National Post Article: Why Are Canadians Xenophobic & Racist Against The Tamil Migrants?
Kelly McParland: Poll shows Canadians are nasty, anti-immigrant SOBs
REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
A resettled Tamil bathes her son in Vavuniya, about 260 km from Colombo. The Sri Lankan government has gradually been resettling around 300,000 ethnic minority Tamils, most displaced in the final phase of the army offensive against the Tamil Tigers
Kelly McParland August 20, 2010 – 9:44 am
There’s a poll out that shows Canadian have turned into hard-hearted, immigrant-hating SOBs.
The poll, which you can read about here, found that Canadians, by a margin of five-to-one, would take the 490-odd Tamils who floated up on the MV Sun Sea a week ago and fire them straight back to Sri Lanka. Overall, 60% agreed with the statement, “They should be turned away – the boat should be escorted back to Sri Lanka by the Canadian Navy.”
So intense is the anti-Tamil sentiment that people in Alberta and Quebec actually agreed on something, for the first time since … well, I’m trying to think of something they’ve ever agreed on, and I’m drawing a blank, so maybe this is the first time ever. Anyway, Alberta topped the Tamil-hate list with 74% of respondents urging they be shipped home (against just 11% willing to let them stay), with Quebec in second place (64% anti-Tamil bigots, 15% compassionate Canadians.)
Clearly this is a profound moment. The traditional notion of Canada as a caring, open-hearted country has died and we’ve turned into east Texas. Get the rope, boys, we got here that needs stringin’ up.
On the radio this morning, two normally sensible people were decrying the decline of Canadian values. Tarek Fatah said it showed that Canadians have lost sight of “what the country is all about.” John Moore just shook his head in anguish. (Actually, since it was on the radio, I have no way of knowing that. But it sounded like anguished head-shaking, from what I could hear over the traffic.)
Even Andrew Coyne appears to have erred in his usually precise analysis.
“No one is suggesting we should have turned the boat back on the high seas, or expelled the Tamils without hearing their refugee claims,” he writes.
Hah! 74% of people in Alberta and 64% in Quebec would do just that. Take that, Mr. Friend of Peter Mansbridge.
Why have Canadians turned into such insensitive jerks? A few of the theories floating around include John Moore’s notion that too many people who are descendants of immigrants have short memories about the great good fortune they received when they became Canadians. Or that the evil Tories are playing the intolerance card because it works with the tough-on-crime crowd.
But maybe that’s not the case. It’s just possible that, as Canadians become increasingly familiar with how easy it is to take advantage of the country’s good intentions, they become equally reluctant to play the rube. It should be no surprise that suspicion of immigrants is high among recent immigrants, since many — having worked their way through the complex, convoluted system — appreciate just how difficult and perverse the process is, and how great the temptation to look for loopholes. Since many immigrants are still trying to bring over members of extended families, they have an interest in ensuring the system works as fairly as possible. Many also come from countries where the rule of law is not exactly No. 1 on the national priority list, and are wary of taking anyone’s story at face value.
Which doesn’t mean they hate Tamils. What it does mean is that Canadians have grown extremely distrustful of the immigration and refugee system, and of the politicians who set the rules. It’s no secret that there are plenty of nasty folks in the world willing to exploit the misery of would-be migrants by promising them a new life in a more pleasant country at a price it could take decades to pay off. You don’t have to scour the third world to find examples: A year ago, Canada began demanding visas for visitors from the Czech Republic because of the swelling number of dubious arrivals. Anyone here been to the Czech Republic? It’s not exactly a hell-hole.
There are 200,000 Tamils in Toronto. It’s been well documented that the community includes many sympathizers with the Tamil Tigers, the terror group that fought a 30-year civil war and was only defeated last year by the most brutal means. Most Canadians have little if any understanding of the internal dynamics of Sri Lankan ethnic politics, and couldn’t identify a Tamil from a Sinhalese if their life depended on it. They do know that too many politicians in Canada have been prone to pander to the community for votes and donations while ignoring the very real threat that comes from importing age-old ethnic quarrels.
