The right wing strikes back. In response, angry queers stormed parliament and resigned from the party. Labour also withdrew its support from the NDP after the party passed austerity measures, and in the 1994 elections the Conservative Party swept to victory. Emboldened by the rightwing conquest of Ontario, the Coquitlam school board in B.C. last year rejected an initiative by teacher Murray Warren to introduce curriculum to combat homophobia. And one month after this spring's B.C. Teachers Federation convention, where members overwhelmingly endorsed projects aimed at ending homophobia, the Surrey school board banned three books about children with gay parents.
Militants point the way.
But on June 7, when CRI honcho Kari Simpson held a rally protesting the B.C. bills to give gay partners rights similar to common-law partners, she and her 200 adherents found the streets thronged with two militant gay activists for every bigot. Dominating the counter-demo were young queers, who lack the homes and jobs to enjoy the benefits of new gay rights legislation. Often kicked out by their parents and left homeless, these youngsters suffer daily abuse in schools, on the streets, and at work. Their grievances cut across race and gender lines. With little to lose, they are on the front lines against Simpson and her kind.