Category: Bill C-4

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Three Years Strong: Advocacy Canada Celebrates Milestones and Thanks the Community

You Belong rainbow banner

It’s hard to believe it’s been three years since Advocacy Canada hit the ground running! Back then, with a click of the “submit” button with Canada Corporations, we registered our nonprofit and embarked on a journey to make a difference for our community. Since then, it’s been an incredible adventure filled with impactful projects and heartwarming support.

One of our proudest moments is the You Belong campaign. Those powerful messages gracing billboards and wearable art weren’t just about spreading acceptance – they’ve blossomed into a source of income that helps cover our basic expenses. We’re so grateful for the positive response and for this fantastic way to support our mission.

Speaking of missions, who remembers Bill C-4? In January 2022, that landmark legislation banning conversion therapy became a reality across Canada! We proudly played our part with a campaign that reached Kelowna City Council and even garnered a letter of support for the bill from the Mayor and Council themselves.

But Advocacy Canada is more than just legislation. We build community too! From the 350 strong counter-protest at a Drag Story Time to the heartwarming turnout for our 50+ Pride Picnic this June, we’ve provided safe spaces and fostered connections for hundreds of people. Our weekly coffee meet-ups for gay men and monthly 50+ Pride Breakfasts have become cherished traditions, bringing together over 600 attendees in the past year alone.

Looking ahead, we’re excited! We have a fantastic board team in place, a clear strategic plan for the future, and even some exciting grant applications in the works. With a little luck, these grants will allow us to launch amazing new local programs.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the incredible support of our members and the wider community. Your generosity fuels our efforts, and we’re deeply grateful for each and every one of you. Here’s to an amazing three years, and an even brighter future for Advocacy Canada!

Image credit: by Shoaib Shabir

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Canadian Pastors Plan Sermons Attacking Bill C-4

A call has gone out for evangelical pastors across Canada to preach against Bill C-4 which bans “conversion therapy” and comes into law on January 8th. “A call to pastors to stand united on biblical sexual morality,” has been issued by Andrew DeBartolo, Teaching Elder at Encounter Church in Kingston, Ontario.

Sunday, January 16th is the date when churches across Canada and the United States have been asked to join in preaching on God’s design for marriage and a biblical ethic of sexuality. According to DeBartolo and John MacArthur of Grace Church in California, they will be doing so illegally under the new law.

In a blog post, MacArthur states “We are all well-aware of the evil power and destructive influence of the homosexual and transgender ideology.” He goes on to mention the hundreds of LGBTQ people Obama appointed to serve in government and states “All sinners need conversion, but the list focuses specifically on “the sexually immoral…adulterers…effeminate…[and] homosexuals,” who will not “inherit the kingdom of God.”

Pastor James Coates from GraceLife Church in Edmonton has also joined the chorus and according to MacArthur has emailed him lamenting that the new law will be used to criminalize evangelism. Coates made the news earlier this year when he was jailed for defying public health laws.

“According to Canadian law, as of Jan. 8, 2022, the belief in God’s design for marriage and sexuality will now be seen as a myth.”

Andrew DeBartolo

What is clear, these pastors who refer to themselves as “faithful men” are determined to continue further stigmatizing and harming the LGBTQ2S+ community with their debunked practices based on a Biblical interpretation that modern scholars have disputed.

Every major medical and mental health organization has condemned the use of conversion therapy. There is no documented evidence that conversion therapy is effective in changing sexual orientation, gender expression, or gender identity.

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Conversion “Therapy” Ban Becomes Law

Kelowna, BC, December 8, 2021 — Advocacy Canada joins with survivors and advocates across the country in celebrating Bill C-4, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy) into law. After a whirlwind of activity by members of parliament and senators to fast-track the bill, it received royal assent today making it now illegal for practices that have been going on in Canada and around the world for decades.

The UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity released his report entitled Practices of so-called “conversion therapy” in the spring of 2020. To quote from this report:

All practices attempting conversion are inherently humiliating, demeaning and discriminatory. The combined effects of feeling powerless and extreme humiliation generate profound feelings of shame, guilt, self-disgust, and worthlessness, which can result in a damaged self-concept and enduring personality changes.