So when a boat filled with Tamils arrives off the coast, a goodly number of Canadians don’t know what to think. Common sense suggests the ship didn’t materialize out of the goodness of someone’s heart. It was paid for, and whoever forked over the money clearly expects a hefty return. Happily admitting the exploited folks on board would clearly seem to be encouraging that trade. Is it also possible that, among the 500, a few hardened Tiger sympathizers are hiding, hoping to implant themselves in Canada’s Tamil community so they can continue to promote hatred and division? You know, it just might be.
For a long time Canadians have been happy to ignore all this and trust the authorities to sort it out. It would appear that that’s no longer the case. The immigration system has been so badly broken for so long, and political parties of every stripe so reluctant to do any serious repairing, that many Canadians plainly feel it can’t be trusted any longer. That’s why they tell pollsters they’d turn the ship around and send it home. It has nothing to do with discriminating against Tamils or forgetting what Canada stands for; it’s about the ongoing decline in faith that we have institutions and a political system that are up to the job of dealing with the problems they face.
National Post
National Post Comments: Some Canadians Are Racist Against The Tamil Migrants!
sometown
9:02 AM on August 20, 2010
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“It’s just possible that, as Canadians become increasingly familiar with how easy it is to take advantage of the country’s good intentions, they become equally reluctant to play the rube.”
Bingo!
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NBarton
9:12 AM on August 20, 2010
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The Liberal party is out of power and Canadians tire of the broken Immigration Department and it’s equally broke laws. Just by chance the two happen at the same time?
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ledavid
9:16 AM on August 20, 2010
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Our ancestors arrived by boat….gotta respect refugees who arrive by boat….not like these crybabies who fly up from mexico.
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Sassylassie
9:18 AM on August 20, 2010
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What’s the point of the picture? I grew up in a house with no indoor plumbing for ten years. I spent my summers camping taking showers from a bucket, oh Dear how oppressed Sassy was.
Perhaps Canadians are fed up with people who come to this country and call themselves Saudi-Canadians Palestinian-Canadians or Tamil-Canadians see the Polish became Canadian not Polish-Canadians. The hyphenated crowd don’t consider themselves Canadian, they bring their century old fueds hatreds and holy wars into Canada and then take to the streets or use our courts via lawfare to force us to submit to their grievances. I’m just fed up with being forced to pay to support immigrants and refugees who hate our culture and our way of left but I have to pay for their lifestyle choices so they can live in some racial or ethnic enclave and pretend they never left the motherland..
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RedSniper
9:19 AM on August 20, 2010
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Bull’sEye! And please, PLEASE, don’t start wayving “eternal values and what Canada stands for” in my face! The 3 years waiting for permission to enter Canada as a landed immigrant, and another 3 awaiting my right to apply for citizenship (during which I was checking my self not to cross a road, untill the light was surely green) has thought me what Canada DOES NOT stand for – becoming a roach motel for transient welfare-hounds and a playground for various ethnic-mafia snakeheads. And I liked it, ever more so – a thing EARNED is much dearer than a thing DONATED. I believe holding these sentiments don’t make me a 19th century Orangeman. And if John Moore thinks it does he can go and jump off a toll barn into the manure pile, for all I care.
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foreigner
9:21 AM on August 20, 2010
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More race card b-s. People don’t hate ‘immigrants’ or Tamils (probably wouldn’t recognise one).
People hate illegal queue jumpers who are abusing Canadian generosity.
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Rhino Party Whip
9:21 AM on August 20, 2010
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Kelly, a new low for you. Most people are rightly exasperated with immigrants gaming the system, not out-right bigots.
From YOUR OWN LINK.
Pollster Scholz told QMI Agency the results cannot conclude whether race or ethnicity are factors in the reaction Canadians are having to the boat’s arrival.
Don’t call my compatriots names, or I’m going to beat you up.
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ledavid
9:22 AM on August 20, 2010
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Tarek Fatah said it showed that Canadians have lost sight of “what the country is all about.”
Ah Tarek Fatah….again…is there any story he can’t be quoted on?.
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Steve the Pundit
9:25 AM on August 20, 2010
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Canadians are tired of bogus refugee claims, especially those tainted by profiteers selling space on an overcrowded boot to those claimants.
