LGBT Groups Split On Canada’s “Gay Loonie” Coin

CBC News reports:

A new dollar coin designed to commemorate 50 years of homosexual rights has sparked a dual backlash — from both members of Canada’s LGBT community and from a social conservative group.

The loonie, to be launched April 23 at an invitation-only event in Toronto, will feature a stylized depiction of two overlapping human faces within a large circle, the dates 1969 and 2019, and the word “equality” in English and French. The Royal Canadian Mint is keeping tight-lipped on details until next week’s official reveal.

York University historian Tom Hooper said the coin commemorates a “myth,” since the sweeping changes to the Criminal Code introduced in 1969 — which decriminalized sexual activity between men over the age of 21 in a private setting — were modest, and police and courts continued to criminalize same-sex relations afterward.

Hooper and his supporters will protest against the coin shortly before its launch event. The LGBT rights group Egale Canada supports the coin as a “significant turning point” for Canada.

Meanwhile the Canadian chapter of CitizenGo has staged protests and launched a petition against the coin. The group’s leader says that if he gets any of the three million coins to be put into circulation, he will “exchange it for quarters.” Which will really teach them gays. CitizenGo was co-founded in 2012 by NOM’s Brian Brown.

We had a great rally to-day in Ottawa in front of the @CanadianMint! We say NO THANK YOU to @JustinTrudeau to a “Gay Loonie”! #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/tKtjW5hsaR

— CitizenGO Canada (@citizengocanada) April 12, 2019