The Million March for Children is now behind us. The signs are down, the sidewalks are bare, and people from both sides go about their daily business.
But what happened at the Million March for Children, and why?
There are many who would see the protestors on the East side as nothing more than a fringe group of hateful people. Unfortunately, the media (and the City of Whitehorse) likes to portray them that way. In fact, we (and I am counting myself with them) are normal people who live and work and serve and love our community.
As an example, I organize (for my church) many community events. We serve the community with free clothing, free food at events, free soup during the winter, we have a yard sale where people pay what they want, we have a block party where we give away free food and even free extra yard sale items. This Saturday we are giving away free coats. My point is not "look at what we do". My point is that when we do all of these community services we never ask or care about someone's sexual identity, practices or history. It isn't even considered. I'm sure that many of those we served are part of the LGBTQ+ community. That simply doesn't come up. When it comes to caring for our community, it makes no difference what your colour, creed, or sexual choices are. Zero. All that matters is that you are a human being.
As a human being, even God gives you the freedom to make your own decisions. You can live as you wish and you can teach your children as you wish. I have no issue with that. I might not agree with what you do, but that's your choice because it doesn't have anything to do with me. The place I draw the line is when sexual orientation and gender identity is pushed on our elementary children (grandchildren in my case). That is why I stood on Second Avenue today.
Now that this event is over, and upon reflection, I did make some observations:
This wasn’t so much a “march” as much as it was standing in one place, which was just fine, because the purpose of it was to take a stand. The cold wind would have made "marching" easier, but so be it.
The reason for being there, for those on one side, seemed to be singularly on the opposition to sexual orientation and gender identity issues being taught to young children in school. That was evidenced by the signs being held.
There were many more people in the “other” camp. Beats me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we were outnumbered at least 10 to 1; probably more.
Being outnumbered didn’t disturb me at all. I was not there as part of a popularity contest; and besides, I have always believed that just because more people do something, that doesn’t necessarily make it right.
I didn't go expecting to change anyone's mind on the other side, and I'm sure I didn't. But I couldn't stay home and do nothing. I could not not go. I needed to stand.
It was neat how a main road separated the two groups. That was kind of nice. Although a few from the other side did venture over to this side, for the most part, they stayed where they were and we stayed where we were. There were no personal heated exchanges, pushing or shoving (unlike in some other cities). I was glad for that.
Having said that, the other side sure did a lot of taunting and chanting, and more than one finger (usually one at a time) raised. While they did stay on their side, clearly they were a lot more hyper (maybe they were trying to stay warm).
I was also glad that I didn’t notice any obscene signs being held on our side. I didn’t read many signs on the other side to know what they had, but I didn’t notice anything obscene there either.
The issue, on the other side, was everything LGBTQ+. I was surprised (perhaps I shouldn’t have been) to see how those of us who were standing on the one side were lumped together as hating everything, when in reality we are not there to hate anybody and we are gathered to take a stand on one particular issue. We stood peacefully and for the most part, very quietly.
Judging by the signs the other side held, they have a lot of fear that somehow, if I teach my kids something different than their agenda, that my kids are going to become terrorists. I found that strange, as my kids are all grown adults who are law abiding and productive members of society.
I found it very disturbing that the media portrays all traditional parents as being hateful. Again, this shouldn’t surprise me as I read the same thing from our prime minister; that there is no place in Canada for such hateful, bigoted people such as myself.
I found it interesting that the same people who were shouting at me across the road will probably greet me kindly in other settings (even hold the door open for me at Tim Hortons). Why could they not extend the same courtesy to sit and talk instead of rant and rave from across the road? Somehow, as soon as sexuality comes up, we are labeled hysterical lunatics.
I was disappointed that both the City of Whitehorse and the Yukon Employees Union vocally supported the opposition to the March. I wonder how long before people employed by the City or in that Union are disciplined if they don't agree with this agenda.
I found it disappointing that if the other side has their way, people like myself will have no voice. We are not allowed to disagree, we are not allowed to voice a different opinion. If we don’t support what they are doing 100%, we must be some awful sub-human filled with hate. They would really like to silence us completely.
The reality is, I don’t think anyone on my side of the road cares what people on the other side do in their personal lives. They could change whatever they want on their body; they could live with whoever they want; they could think of themselves in whatever way they want; and they could teach their children whatever they believe is right. But where I draw the line is when their agenda is being pushed on our children or grandchildren in the schools. Me teaching my kids that boys are boys and girls are girls doesn’t make them hate anyone. We are not raising bullies, no matter how much the other side likes to imply that. Truth be told, if anyone looked at the two groups this afternoon, it would be clear which side acted like bullies.