If these people had the means to “pay for passage”, they should be able to get in through traditional means. And they CERTAINLY shouldn’t need welfare when they get here, by WHATEVER means.
The immigration system is broken, no matter how you slice it. It must be fixed before the oceans become crowded with similar “flights from oppression” (at $20k a pop to the organizers)…
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Sue McPherson
9:30 AM on August 20, 2010
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I think the main reason people are against showing humanity to the new arrivals is the state of the economy. People see that jobs here are going to outsiders before they even get offered to Canadians sometimes. Comments on articles on affirmative action will provide a clue as to how Canadians feel about immigrants. Secondly, we hear a lot about how our medical system is under such strain that people are reluctant to share resources, as far as health and wellbeing are concerned, and the job market.
As someone newly returned to Canada 3 years ago after a decade away, I know how it feels to be met with hostility and suspicion. If we lived in a meritocracy, and if people put half the amount of energy into trying to make things go smoothly as they do trying to place obstacles in people’s paths, Canada would be a better place, and might even find that immigrants have something useful to contribute.
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Zod
9:32 AM on August 20, 2010
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You make it sound like this is something new, but it isn’t. I was probably 5 years old when I realized that Canadians were organized Haters (Didn’t know what Racism was) , and every year it gets worse. The only difference now is that the Web and Facebook has let the world see the truth what Immigrant Canadians live with every, second, minute, hour, day, month and years of their captivity in this Fraudulent Country. It was only 50+ years later that I discovered that pretending to be not was actually part of the Hate Game, so they always had you in their grip.
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spionkop
9:32 AM on August 20, 2010
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Ummm the issue is about people coming here the legal way or just jumping the queue…
And as for Tamils, they did it themselves when they tried to intimidate the people in my city, when they tried to block streets at rush hour, when they blocked a highway, did you miss that?
If you try to intimidate Canadians and fight them are we supposed to roll over and take it? Is that the Canadian way? I’d say not, here start at this…go watch a hockey game and you’ll see that Canadians aren’t the suckers and wimps you’d like us to be.
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Ottawan
9:38 AM on August 20, 2010
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Leading into the end of war in May 2009, the editorial of NP wrote with the headline ” Punish Tamil Tigers, not the Tamils”. Beautifool!
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End Game
9:48 AM on August 20, 2010
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Over the last week, I have read a multitude of comments influenced by disinformation. Misconceptions about the refugee determination process have convinced people that these claimants differ from any others.
In this context, the current government was correct to maintain and strengthen the hearings process. Naysayers are inadvertently demonstrating why an independent determination system is in place.
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C11H17O2N2SNa
9:49 AM on August 20, 2010
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Now I’m an “insensative jerk”, an “SOB” or someone wanting to linch refugees because I’m tired of being hoodwinked and taken advantage of !? The sooner the Government of Canada, ANY Government of Canada, steps up and legitimizes this failed process he happier I’ll (and apparently the majority of us) will be. It’s writers like you, John Moore and Jeff Jedras, all of whom make a living feeding off of this turmoil, are letting the Country down and you should be ashamed of yourself, but I doubt it.
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Jackal1234
9:51 AM on August 20, 2010
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close immigration from terrorist nations, promote reproduction by our own population… does this not seem so clear cut? if i’m trying to have a family stop taking half my wages in taxes. seriously. our MP’s are not listening
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Sen-C
9:53 AM on August 20, 2010
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Canada is not run by Nazis, though there are many of them here.
Polls don’t mean anything if you pose a moment look at the folks who are protesting. They do not even know there are indigenous people in this country.
Start a poll on the merits of Afghan war. You will see too many morons there too
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Sen-C
9:56 AM on August 20, 2010
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Politicians with this kind of vote bank and bankrupt media are responsible for making this country full of hatemongers oblivious to the history of this great land.
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Now hear this
9:57 AM on August 20, 2010
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Spot on. This is a reflection of the growing mistrust of our politicians, and frustration with Supreme Court interpretations that leave us vulnerable. It wouldn’t matter if they are Tamils or Fijiians. Canadians are growing weary of seeing our generosity taken advantage of, and the lack of will by our leaders to prevent this. These events give Canadians the correct impression that these illegal immigrants receive more immediate and better treatment than our own.
