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Canada: $1 coin commemorates end of anti-homosexuality laws

Started by chrisild, January 01, 2019, 10:21:52 PM

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chrisild

This year the Royal Canadian Mint will issue a $1 coin that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. "Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults was decriminalized in 1969, two years after then-justice minister Pierre Trudeau introduced amendments to the Criminal Code (...)" https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/coin-loonie-royal-canadian-mint-cabinet-trudeau-homosexuality-1.4954537

The design and the date of issue are still secrets, but we are going to see a "stylized rendering of two overlapping human faces within a large circle, the left half of the left face in front view and the right face in profile facing left, the two faces forming one whole face in front view composed of two eyes with eyebrows, a nose, a mouth and two ears with a small hoop earring on the left ear ..." The coin will also feature the words "equality" and "égalité", the artist's initials RA, and the dates 1969 and 2019.

Christian

Figleaf

That may be a subject that qualifies for the one-of-a kind thread.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Bimat

New commemorative loonie marking 'progress' for LGBTQ people to be unveiled

Historians, advocates raising concerns, saying new coin commemorates a myth.

The Canadian Press · Posted: Apr 23, 2019 9:20 AM ET

The Royal Canadian Mint is unveiling a new commemorative loonie on Tuesday meant to mark what it calls a key milestone for lesbian, gay, transgender, queer and two-spirited people in the country.

The agency says the new one-dollar coin pays tribute to Parliament's passing of legislation that "initiated the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada."

It says the coin, which will be presented in Toronto on Tuesday, celebrates "50 years of progress for LGBTQ2 Canadians."

But historians and advocates are raising concerns about the message behind the new loonie, saying it mistakenly suggests equality has been achieved and largely as a result of the federal government's actions.

A group of activists and academics is holding a news conference near the mint's event on Tuesday to challenge myths surrounding the 1969 Criminal Code reform.

York University historian Tom Hooper, who is part of the group, says LGTBTQ people faced continued criminalization over the decades that followed the legal changes.

Discrimination persists today, historian says

He said discrimination against LGBTQ people persists today, noting as examples that trans and queer people of colour still face issues with policing and people with HIV remain subject to criminalization.

The mint "could have consulted people who have knowledge of this history but they didn't," Hooper said, adding he hopes the agency will do so in the future.

He acknowledged no campaign can compete with roughly three million coins but said the project is at least fuelling a public conversation about LGBTQ history.

"As a historian, I'm hoping to inform as many people as I can about our history. So in some ways the coin is opening up that opportunity," he said.

The mint has said it is largely informed by the Department of Canadian Heritage and its "anniversaries of significance" when it comes to selecting commemorative themes for coins.

Source: CBC
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

Bimat

New gay rights coin divides LGBT community — and outrages social conservatives

Kathleen Harris · CBC News · Posted: Apr 16, 2019 4:00 AM ET

A new dollar coin designed to commemorate 50 years of homosexual rights has sparked a dual backlash — from both members of Canada's LGBT community and from a social conservative group.

The loonie, to be launched April 23 at an invitation-only event in Toronto, will feature a stylized depiction of two overlapping human faces within a large circle, the dates 1969 and 2019, and the word "equality" in English and French. The Royal Canadian Mint is keeping tight-lipped on details until next week's official reveal.

York University historian Tom Hooper said the coin commemorates a "myth," since the sweeping changes to the Criminal Code introduced in 1969 — which decriminalized sexual activity between men over the age of 21 in a private setting — were modest, and police and courts continued to criminalize same-sex relations afterward.

"I feel like they're putting this myth onto a coin. They're stamping this coin with 1969 and right next to it 'equality' and there was nothing in 1969 to do with equality," said Hooper, who studies the history of LGBT rights in Canada.

"Even the people who supported the Criminal Code reforms were arguing that we were a mental disease. So this was not about equality."

In 1967, after introducing the package of Criminal Code reforms that would pass a heated House of Commons vote two years later, then justice minister Pierre Trudeau famously stated that "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."

"I think that what's done in private between adults doesn't concern the Criminal Code. When it becomes public this is a different matter, or when it relates to minors this is a different matter," he said.

