TO CONTINUE with the subject of ‘homosexuals, despite
my criticism of Svend Robinson's political savvy, there is
something important to remember/about people’s rights to
make up their. own minds about their sexual behavior.

‘Lrank sexual freedom with |
freedom of specch. They are part
and parcel of the same basic rela-
tionship to the state — cither as a
free individual ora slave.

The lesson of Hitler should: :
never be forgotten. it was the

‘ homosexuals he consigned to the ;

concentration camps first. Then qd.
came the writers and artists, those
that weren't atready there.
; Once there was a precedent for
rounding up a whole group of lt

; was casicr for mass ar.

if

crime, All fort

assault on basic freedoms:
Consider that the rights of
homosexuals come down toa sim- |

“ple thing: the rights of heterosex:'
“juals. We heterosexuals are free to,

, ,{ Pursue our sexual impulses tothe -
“extent that we can convince a con-

senting adult to indulge our whims:
— the adult in question; for us,
automatically being somebody of
the opposite SCX.

: But if it wasn't, so what? Whose
business i is it anyway? :

In Orwell’s 1984, sex itself. was a
Here, after all, is

ce a re
“Te to lesislation 6 of morality is-always an unhappy |

: affair for. democracy,

a political condition that waxes

- and’ ‘wanes with the tides of intolerance. The. moment.
‘one “group & singled out for. special attention, you

cent is after. ;

magazines, of course. The pattern .
of scizures at the border spells this
out clearly enough. That's a vote-
getter: being against homosexual
porn. ft's visceral and: ‘only i in-
volves an unpopular minority. '

The legislation of morality is
always an unhappy affair for .

democracy, a political condition .-

that waxes and wanes with the ;
tides of intolerance.. The moment
one group is singled out for special

attention, you know that the tidesis ©.
\

coming in. i

It's not just porn the governm-.

; t

Is sex per sc banned from the’:
magazine racks below the bananas .
and between the celery and pears?

“ J mean, take a look at your cor- °
ner grocery store if you want to see
hard-core porn, so long as it.is ””
heterosexual | porn. Gne woman-
’_ several men is not unusual, and
therefore presumably okay.’’ No
‘wonder women feel nervous.

Moves to protect women, to
“strengthen anti-rape laws, forin- °
stance, are always to be applaud-

ed, but when, on the grounds of

memes
ey / wiping out bad thoughts in the
. the ultimate control: over procre- ,

he fact ries between tho opprei .
of homosexuals and the Holocaust.
3 virtually no. lide. The one.
made the other possi
a,/the blight of th
mass arrest ‘of Japanese-Canadians
_ during the Second Wortd War
all'excuses notwithatanding ~ is :
how'the’ same thing

* “strate Bai

Thise issues fife all tied togéttier
fi

1 C ance ma overlapped
n the forn he ant por.
hy?

ation or, for that matter, the Fejec- '
tion of it. 0

The AIDS scare has made woof,
degree of homophobia popular | «.’
again. It-is a dangerous trend. Any.
diminishment of basic Canadian /

liberalism is bad, news, of course, Le

(An aside here:. ‘We're all 'small-1
liberals in this country; our Right: :
and Left included: We are vaguely
famous for our tolerance, and even’.
when we are hypocritical, it is done:
with an air of benign negle

The atmosphere of an- ,
ti-homosexual feelings has already :

Outrageous nae censorship powers
which the government is handing :

, supposedly melting down the old
- War.Measures Act... ..

juess where the Tories proposed,

-pornography.laws will strike. oe

t hom sexual speci lity

. minds of men, the government . I:
proposes to hand the power to |
control and iimit artistic expression

_ in this country over to a bunch of -

paramilitary, bureaucrats with
sweeping powers of censorship,

there is something. seriously. wrong, :

ii

folks. 20s:

Ifeven the normally-docile lis *,

brarians are up in arms; you know

* something slippery ison the slopes.
_ To the barricades, defenders of, :~ |

freedom of speech! And while

you're at it, try to remember that .
“you have to defend tverybody’ So
tight to do what they want as ?

much as see what they’ want, °

At’s easy to be reactionary, but it
‘doesn’t help anybody. And it cer-

ainly doesn’t help the cause of ..;

é freedom of speech.’ ‘Keep, the eyes,

on'the real enemy, who is the’.
uniformed censor.’ You can hear

a

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