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spionkop
10:03 AM on August 20, 2010
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Sorry I read the article again, I think Kelly may have written a piece that was too nuanced for me to comprehend fully first time around. I agree although I find it rather strange that Tamil Tigers are trying to cheat the system and find loopholes and they’re the same folks to tried to intimidate the people of my city a few summer ago. I have no sympathy for the Tiger loving Tamils whatsoever.
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come on now
10:04 AM on August 20, 2010
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How does 1 in 5 calculate to 60%? sounds like that line from that great movie, 60% of the time, it works every time… Myself being a prime example, i doubt participants engaging in an online poll are an accurate cross reference of what citizens who actually contribute to canadian society think of immigrants. People who contribute to society, don’t have time to who contribute to online polls and post comments like this…
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Snik27
10:07 AM on August 20, 2010
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yeah… bit of a difference between and immigrant and someone who landed without going through the proper channels. If any of them had been carrying weapons it could be called an invasion hmm? Anyways, with all the free health care they’re getting, anyone else’s back hurt?
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Despicado
10:07 AM on August 20, 2010
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Kelly, I am speechless. You just called the majority of hardworking Canadian men and women anti-immigrant bigots and hard-hearted people.
Please understand this thing: we not racist, we are not intolerant. We are voiceless tax slaves oppressed by political correctness, lawyers and activists who spin any sob story to get richer.
We have had enough as we see our country turning into a third-world lawless dump. When my wife came to Toronto from a third world country she was shocked by the people she saw there and wanted to go back. We are afraid of taking our baby for a walk to our favourite places because of aggressive protestors with terrorist flags, more of whom are on their way to Toronto.
Please do not abuse us, 80% cannot be misguided – that means something is really going on.
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joeamerican19
10:08 AM on August 20, 2010
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Overall, Canadians do like immigrants. Canada is made up of immigrants. The problem here is that in the news, in all reports, it says that the people on the boat are TAMIL refugees. These are not SRI LANKAN refugees, but TAMIL refugees. Do you see the point??
Last I checked the Tamil (Tigers) were a TERRORIST organization.
So the same thing could be said for different refugees. Would Canadians want TALIBAN refugees in their country? Would the feeling be the same if those were Afghan refugees?
I don’t want TERRORIST refugees here. If those were regular, Sri Lankan refugees, no problem.
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Yusume
10:13 AM on August 20, 2010
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This is not so much about refugees it is about the government.when you see Canadians living on skid row of any major city in squalor .then you see boat people landing on our shore.Here in B,C all we hear about is how they have to close hospital wards because they are too costly.when the refugees arrived a Victoria hospital opened its seventh floor that the people had been told was too costly to operate.When 42000 people who have been deported have not been found it makes you wonder. If only 10% of them had been sent here for terrorist purposes that is 4200 spread out across Canada waiting for the word. Look what happened at the G8 by our own people.This process takes up to two years and we pay for housing and medical and then they either stay or are deported and disappear.Yes we are MAD as hell at our system and if the Conservatives bring in a bill to make it tougher and the opposition argue against it they will be toast
Toronto Sun Article: Says Six Out Of Ten Canadians Want Tamil Migants Out Of Canada!
Six in 10 say Tamil boat should have been “escorted back to Sri Lanka”
Send Tamil migrants home: Poll
Majority don’t want boat to stay
By BRIAN LILLEY, Parliamentary Bureau
Last Updated: August 20, 2010 4:02am
- A man looks out from the MV Sun Sea after he and about 500 Tamil migrants arrived on the cargo ship at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, B.C. August 13, 2010. (Reuters)
OTTAWA – Send them home and use the Navy if necessary is the message coming from a new poll on the Tamil boat people issue.
By a margin of five to one, Canadians say the government should reject the almost 500 would-be refugees from Sri Lanka who arrived last week.
The Leger Marketing poll of 1,500 people, released exclusively to QMI Agency, was conducted from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4 as the ship travelled towards the British Columbia coast.
Asked which statement best described their own opinion on what should be done with the ship, which may include members of the banned Tamil Tiger terrorist group, 60% agreed with the statement: “They should be turned away – the boat should be escorted back to Sri Lanka by the Canadian Navy.”