Criminalization continued post-1969

But Hooper insisted that legal persecution of homosexual acts persisted through certain provisions in the Code — such as gross indecency — and pointed to the urban police raids of gay bath houses that continued into the 1980s.

"I think the story of decriminalization and the myth, as I'm calling it, certainly benefits the Liberal Party and it benefits anybody with the last name Trudeau," he said, calling the coin a "big mistake."

Hooper is part of the Anti-69 Network, a group of activists and academics planning to hold a media event just before the new loonie is unveiled next week. The event will feature speakers arguing that Canada did not decriminalize homosexuality in 1969 and that LGBT Canadians still faced official persecution in the decades that followed: the criminalization of non-disclosure of HIV-positive status, a ban on blood donations from gay Canadians and oppressive policing tactics.

Not every LGBT activist agrees. Helen Kennedy is the executive director of the advocacy group Egale Canada, which was consulted on the new coin. She said 1969 was a "significant turning point" for Canada and the mint's official commemoration is a "big deal."

"Let's take it as a moment in time to acknowledge a recognition and to acknowledge that the current government wants to effect change for LGBT people in Canada," she said.

Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, who identifies as gay, said the coin's critics are missing the point. "Only someone who has come of age after 1969 could possibly fail to recognize the huge significance of the decriminalization of homosexuality," he told CBC News.

"To diminish the importance of what then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau did, as he changed the Criminal Code, diminishes every man, woman and transgendered person who has worked to make our world better and more inclusive."

Formal LGBT apology

A Jan. 15, 2019 memorandum prepared for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released under Access to Information outlines a series of his government's "accomplishments" on LGBT issues, including a formal apology in 2017 for historical injustices, investments in community projects and international assistance for LGBT projects abroad.

The Liberal government also created a LGBT secretariat and a new position for a special adviser to the prime minister. It passed a bill to expunge historical criminal records for gross indecency, buggery and anal intercourse in RCMP databases.

Some find coin concept 'disturbing'

David Cooke of the social conservative group Citizen Go Canada, meanwhile, accuses the Mint of trying to "politicize" Canada's coinage in order to promote what he calls the prime minister's "gay agenda." He compared LGBT issues to other topics that have proved to be politically divisive — abortion and divorce — and that he said should not be celebrated by the federal government.

"What we see here happening with Mr. Trudeau is, he's going really too far. He's not only going back into the debate, he's taking a side," he said.

"He's saying we as a country, and we as Canadian citizens, are not only saying we approve of homosexual behaviour and lifestyle, but we want to have every citizen have it on their coinage. It's going to be celebrated, going to be promoted and many Canadians find that very disturbing and even offensive."

Last week, Cooke and about a dozen others protested outside the Mint and delivered an online petition opposing the new coin.

Mint spokesman Alex Reeves said the coin recognizes 50 years of progress for LGBT Canadians since Parliament initiated the decriminalization of homosexuality, and that the use of the word 'equality' is meant as "an expression of the goal that LGBT Canadians and their allies continue to pursue."

About three million of the coins will be put into circulation. Cooke said if he gets one of the coins in his change, he'll trade it for quarters.

Source: CBC
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

quaziright


quaziright

From the mint.ca website

Design:
The reverse image by Canadian artist Joe Average is a celebration of community, equality and inclusion. The intertwined stylization invites a personal interpretation of the design, viewed through the lens of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics. The facial traits intentionally reflect gender fluidity and the spectrum of genders; they may belong to two individuals, or they may represent different aspects of one's identity.

The maple leaf security feature is positioned over hopeful rays of light, while the bilingual words "EQUALITY" and "ÉGALITÉ" are engraved on two curved bands. The reverse includes the word "CANADA", the double dates "1969" and "2019" to mark the 50 years since the process of decriminalizing homosexuality in Canada began, and the "DOLLAR" face value. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.

quaziright

Quote from: chrisild on January 01, 2019, 10:21:52 PM
This year the Royal Canadian Mint will issue a $1 coin that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. "Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults was decriminalized in 1969, two years after then-justice minister Pierre Trudeau introduced amendments to the Criminal Code (...)" https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/coin-loonie-royal-canadian-mint-cabinet-trudeau-homosexuality-1.4954537

The design and the date of issue are still secrets, but we are going to see a "stylized rendering of two overlapping human faces within a large circle, the left half of the left face in front view and the right face in profile facing left, the two faces forming one whole face in front view composed of two eyes with eyebrows, a nose, a mouth and two ears with a small hoop earring on the left ear ..." The coin will also feature the words "equality" and "égalité", the artist's initials RA, and the dates 1969 and 2019.

