Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised a Pride flag on Parliament Hill today for the first time in the country’s history, in recognition of the people who have “fought a long time” to secure equal rights for LGBT Canadians.
The multi-colour rainbow flag — widely recognized as a symbol of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans community — will be flown on a temporary flag pole in front of Centre Block to mark the beginning of Pride Month, a time to celebrate sexual and gender diversity.
Many members of the Liberal caucus were in attendance at the event, including openly gay MPs Randy Boissonnault, Seamus O’Regan, Rob Oliphant and Treasury Board President Scott Brison.
“This is a great day for Canada and it’s part of a long series of milestones this country has hit over the years. It hasn’t been easy, it hasn’t been automatic, a lot of people fought for a long time for this day to happen,” Trudeau said.
“Canada is united in its defence of rights and it’s standing up for LGBTQ rights,” he said, noting it was not only Liberal MPs in attendance, but politicians from all the parliamentary parties. “And quite frankly … we still have more work to do,” Trudeau said, adding that his government is pushing a transgender rights bill to extend protections to trans Canadians.