Just 17% agreed with the statement: “They should be accepted into Canada as political refugees.”
A significant number, 20%, said they did not know which answer to choose and 4% did not answer.
Alberta ranked highest with 74% of respondents there saying send the boat back and just 11% saying let them stay, while Quebec was the second highest with 64% opting to send the boat back and 15% saying the passengers should stay.
“That’s a very high number,” said Leger pollster David Scholz.
Scholz said the number is likely high for a number of factors, including concerns about who arrived on the boat, such as possible terrorists, and whether other boats will follow.
“There is that worry that this is potentially people coming in, not just jumping the queue, but coming in and falsely representing where they are from,” said Scholz. “We don’t often hear about other refugee claims that are done on an individual or family basis, but when we see lots of them at the same time we tend to get a little nervous.”
Martin Collacott was Canada’s highest-ranking diplomat in Sri Lanka during the period when the civil war launched by the Tamil Tigers started in the early 1980s. Collacott says we can’t just turn the boat back.
“We need to follow the process that takes the ones that are legitimate refugees and return the others,” said Collacott.
How many are legitimate refugees is up for debate said Collacott, who noted that the ship, the MV Sun Sea, didn’t come directly from Sri Lanka, but from Thailand where the passengers were safe from any possible persecution from the Sri Lankan government.
As for what he takes away from the fact that the majority of Canadians don’t want the government to let the would-be refugees stay, Collacott pins the blame on a battered immigration system.
“I think it shows Canadians feel they are being taken advantage of,” said Collacott.
The Canadian Tamil Congress believes the poll results are a reflection of feelings towards the immigration system, not Tamils themselves.
“I think there is a growing frustration,” said spokesperson Manjula Selvarajah.
Still Selvarajah puts some of the blame on government rhetoric that has warned about possible criminal or terrorist connections on the boat.
“People may be reacting to certain words such as queue jumpers and human
smugglers,” said Selvarajah. “If people understood the immigration and refugee system and the process in place, they may have a bit more faith in the system.”
Pollster Scholz told QMI Agency the results cannot conclude whether race or ethnicity are factors in the reaction Canadians are having to the boat’s arrival.
The poll of 1,500 adult Canadians was taken online between Aug. 2 and Aug. 4. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
CNN Article: Sad News Tennis Legend Serena Willams Withdraws From The 2010 Women’s US Open!
Foot injury keeps Serena Williams from U.S. Open
- Serena Williams still recovering from surgery earlier this summer
- She has won three titles at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York
- World No. 1 says dropping out was a “devastating moment”
- U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters beaten after being hampered by hip injury
(CNN) — Top-ranked tennis superstar Serena Williams said a foot injury that forced her to pull out of the U.S. Open is “devastating.”
“Playing in front of the electric crowd of New York at the U.S. Open and competing against the best female athletes in the world is always a highlight, and I look forward to getting back on the court as quickly as possible,” Williams said in a statement Friday.
Williams’ doctors advised her against playing at the tournament, which begins August 30. She has been recovering from recent surgery on her cut right foot.
“I take great pride in playing the Grand Slam tournaments and have not missed one since 2006. Not being able to be part of this year’s U.S. Open is one of the most devastating moments of my career,” Williams said.
–Serena Williams
- // Serena Williams
- // Kim Clijsters
- // Caroline Wozniacki
- // U.S. Open – Tennis
- // Tennis
Williams, 28, has won at least one singles title in all four Grand Slam tournaments — 13 in all — including three U.S. Opens. She won this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon singles titles.
She went into a tirade against a line judge over a questionable call at the 2009 U.S. Open. Williams later issued an apology.
Kim Clijsters, who beat Williams last year in that semifinal, has suffered a blow in her preparations to defend her title at Flushing Meadows.
The Belgian was hampered by a hip injury as she was beaten in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Friday.
The fifth seed lost 2-6 6-3 6-2 to Russian No. 8 Vera Zvonareva, who followed up her win over the former world No. 1 at the same stage at Wimbledon in July.
Clijsters will now have a scan on her hip to determine the extent of the problem.