These practices also violate the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, since they take point of departure in the belief that sexually diverse or gender-diverse persons are somehow inferior – morally, spiritually or physically – than their heterosexual and cisgender siblings and must modify their orientation or identity to remedy that inferiority. Therefore, any means and mechanisms that treat LGBT persons as lesser human beings are degrading by their very definition and may amount to torture depending on the circumstances, namely the severity of physical and mental pain and suffering inflicted.

Bill C-4 defines conversion therapy as a practice, treatment, or service designed to:

(a) change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual;
(b) change a person’s gender identity to cisgender;
(c) change a person’s gender expression so that it conforms to the sex assigned to the person at birth;
(d) repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour;
(e) repress a person’s non-cisgender gender identity; or
(f) repress or reduce a person’s gender expression that does not conform to the sex assigned to the person at birth.

This bill expanded on the previous Bill C-6, and to quote Senator René Cormier who sponsored the bill in the Senate, “Bill C-4 is specifically designed to protect the dignity and equality of LGBTQ2+ Canadians by ending conversion therapy in Canada. It would do so by criminalizing conversion therapy in all settings, regardless of age or consent. Although former Bill C-6 would have comprehensively protected children, it would only have protected adults from forced conversion therapy and prohibited the commercialization of the practice. Bill C-4’s comprehensive approach is intended to target the different types of harms that conversion therapy poses. These harms can manifest themselves at the individual level, including for persons who had consented to undergo conversion practices.”

“I’m thrilled to see this bill advance so quickly after many false starts,” says Wilbur Turner, founder of Kelowna-based Advocacy Canada. “Today we celebrate, and tomorrow we will be rolling up our sleeves to continue working to ensure that survivors have the resources they need to heal, as well as those who still face these practices know where to turn for help.”

About Advocacy Canada

Advocacy-Canada.lgbt is a Kelowna based non-profit organization with a mission to unite and amplify queer voices in support of creating positive change on important issues. The organization was founded by Wilbur Turner, inspired by his social and political awareness of issues that impact the 2S-LGBTQIA+ (queer) community. Wilbur previously led the Kelowna Pride, Fierté Canada Pride, and Living Positive Resource Centre, boards.

Media Contact

For media inquiries please contact Wilbur Turner:

Tel: 587-432-4100

Email: wilbur@advocacy-canada.lgbt

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Advocacy Canada Welcomes Bill C-4, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy) to support LGBTQ2S+ Canadians

Kelowna, BC, November 29, 2021. — The 44th Parliament had the first reading today of Bill C-4, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy), tabled by the Minister of Justice, David Lametti. Three previous bills have been brought forward to ban conversion practices that were not successfully passed. Bill C-4 is the most comprehensive, with improvements to protect more Canadians from these harmful practices.

“It is important to ensure that all Canadians are protected from these practices that have proven to have no benefits, and have been shown to cause lasting harm to individuals who have become victims of them. This should not be a partisan issue, therefore we call upon all members of parliament to expediently approve this important piece of legislation,” says Wilbur Turner, found of Advocacy Canada. “We expect nothing less than full cooperation from our elected representatives in the Okanagan, and we hope they understand the seriousness of this issue.”

Sexual orientation and gender identity and expression change efforts (SOGIECE) are deeply harmful, scientifically discredited practices that target vulnerable LGBTQ2S Canadians. To protect people from this cruel treatment, all levels of government should work to undermine the efforts of people and organizations conducting SOGIECE – as well as support the development of positive, affirming programs and services.

As many as one in five sexual minority men (gay, bisexual, trans, Two-Spirit and queer or “GBT2Q”) report having ever experienced sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression change efforts (SOGIECE) – and of them, nearly 40 percent (or as many as 47,000 GBT2Q men in Canada) have experienced conversion therapy according to a 2021 report.

Okanagan residents are invited to use Advocacy Canada’s prewritten email to request their Members of Parliament support this bill. The form is located here.

About Advocacy Canada

Advocacy-Canada.lgbt is a Kelowna based non-profit organization with a mission to unite and amplify queer voices in support of creating positive change on important issues. The organization was founded by Wilbur Turner, inspired by his social and political awareness of issues that impact the 2S-LGBTQIA+ (queer) community. Wilbur previously led the Kelowna Pride, Fierté Canada Pride, and Living Positive Resource Centre boards.