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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau carries a Canadian flag disfigured with the homosexual movement's rainbow branding at Toronto's Gay Pride Parade.Justin Trudeau / Flickr

WOODSTOCK, Ontario, January 11, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) ― As a rule, Canadians are a tolerant, peaceable bunch, slow to stick our necks out. Nevertheless, more than 33,000 of us have signed a petition protesting the Canadian government’s nod to the Royal Canadian Mint to produce a one dollar coin, or “loonie,” commemorating the decriminalization of private homosexual acts in 1969.

Entitled “Say NO to a ‘Gay’ Loonie!”, the Citizen Go Canada petition underscores the irony in a Trudeau government celebrating private sexual acts on the nation’s coinage when another Trudeau said private sex acts were none of the government’s business. (Full text of petition below.)

“(Before) Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau decriminalized homosexual acts in 1969, he famously said, ‘there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation,’” the petition to the Mint reads.

“In other words, people's private sexual practices should stay private, and the government should keep out. If that is the case, then why are you promoting certain sexual practices on Canada's official coinage?” it continues.

“It is like the government is opening up the doors of certain bedrooms and inviting everyone in to watch. This is unacceptable and un-Canadian.”

CitizenGo Canada reported over Facebook that its petition had received more than 20,000 signatures from people across the country during a single weekend. Its moderater stated also that it had attracted 12,000 signatories in its first 24 hours, a CitizenGo first.

“Over 12,000 signatures in 24 hours!” the administrator wrote. “I have never seen such a huge response so fast on any other petition. Thank you to everyone who has signed and shared this! Canadians are speaking up and saying NO to a ‘gay’ loonie.”  

A heated debate has broken out  in the CitizenGo Canada Facebook page that reveals a misunderstanding among LGBT activists regarding what exactly was decriminalized in 1969, i.e. oral and anal sex acts performed by any consenting adult over 21 on another consenting adult over 21 in private.

In December 1968, then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s Justice Minister, John Turner, reintroduced an Omnibus Bill that sought to allow abortion, decriminalize certain sex acts between consenting adults, tighten drinking-and-driving legislation, restrict firearms and deal with a number of other issues. After months of acrimonious debate, Bill C-150 was passed into law.

Bill C-150 is credited for “decriminalizing homosexuality” although simply identifying as homosexual was not illegal — indeed, in 1969 homosexuality was widely considered an unfortunate psychological condition — and it permitted homosexual acts only in private between adults over 21. The new legislation did not, for example, permit the public nudity and indecent acts that have featured at many Pride Day celebrations.

In 1969, Justice Minister John Turner likened the decriminalization of homosexual acts to the legal status of adultery. While the debate raged in Parliament, he told CBC Radio that Bill C-150 was not an endorsement of homosexuality.  

“All it does is recognize what those of us who support the bill recognize: that there are areas of private behaviour which, however repugnant, however immoral — if they do not directly involve public order should not properly be within the criminal law of Canada,” Turner said.

“There are acts and situations in life which most of us would consider to be immoral that are not crimes,” he continued.  

“Adultery is one, yet it is not a crime. Fornication is immoral, I suppose to most of us, yet it is not a crime. These are matters for private judgment, private behavior, private morals, and the criminal law says these are not our concern.”

“In the same way, acts between people who suffer under a sexual deviation — as long as it doesn’t involve the corruption of a minor, as long as it doesn’t involve force, as long as it is not done in public — if in fact it consists of adult, mature, private behavior, however repugnant as I’ve said to most of us, these are matters for personal conscience and should not be in the public criminal domain,” he maintained.

Turner also told the House of Commons that the Liberal Party was not claiming that homosexual acts were equal to “normal” acts of intercourse.

“We are not for a moment conceding that homosexual acts are in any way to be equated to ordinary, normal acts of intercourse,” he said.  

Since then, Canadian politicians have abandoned an emphasis on the private nature of sexual acts to participate in their public celebration. Pierre Trudeau’s son, current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is an enthusiastic devotee of the nation’s annual Pride Day festivals.   

Canadian coins should not promote division

Dear Royal Canadian Mint,

I am very upset over the planned release of a pro-homosexual one dollar coin later this year. I do not want a “gay” loonie.

When Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau decriminalized homosexual acts in 1969, he famously said, “there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.” In other words, people's private sexual practices should stay private, and the government should keep out. If that is the case, then why are you promoting certain sexual practices on Canada's official coinage? It is like the government is opening up the doors of certain bedrooms and inviting everyone in to watch. This is unacceptable and un-Canadian.

Just because homosexual acts have been legalized, that does not mean they should be celebrated or commemorated. Divorce is also legal – many restrictions on divorce were lifted in 1969, but that does not call for the minting of a “pro-divorce” one dollar coin. Abortion laws were also liberated in 1969, but that does not mean there should be a “pro-abortion” loonie.

There are many things that are perfectly legal in Canada, which are not only questionable but also immoral. The government has chosen to step out of the debate on these issues and has left it up to ordinary citizens to decide. By minting a coin to celebrate homosexuality, the government is not only stepping back into the debate, but it is taking a strong stand on one side. This is sure to alienate and divide many people. This is not the function of our national coinage!

The fact is that many religious Canadians consider homosexual acts to be sinful – a serious offence to God. Also, numerous non-religious Canadians feel homosexual acts are unnatural or unhealthy – at odds with normal human biological and reproductive functions. Many will feel uncomfortable using or carrying these coins. Some will believe they must reject them entirely. This is sure to widen the current rift in Canadian society and may promote discrimination against traditionally-minded people.

Therefore, I am asking you not to mint a “gay” loonie in 2019. The government must withdraw its plans for any design that celebrates homosexual acts. I do not want homosexuality forced upon me and my country.

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Dorothy Cummings McLean is a Canadian journalist, essayist, and novelist. She earned an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Toronto and an M.Div./S.T.B. from Toronto’s Regis College. She was a columnist for the Toronto Catholic Register for nine years and has contributed to Catholic World Report. Her first book, Seraphic Singles,  was published by Novalis (2010) in Canada, Liguori in the USA, and Homo Dei in Poland. Her second, Ceremony of Innocence, was published by Ignatius Press (2013). Dorothy lives near Edinburgh, Scotland with her husband.