“It gradually got tighter and tighter. I was still able to move and hit the ball, so I don’t believe in giving up. I’ll take a few days, a lot of treatment, stretches and make sure it’s all relaxed,” she told the WTA Tour website.
Zvonareva will next face 10th seed Victoria Azarenka in the last four after the Belarusian beat French No. 17 Marion Bartoli 6-2 7-6 (8-6).
Saturday’s other semifinal at the Canadian hardcourt event is between world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki and 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Wozniacki, last year’s losing U.S. Open finalist, avenged her defeat by Italian sixth seed Francesca Schiavone at the French Open by beating the Paris champion 6-2 6-3.
Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, was similarly dominant against China’s Zheng Jie, with the Russian winning 6-1 6-3
Last Night I Attended A Black Gay Men’s Group In Toronto & Had A Great Time!
Last night, I attended my second black gay men’s support group meeting in Toronto. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, just being free and also being around other gay black men is very empowering.
First, we talked about the controversy of the Toronto gay Pride Committee and the whole Blockorama incident. Blockorama is a space for African and Caribbean gay and lesbian people to celebrate our culture at gay pride. However, three out of the last four years the Toronto gay pride committee has moved Blockorama. Some gay black people believe Toronto’s gay Pride committee is anti black and sold out to corporate Canada. The Queers Against Israeli Apartheid received the lion share of the media coverage about gay pride in Toronto. However, one member of Blockorama attended the support group last night and he said the younger black gay generation needs to become more political.
Next, we talked about love and relationships. I have a confession to make. I’ve never really talked about this before but I feel I have to. I have noticed in my life, that I’ve never had a serious romantic relationship with another gay black man. I wonder why? Is it my fault? I guess so? Maybe I didn’t try hard enough?
Of course, I have had great sex with other gay black men. Of course, I want to date another openly gay black man. It would be much easier and probably better for me to date another openly gay black male. The issue of race and culture wouldn’t be much of an issue. I am very sexually attracted to black men. I am also sexually attracted to men of other races. I realize though, my perfect ideal boyfriend is another openly gay black man of Jamaican descent. Why did it take me so long to realize this?
I have to be honest, I think the truth is I bought into the hype that the gay media pushes of the Eurocentric ideal. In the mainstream heterosexual culture, the standard of beauty is a young, white, probably blonde person. In the gay male community, the image of male beauty is also young, white, blonde, and muscular.
If you surf the internet of the mainstream gay media, gay culture blogs, and read the gay newspapers and magazines the message is “white is better.”
I believe subconsciously, some gay men of colour internalize the homophobia from our own communities against each other.
We believe that dating a white gay man “means” we have access to “white gay male privilege” and we can “escape” homophobia and obtain acceptance.
I am not suggesting that people can’t be sexually attracted to other races. I am also not saying that people of different races and cultures can fall in
love!
However, I’m not going to lie to the readers of my blog and say that I never slept with a white gay or dated a white guy before. Yes I have had sex with white gay men and I even dated a white guy a few years ago.
However, as I grow older I realize things I notice the mistakes I made, and I see that I don’t want to “repeat” the same mistakes of my youth.
It is my own fault that I didn’t research more, find the gay black scene in Toronto, and searched for a black gay man. I have no one to blame but myself!
However, now I am looking and I learning that Toronto does have a vibrant black gay culture. The key is I decided to look for it!
The reason is, I don’t have to explain myself or conduct a racism 101 seminar. It would be nice to date another openly gay black man of Jamaican heritage we would automatically have a lot in common.
At this point in my life, I am not interested in going out with a white gay guy because I believe that’s against my politics. The other group members agreed.
However, some group members disagreed with my second point. I personally don’t care if a black gay man wants to date a white gay man that’s his personal business and that’s his life. Well last night, a lot of people had comments about my opinion! I honestly don’t care if some openly gay black man dates a white guy because everyone has a right to live their own lives on their own terms. I wouldn’t want someone to “judge” me about my love life so how can I possibly judge someone else?
One group member said the reason some openly gay black men only date white gay guys is because they want “access” to white gay male privilege. Another person said the reason some gay black men date white gay men is due to self hatred. I think there may be some veracity to these arguments.
