Create equal, not special rights for homosexuals Final Edition

• Published in: Ancaster news (1992)
• Main Author: Davidson, Blake
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ancaster, Ont Torstar Syndication Services, a Division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited 24.10.2003
• ISSN: 1205-3430

As a voter I am increasingly being asked not only to tolerate beliefs with which I disagree, but also to accept how they change the landscape and culture of our country. Yet, when I trumpet an opposing view, tolerance is not afforded. Politicians that would change the definition of marriage to include gay unions and those that support special status under the law for homosexual rights assure me that my religious freedom is juxtaposed against these new laws, religious freedom dies on the altar. Consider only what we have seen occur in the last five years. Closer to home, a businessman in Stoney Creek was fined $5,000 by the Human Rights Tribunal, an undemocratic, unelected body, for refusing to print brochures containing information he found personally objectionable, essentially eliminating religious freedom in the marketplace. What scares me is that tolerance to some means my absolute acceptance and the willingness to trade in all that I hold precious, including the definition of the centuries-old institution of marriage, while the lack of tolerance is expressed in efforts to silence people with my views through overly aggressive hate laws.