But what happened at the Million March for Children, and why?
There are many who would see the protestors on the East side as nothing more than a fringe group of hateful people. Unfortunately, the media (and the City of Whitehorse) likes to portray them that way. In fact, we (and I am counting myself with them) are normal people who live and work and serve and love our community.
As an example, I organize (for my church) many community events. We serve the community with free clothing, free food at events, free soup during the winter, we have a yard sale where people pay what they want, we have a block party where we give away free food and even free extra yard sale items. This Saturday we are giving away free coats. My point is not "look at what we do". My point is that when we do all of these community services we never ask or care about someone's sexual identity, practices or history. It isn't even considered. I'm sure that many of those we served are part of the LGBTQ+ community. That simply doesn't come up. When it comes to caring for our community, it makes no difference what your colour, creed, or sexual choices are. Zero. All that matters is that you are a human being.
As a human being, even God gives you the freedom to make your own decisions. You can live as you wish and you can teach your children as you wish. I have no issue with that. I might not agree with what you do, but that's your choice because it doesn't have anything to do with me. The place I draw the line is when sexual orientation and gender identity is pushed on our elementary children (grandchildren in my case). That is why I stood on Second Avenue today.
Now that this event is over, and upon reflection, I did make some observations:
This wasn’t so much a “march” as much as it was standing in one place, which was just fine, because the purpose of it was to take a stand. The cold wind would have made "marching" easier, but so be it.
The reason for being there, for those on one side, seemed to be singularly on the opposition to sexual orientation and gender identity issues being taught to young children in school. That was evidenced by the signs being held.
There were many more people in the “other” camp. Beats me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we were outnumbered at least 10 to 1; probably more.
Being outnumbered didn’t disturb me at all. I was not there as part of a popularity contest; and besides, I have always believed that just because more people do something, that doesn’t necessarily make it right.
I didn't go expecting to change anyone's mind on the other side, and I'm sure I didn't. But I couldn't stay home and do nothing. I could not not go. I needed to stand.
It was neat how a main road separated the two groups. That was kind of nice. Although a few from the other side did venture over to this side, for the most part, they stayed where they were and we stayed where we were. There were no personal heated exchanges, pushing or shoving (unlike in some other cities). I was glad for that.
Having said that, the other side sure did a lot of taunting and chanting, and more than one finger (usually one at a time) raised. While they did stay on their side, clearly they were a lot more hyper (maybe they were trying to stay warm).
I was also glad that I didn’t notice any obscene signs being held on our side. I didn’t read many signs on the other side to know what they had, but I didn’t notice anything obscene there either.
The issue, on the other side, was everything LGBTQ+. I was surprised (perhaps I shouldn’t have been) to see how those of us who were standing on the one side were lumped together as hating everything, when in reality we are not there to hate anybody and we are gathered to take a stand on one particular issue. We stood peacefully and for the most part, very quietly.
Judging by the signs the other side held, they have a lot of fear that somehow, if I teach my kids something different than their agenda, that my kids are going to become terrorists. I found that strange, as my kids are all grown adults who are law abiding and productive members of society.
I found it very disturbing that the media portrays all traditional parents as being hateful. Again, this shouldn’t surprise me as I read the same thing from our prime minister; that there is no place in Canada for such hateful, bigoted people such as myself.
I found it interesting that the same people who were shouting at me across the road will probably greet me kindly in other settings (even hold the door open for me at Tim Hortons). Why could they not extend the same courtesy to sit and talk instead of rant and rave from across the road? Somehow, as soon as sexuality comes up, we are labeled hysterical lunatics.
I was disappointed that both the City of Whitehorse and the Yukon Employees Union vocally supported the opposition to the March. I wonder how long before people employed by the City or in that Union are disciplined if they don't agree with this agenda.
I found it disappointing that if the other side has their way, people like myself will have no voice. We are not allowed to disagree, we are not allowed to voice a different opinion. If we don’t support what they are doing 100%, we must be some awful sub-human filled with hate. They would really like to silence us completely.
The reality is, I don’t think anyone on my side of the road cares what people on the other side do in their personal lives. They could change whatever they want on their body; they could live with whoever they want; they could think of themselves in whatever way they want; and they could teach their children whatever they believe is right. But where I draw the line is when their agenda is being pushed on our children or grandchildren in the schools. Me teaching my kids that boys are boys and girls are girls doesn’t make them hate anyone. We are not raising bullies, no matter how much the other side likes to imply that. Truth be told, if anyone looked at the two groups this afternoon, it would be clear which side acted like bullies.
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