I have a third theory, I think the reason some openly gay black males in Toronto date white guys is due to population. Yes Toronto is a very multicultural city. However, homosexuality is still an incendiary issue in communities of colour. Maybe, some openly gay black men are impatient or they simply want to date someone that is proud to be gay and isn’t in the closet? There are more openly gay white men in Toronto compared to gay black men in Toronto. Perhaps the reason some openly black gay men in Toronto date white guys? Maybe it is just “easier” for some openly black gay men to do this?
I have to admit, I don’t want to date any man that is in the closet. I went through that experience before dating a closeted man and it is just not healthy for me. Dating a closeted man means I also return to the closet. I don’t want to be with another man that is not comfortable with his homosexuality. It is not my job to be a therapist for another gay man that is not accepting of his homosexuality.
Of course, I have sympathy, and I understand how hard it is to be a man of colour and gay. However, I believe in 2010, I am cognizant that being in a relationship with another openly gay black man would be perfect for me! The question is, how do I meet him? Well, this is the reason I joined the gay black men’s group. I realize that perhaps through connections it is all about the group of people I am around. The more gay black men I surround myself with the more likely I will meet another openly gay black man of Jamaican heritage.
I suggested to the group that perhaps openly gay males in Toronto we need to expand our dating horizons and include other openly gay men of colour?
Well some people agreed with my opinion and some did not. Of course, in an “ideal world” I would love to meet another openly gay black educated man that is comfortable with being gay and he’s out to his family.
The quandary is, the openly gay black males I have seen in the gay village on Church and Wellesley tend to go out with white guys. However, the black gay men that are more closeted, or more invisible, they tend to want to have relationships with other black men. I believe there must be some gay black men in Toronto that are out of the closet and also want to date other gay black men. I notice the African gay men I have met tend to be against interracial relationships. Maybe I’ve got find myself an African man?
One group member he said it is a political act for gay black men and other gay men of colour to be involved in relationships with each other. He said when he dated a white guy nobody on Church Street had a problem with it. However, he also said when he dated another gay black man and went to bars, and restaurants on Church Street he noticed he got dirty glances and stares. He also said when he held his black boyfriend’s hand on the street in Toronto people paid attention.
The group members asked me what kinds of guys I go out with. In the past couple of years, the guys that ask me out are South Asian gay men. The group members were shocked when I told them this. One group member he is of South Asian descent and he was born in Jamaica. He said that although there are some gorgeous South Asian gay men in Toronto a lot of them are still in the closet. Jamaica is a very racially diverse nation and East and South Asians have lived in Jamaica for hundreds of years.
I talked about my personal experiences about dating South Asian gay men and I agreed. The issue of family honour, religion, and arranged marriages are the reasons some South Asian gay men are very closeted.
I really like this support group. In the past, I have attended gay male support groups but they were white dominated and I didn’t feel comfortable. I just felt the issues the white gay men discussed did not relate to my life experiences as a gay black man. I am not suggesting that the white gay men at the group were not friendly. I am simply saying I felt more comfortable being around my own kind. I realize it is very important for me to be around my people.
One of the discusions we had last night is, why is there a paucity of black gay men out of the closet in Toronto? I suggested that race and culture are factors to black gay men not coming out. However, another group member said that religion is the real culprit for black gay men not coming out.
Next, the facilitator he said he gets rejected by a lot of closeted black gay men because he works for a high profile organization. The facilitator was upset that he can’t seem to meet enough openly gay black males. Someone suggested that the facilitator should probably look for an African-American boyfriend because the black gay community in America is much more organized. In Toronto, the gay community is still racially stratified, my opinion is some black gay men are not comfortable attending gay pride or hanging out in the gay village. One group member joked that the popular gay bar “Woody’s” should be called “Whitey” because this gay bar is mostly white male dominated.
My opinion is, I believe that race, culture, and religion, are definitely factors for closeted black gay men not making their present known. In the Caribbean and African gay communities, homophobia is a very serious issue. The black gay communities in Canada are different than the United States because in America a black person is considered an American. In Canada, immigrants tend to maintain our cultural ties to our homeland and also be Canadian. I agree that black gay men we need to become more organized in Toronto.
Gayblackcanada 