Christian

the initials are JA = Joe Average

redlock

Quote from: quaziright on April 23, 2019, 05:02:18 PM
the picture is already available on the mint.ca website

Actually, pictures of the coin (yes, pictures of the actual coin) could already be seen on ebay almost two weeks ago. It seems someone got rolls of he coin back then and offered the coin for sale and mailed them to customers prior to official release.

chrisild

Quote from: quaziright on April 23, 2019, 05:06:28 PM
the initials are JA = Joe Average

First I thought that was a joke :) but now that you provided the full name, I looked him up ... yup. Joe Average - Wikipedia  Image link from the RCM website:



There is also a colored silvered $10 piece; maybe other varieties too. The colored version looks a little too cartoonish to me, but the plain $1 coin is fine. :)

Edit - Here is a short video from the unveiling ceremony
Ein-Dollar-Münze für Homosexuelle und Transgender - YouTube

Christian

Figleaf

Canada's new gay coin riles opponents — and some supporters — of LGBTQ rights
The "Equality" coin celebrates the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada.

By Julie Moreau, April 25, 2019
The Royal Canadian Mint released a commemorative one-dollar coin (commonly called the "loonie") Tuesday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalization of homosexuality in the country. While many Canadians are celebrating the coin's debut, not all — including some LGBTQ rights supporters — are pleased.

"The Mint plays a significant role in celebrating Canada's culture, history and values through coins," Marie Lemay, president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint, said in a statement.

"Marking 50 years since a landmark decision that began a process of legal reforms to recognize the rights of LGBTQ2 Canadians is a powerful way to recognize Canada's profound belief in equality and inclusion," she continued, adding "2" to LGBTQ for "two spirit," an indigenous concept that isn't completely translatable into the Western lexicon of gender and sexual orientation.

In 1969, Canada's Parliament passed legislation that partially decriminalized homosexual activity, specifically activity conducted in private between two individuals 21 and older. Other legal prohibitions were maintained.

Three million of the special "Equality" loonies will be minted and entered into general circulation starting this week. Designed by Vancouver-based artist Joe Average, the coin is a "stylized celebration of equality viewed through an LGBTQ2 perspective." The image of two overlapping faces, he added, "reflects gender fluidity and the spectrum of genders and is left open to interpretation: They may belong to two individuals or they may represent different aspects of one's identity."

Randy Boissonnault, a special adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on LGBTQ issues, said the coin's release is an important day for all Canadians.

"It is an opportunity to reflect on a landmark event in our country's history, and a reminder of the progress still to be made as we work toward inclusion and equality for all LGBTQ2 Canadians," he said.

Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit advocacy group, told NBC News that the coin marks "a particular milestone in recognition of LGBTQ2 people in Canada," and called it "hugely significant and something that we should be proud of."

"It's a really good thing to show other parts of the world we celebrate diversity and queerness in Canada, and it's something that should be applauded," Kennedy said. "There are 70 countries that criminalize homosexuality, and I'm sure the activists in those countries would love to have basic recognition of their existence."

CRITICISM ALL AROUND

The introduction of the Equality coin, however, is not without criticism and controversy.

The conservative Christian organization Citizen Go circulated a petition opposing the release of the loonie that has garnered just below 55,000 signatures. The petition calls the coin "highly offensive to many Canadians, particularly those who are Christian," adding it's "nothing less than an attack on our faith and an affront to our God."

"When we first heard about it, we were outraged," David Cooke, executive director of the group's Canadian branch, said. "This is a moral issue, this is a sin issue in terms of homosexual practices."

Cooke characterized the coin, which he says has a "very strange look," as divisive and said it "glorifies" the "LGBT lifestyle."

"I can't have it in my possession," he added. "This is promoting something that goes against my beliefs."

"Grown adults have a right to do whatever they like in the privacy of their own bedroom, but there is no business for the government putting this on money," he said.

