MARIJUANA SMOKE IS CLOUDING THE REAL ISSUES

The Canadian Media Have Gone To Pot.

On Wednesday, the front pages of the GTA's four major daily newspapers, the
Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star and Toronto Sun, featured
stories on the proposed legislation to legalize possession of small amounts
of marijuana.

The Star and the Sun both made it the main story of the day. The Globe
included the pot story, but emphasized Jean Chretien's anti-American chest
thumping, and the Post played up a picture of Miss Canada's extravagant
outfit at the Miss Universe pageant's national costume competition.

Meanwhile, buried on page 35 of the Sun, and seemingly ignored by the other
papers, was a more important story. The Sun's Kathleen Harris reported from
Ottawa that, on Tuesday: "The Commons justice and human rights committee
supported a controversial bill to include sexual orientation in a law that
already bans inciting hatred against an 'identifiable' group defined by
colour, race, religion or ethnic origin."

I am astounded that gays and lesbians are not already protected under
existing anti-hate legislation. But I am delighted the justice committee is
now taking steps to include them in the hate-crimes protection legislation.
If the anti-hate legislation is finally amended in the House of Commons, it
will be a giant leap forward for our society.

I don't mean to suggest the pot story is irrelevant. This is an important
issue and worthy of debate. We've just gone overboard on it. While we are
all fixated on pot, steps are being taken that could radically improve the
society we live in by eliminating hatred and intolerance. Why aren't we
debating this on the front page?

NDP MP Svend Robinson says: "The current law is silent on the promotion of
hatred and violence directed at gay and lesbian people, despite the fact
that police evidence has shown gay and lesbian people are by far the biggest
target of hate crimes in Canada."

Some critics - including Canadian Alliance MP Vic Toews, who attempted to
block the bill from further review - argue that including gays and lesbians
in anti-hate legislation will threaten religions and impede their ability to
communicate essential matters of faith.

Toews warns that an amendment to the hate crime laws could "classify parts
of the Bible as hate literature and portions of the Catholic catechism as
hate literature."

To me, that stance recalls the hysteria of those who opposed new anti-animal
cruelty legislation for fear it would impede the ability of farmers to raise
and slaughter animals for food.

Please, let's give politicians and lawmakers some credit by assuming they
realize the complexities of this issue. Should the anti-hate legislation be
amended, I doubt Catholicism will be outlawed or any judge will rush to ban
sales of the Bible. Let's be realistic.

If, however, this legislation makes our society more accepting and less
hateful, then we should all be celebrating, not feeling afraid.

Still, some people are so mired in prejudice they balk at any move toward a
more just and accepting society. It's difficult to understand them.

For most members of my generation, prejudices died early.

We grew up in a world that was already more open and understanding than the
world our parents knew. By the time we entered high school, when our minds
began broadening and we began to meet and understand people different from
ourselves, words like "gay" generally stopped being derogatory. It's
difficult to fear something different if you are exposed to it and make the
effort to understand it.

There are still small-minded, homophobic bigots. There always will be. But I
like to think with every new generation, with every parent who teaches a
child to accept and not to hate, the bigots will become marginalized.

But I will, no doubt, hear from the usual suspects, the intolerant folks
with their small minds and often foul language who communicate their hatred
every time I write about the gay community. Relax, people. Try to expand
your mind and find joy in the fact you live in a society that will not
tolerate hatred and violence. Mellow out.