Leftwing Logic

Manufactured Controversy: Vancouver Pride Edition

July 23, 2009 — Raphael Alexander

It’s another day, and that means it’s time for another manufactured controversy, this time pertaining to the Conservatives opting not to join the Gay Pride parade in Vancouver. Not that it’s any different from the previous 18 years the event has been hosted, but this time the absence is even more notable because of the recent campaign to discredit the government based on a theory that they’re now pandering to their socially conservative base.

That gives Vancouver Centre Liberal MP Hedy Fry the perfect pulpit from which to launch into a partisan diatribe:

“They have never had any MPs in Pride for the 18 years that I’ve been there, so why should they start now?” Fry told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. “If that is an indicator of how they view community events, they have obviously decided that some communities are worth their attention and some communities are not.”

This is as disingenuous a statement as can be imagined. If one is under the apprehension that the absence of a politician from an event constitutes a lack of support, or lack of approval, from that politician and the party he represents, it’s a sad indictment of our neediness. Politicians miss events all the time, owing to personal commitments, work duties, or various other reasons. Given that even the organizers from Pride Vancouver acknowledge that showing up is an opportunity to woo voters, isn’t that a rather cynical and self-serving reason to attend? And can you imagine what might happen if a Conservative politician did show up to partake in the parade? The same people deriding the Conservatives for not attending, would likely be deriding them for attending because, as we all know, they’re socially conservative rednecks. Right?

If each time a Conservative MP didn’t show up to an event, one considered that this reinforced some belief that the Conservative party had a “phobia” for that community, or that event, there would be a very long list of people with ridiculous grievances. NDP MP Libby Davies, for instance, opines:

“It would be really smart of them [the Conservatives] to show up and to show that they understand what the Pride parade is about and reach out to people. If they don’t show up, they reinforce this very strong feeling in the community that the Conservative party is homophobic, that they don’t like anything to do with Pride, and so it’s actually in their political interests to show that they are willing to reach out and meet people in the LGBT [lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender] community.”

So if they don’t show up, that means they’re homophobic. Do I have that about right? Never mind the fact that all residents of Canada are treated equally under the law, that all Canadians receive the same fair treatment from the government, and that regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation, the government is obliged to treat each community with the same importance. When you apply circular logic, you’re bound to wind up with a conclusion that satisfies your theory:

1. Conservatives are homophobic.
2. Gay pride parades are held throughout Canada.
3. Conservatives have not attended pride parades.
Therefore
4. Conservatives are not inclusive to Canadians who are gay
Concluding that
5. Conservatives are homophobic.

It makes more sense if you’re a Liberal.

Applied similarly to other events, we come to the same logical conclusion:

1. Conservatives hate ice hockey.
2. Ice hockey games are held throughout Canada.
3. I haven’t seen any Conservatives at my local hockey game.
Therefore
4. Conservatives are not inclusive to hockey players
Concluding that
5. Conservatives hate ice hockey.

-Unambiguously Ambidextrous