Of all the absurd edicts to be issued by the Trudeau government, the recent travel advisory warning about certain non-LGBT-friendly US states takes the cake.
The trouble is that the edict, a political statement about mostly gender ideology policies south of the border, is like pablum for the uninformed and easily indoctrinated – many of whom draw conclusions based on what they hear in the often biased legacy media and on social media, and not on their own experience.
Even though to those with a shred of common sense, the advisory reeks of desperation by a party sliding in the polls, it will convince some of those easily manipulated not to venture south of the border.
The edict from Global Affairs Canada warns LGBTQ travellers that new laws in some states might affect their visits.
“Check relevant state and local laws,” the advisory says.
Normally advisories like this one are reserved for countries such as most of those in the Middle East where homosexuality is considered a crime, sometimes punishable by death.
While they don’t name the states in question, I can surmise that Florida – with its ban on teaching gender ideology (as well as critical race theory) in elementary schools— is at the top of the list.
In a rambling non-answer about the advisory Chrystia Freeland defended the bureaucrats working for Global Affairs Canada as very “professional.” She repeated the word “professional” more than once.
But we all know this is political – an attempt to portray Republicans south of the border and Conservatives here in Canada as hateful homophobic and transphobic troglodytes.
In fact, all that seems to separate the two parties, both here and south of the border, is a steadily growing understanding of how kids are being indoctrinated by the woke bureaucrats and the equally out of touch unions who have infiltrated our public school systems.
I am gay, married and have a home in Florida, where I reside over the winter months.
My wife and I have both gay and straight friends there.
The idea that we should be afraid to live and be ourselves in Florida is absolutely ridiculous.
I in fact celebrated when Gov. Ron DeSantis instituted the ban on teaching gender ideology in public schools up to Grade 8, stopped the use of pronouns in classrooms (other than those assigned at birth) and banned transition-affirming care for minors (one of 18 states to do so).
Classrooms are for learning the academic skills to survive in an increasing complex and fast-paced workplace.
Teachers have a duty to ensure that their students can read, write, spell, add, subtract, multiply and divide – not to regale their students with stories of their sex lives, their queer activist friends and with whom they share their bedrooms.
It would help if they dressed appropriately and not come to school with blue hair, piercings and sporting army gear. But a dress code for teachers is considered by unions as anti-free expression.
Still, students shouldn’t have to care what pronouns teachers prefer to use, or be forced to declare whether they are a he, she, they, zie or some other ridiculous words.
I am pretty certain that once out in the real world of work knowing 267 different pronouns will not make someone better able to cope with the rigors of a job.
As for the whole idea of a school board being able to hide a student’s gender dysphoria (or alleged dysphoria) from their parents, that, in my view, borders on abusive.
Parents have a right to know if their children are struggling (particularly those under the age of consent). Besides, teachers are not shrinks or social workers, nor should they pretend to be.
Considering how far the pendulum has swung in Canada towards cancelling anyone who fails to march to the progressive beat, I would suggest that a travel advisory should be issued for this country aimed at those who see through the progressive bias.
Between the woke policies that force us to continually mouth a land acknowledgement at the outset of every meeting, anti-black racism and DEI indoctrination sessions rampant in our schools, gender neutral bathrooms and multiple days devoted to virtue signaling about some perceived oppressed identity group, we are not in a good space in this country.
I know I can ignore this latest attempt by the Trudeau government to yet again sow the seeds of divisiveness and hate – and just laugh it off.
Sadly, it will not be the case for the woke who have been indoctrinated (and want) to hate the right.