Gary Kinsman, a longtime gay activist, is also displeased by the Equality coin — but for a very different reason. Kinsman claims that the coin obscures the persecution of LGBTQ people that continued after 1969.

Kinsman is part of the "Anti-69" network, a group of activists and scholars who have come together to counter the government's position that 1969 marks the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. Kinsman called it a "mythical position."

"What happened in 1969 is two sections of the criminal code were partially reformed having to do with 'buggery' and 'gross indecency,'" he said. This change, he explained, "did not affect any of the other offenses that could be used against people engaging in homosexual sex." The offense of "gross indecency," for example, was not abolished until 1988.

Kinsman pointed to Canada's first lesbian and gay rights demonstration in 1971, which protested the limited scope of the 1969 reform. Kinsman also said that large-scale police raids on gay bars and bathhouses continued throughout the '70s and '80s in major cities across Canada.

And today, Kinsman said, LGBTQ people remain criminalized in many ways.

"There is still a blood ban and criminalization of people with HIV," Kinsman said. "There was not equality in 1969 and there is not equality in 2019."

Bill Morneau, Canada's finance minister and a member of Parliament for the area considered Toronto's "gay village," acknowledged the fight for LGBTQ equality is not over.

"We recognize that there is absolutely more work to be done, but we also know that celebrating the people who've worked so hard, seeing important milestones is critically important in a path that we're going to continue to work towards making a difference," Morneau said at a press conference Tuesday.

Among his criticisms of the Equality loonie, Kinsman argues its release is politically motivated. In advance of upcoming elections, he said, "the Canadian government is in full mode of trying promote this mythology."

"Part of it is the heritage that is claimed by the Liberal party," Kinsman said, speaking of Trudeau's party. "They want to claim a progressive veneer."

Trudeau's father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, put forth the 1969 decriminalization reforms, and the younger Trudeau issued an official apology to Canada's LGBTQ community in 2017 for historical persecution by the government.

Helen Kennedy of Egale Canada doesn't agree with the assertions from critics, such as Kinsman, that the coin is a political ploy.

"This is so not political," she said. "This is basic human right to be able to exist and that what the mint is acknowledging."

"I don't think any government puts their hand up to take on LGBTI issues," Kennedy said, referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals. "I don't think in this election year it will do our government any favors, but sometimes doing the right thing is important to do."

Source: NBC news.
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Figleaf

An excellent start for the new Canadian mint director. Congratulations. A commemorative that is not squarely aimed at generating sales figures at the cost of the dignity of the state if necessary, but one that gets people to discuss the issue of what equality means. I had a good laugh over how Citizen Go exposed its bigotted view and pressed it upon all Canadian Christians.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

eurocoin

There was a lot of attention for the issuance of this coin on the international coin collectors groups on social media.Many of the comments were positive although several people amongst other things called the theme of the coin 'disgusting'.

quaziright

Quote from: chrisild on April 24, 2019, 10:06:15 AM
First I thought that was a joke :) but now that you provided the full name, I looked him up ... yup. Joe Average - Wikipedia  Image link from the RCM website:



There is also a colored silvered $10 piece; maybe other varieties too. The colored version looks a little too cartoonish to me, but the plain $1 coin is fine. :)

Edit - Here is a short video from the unveiling ceremony
Ein-Dollar-Münze für Homosexuelle und Transgender - YouTube

Christian

I was unsure myself. Joe Average seems to be such a common and unique name at the same time!

milkshakespeare

A large segment of coin collectors seem to be very conservative, especially on the other side of the Atlantic. I believe we have all seen their calls for reintroduction of a century old designs for new coin types. I find this subject to be very much worthy of commemorating on a circulating coin! I'm not a huge fan of the coloured silver collectors' piece, but I guess that's something you just have to live with nowadays.

chrisild

Quote from: quaziright on May 01, 2019, 07:42:30 PM
Joe Average seems to be such a common and unique name at the same time!

Looked him up, and yes, that is an adopted name so to say. But if that is what he chose, why not? :) As for the coin, good to see that this will actually end up in circulation. Coin collectors do indeed tend to prefer "traditional" themes and designs, but since this will not be a piece made for collectors only, I do not see a problem here.

Christian