(no subject)

[felis_ultharus]

Not sure how interesting this to everyone. But as someone who came out in 1993 at 16 -- when Svend Robinson was the only out gay man in parliament, and talking about crazy fringe ideas like same-sex marriage -- I've tended to keep a close eye on queer candidates across the country.

Well, we had what I believe is a record number run this year, and a record number elected. The NDP ran seven "out" candidates, the Liberals ran four, and the Bloc, the Greens, and even the Conservatives ran one.

(The Conservatives almost ran two, but we all know what happened to Chris Reid.)

A record of seven were elected:

• Bill Siksay, NDP
  
• Libby Davies, NDP
  
• Megan Leslie, NDP -- and lesbian Liberal took second place in her riding, which meant that more than 70% of people in the Halifax riding cast their vote for an "out" woman.
  
• Scott Brison, Liberal Party
  
• Mario Silva, Liberal Party
  
• Rob Oliphant, Liberal Party
  
• Réal Ménard, Bloc Québécois

Every queer MP who sought re-election was re-elected to the House, and two new faces were added. So -- in at least one of its aspects -- this election was a success.

I'll be variously cross-posting this.

EDIT: You know, I never once advocated voting for these people because they're queer. I simply posted the list to show how far we've come. It was intended as a feel-good post.

It's clearly not very far, though, given the anger the mere posting of this list creates for some posters. No one becomes enraged when we talk about how many female candidates are running. Or how many members of x ethnic community.

For some people, apparently, different rules apply to us.