Canada To Issue "Places Of Pride" Stamps Touting Historic 2SLGBTQIA+ Locales

 

The Canada Post, the nation’s government-run postal organization, recently announced it will be issuing “Places of Pride” stamps to mark “pivotal moments” in LGBT history. Sorry, make that “2SLGBTQIA+” history. The organization issued a press release stating, “Canada Post announces Places of Pride, recognizing four vital places for 2SLGBTQIA+ in Canada.” (Not exactly Shakespearian wording, or worthy of Robert W. Service for that matter, but neither of those two were gay. They’re not getting a stamp.)

The release continued: “From early meeting spots to safe spaces for community organizing, these spaces were often the backdrop to pivotal demonstrations and hosted events that shaped 2SLGBTQIA+ communities across the country – and Canadian society.”

One of the stamps, all of which were designed by LGBTQ artist Tim Singleton, features a depiction of Club Carousel, Calgary’s first gay bar. Another shows Hanlan’s Point Beach, in commemoration of the 1971 “Gay Day Picnic,” during which LGBTQ activists composed the “We Demand” letter, which was written in an attempt to push the Canadian government into codifying LGBTQ rights into law. A third stamp highlights the 1977 Montreal Truxx bar raid protests, which led to Quebec’s ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation. The fourth stamp celebrates the third North American Native Gay & Lesbian Gathering of 1990, at which activists coined the term “Two-Spirit” to refer to gender non-conforming and homosexual Indigenous people.

 For perspective, Mr. Singleton’s Instagram page includes posts claiming that “everyone has an HIV status” and “there’s no place like homo.” (The remains of L. Frank Baum may be rolling over in his grave.)

From the Canada Post:

OTTAWA - Today Canada Post announces Places of Pride, recognizing four vital places for 2SLGBTQIA+ in Canada. From early meeting spots to safe spaces for community organizing, these spaces were often the backdrop to pivotal demonstrations and hosted events that shaped 2SLGBTQIA+ communities across the country – and Canadian society.

Whether it is Canada, the U.S.-- or other Western nations-- the urge to promote and celebrate “vital” and “historic” sites of and for the LGBTQ Community appears to be preposterously strong.

“Places of Pride?” How about Juno Beach, Canada?

America? Maybe tout Lexington and Concord, Yorktown, Gettysburg, and Omaha Beach as “Places of Pride.” Don’t want to celebrate war? Okay, then how about Menlo Park where Thomas Edison worked, or Independence Hall, where the Constitution was ratified-- and freedom, self-governance, and the worth of the individual was, too.

Places of Pride, indeed.