we all know what her goal was.”
Another reader wrote: “I was surprised to see the latest permutation of inclusivity symbols in this article (2SLGB….+). While I am fully in favour of demonstrations of support for people struggling to find their identity, there is a danger of going to extremes to include more and more subsets until everyone finds their own personal home. And let’s not forget there is another axis of identity being explored these days based on race, heritage, language and age. At some point our whole view of our society becomes a jumble of alphanumeric compartments that render it meaningless, while activists in each group clamor for special attention. Thus we become divided, not united.”
What the Halton Regional Police Service did was dignified and appropriate.
Let’s continue to raise the Pride flag and when we see instances of discrimination personally do everything we can to put a stop to it.
Support the Pride Community the way you would like your community to be supported.
Why the city communications department went to the lengths it did is both surprising and disappointing.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
Thank you Pepper for putting into words what I cannot. I wish someone from the Pride organization would step forward and sort this out for us. I grew up wth gay people and those that weren’t just didn’t know it yet LOL. The other day a friend called me excitedly to look out and see the rainbow after the storm and I said “I don’t want to see another rainbow.” After I said it, I realized the magnitude of what was happening and felt sad. We are going backwards.
True acceptance is not having to go around stating what your sexual preference or disability is. Why do certain groups feel that others need to know.
If a problem arises try and get it dealt with, please don’t pretend that a certain problem affects everyone in ‘your’ particular group and that everyone needs to be involved.
Everyone is different, except it and get on with living.
I say let people do what they want and all of us be tolerant of others who may in our eyes be different.What I don’t want is my tax dollars being spent on recruitment flags or whatever forms of awareness that could affect and confuse young people. Us older types have already made up our minds(Straight). All my gay friends young and old are doing just fine. This Mayors self promotion at taxpayers expense is pathetic.
Here’s a woman that would do anything for a vote.
Editor’s note: Offensive sentences deleted
I, Anne, can agree with that Penny after living with significant mobility disabilities all my life and seeing reports on my election runs only concentrating on disability advocacy when I was addressing issues that affect us all and have lead to real issues with the truth not being properly represented on the actual state of the union/city etc.
True acceptance means not labelling anyone.