Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Glasgo is receiving praise this week after a show of support for colleague Janis Irwin, NDP MLA for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood and member of the LGBTQ community, after Irwin was harassed on the legislature grounds. Irwin says thank-you, but wants to see more done for Alberta's LGBTQ2S+ community by Glasgo's United Conservatives.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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Janis Irwin, MLA for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, was walking to the legislature in Edmonton for question period Tuesday when she stopped to take a video of the growing vigil to honour the 215 children found at the Kamloops residential school.
Two people sitting on a nearby bench began commenting on her gender and when she left, Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Glasgo walked with her and offered support.
“The hateful comments that were directed toward my colleague, Janis Irwin, were unacceptable and un-Albertan. No political party has a monopoly on human decency and compassion, and I will always stand with my fellow MLAs – regardless of their party – when they face bigotry and ignorance,” Glasgo said in a statement to the News.
Irwin says what happened to her was “pretty minor” and she acknowledges the privilege she has as a white, cis-gendered woman. She says she wasn’t expecting her tweet about the altercation to blow up the way it did. Her tweet actually thanked to the person making the comments toward her for reminding her of what she is fighting for.
“We don’t celebrate pride, we don’t have a parade, we don’t raise a flag for people like me, we do that for the young person who is struggling with their identity, the young trans student who doesn’t feel safe at home or in their school. It’s not for people like me who are already safe and secure and feel welcomed and included, it’s for those who aren’t and that’s why we keep fighting.”
Irwin says those in the LGBTQ2S+ community who experience violence, hate, discrimination on a daily basis are the ones she is fighting for and the voices she wants to amplify in the legislature.
She says more needs to be done for the LGBTQ2S+ community and we’ve seen countless examples of the current government attacking the rights of the community. She notes the UCP refusing to ban conversion therapy as one of the ways the government attacks those rights.
“How a government approaches legislation sends a message and we’ve not seen any action from this government that shows they are committed to advancing LGBTQ2S+ rights,” said Irwin.
“We’ve seen performative actions like them raising the pride flag at this time last year and quickly bringing it down again and again – no tangible action toward the community. We need more than performative allyship, we need concrete action.”
Irwin says she appreciated MLA Glasgo’s support on Tuesday, but says there needs to be more government support for the LGBTQ2S+ community – which she will continue to fight for.
