THE SPRING OF 1999 has seen some important victories for legal equality and justice for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered persons in Canada. This year's Pride events across the country are an occasion to celebrate those advances and to reflect on the struggles that lie ahead. The Communist Party of Canada takes this opportunity to reaffirm its full commitment to a united struggle for equality and justice regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Years of organizing and mobilization have resulted in major legal and legislative victories. The 1998 Supreme Court ruling in Vriend v. Alberta forced the Klein government to include prohibitions against discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Individual Rights Protection Act in Alberta.

The Court's May 20/99 ruling that the legal definition of "spouse" must not exclude same-sex couples is another landmark decision. While the ruling was specific to the discriminatory Section 29 of Ontario's Family Law Act, unless other governments change their laws to accommodate same-sex couples, these will also be struck down by the courts.

Also in May, the Quebec National Assembly voted unanimously in favour during second reading of a bill to eliminate discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation from Quebec's laws.

The Supreme Court decisions and the Quebec legislation give hope that denial of rights for gays, lesbians and transgendered persons may soon become a relic of the past. But the right-wing backlash also shows that the struggle for equality is far from complete. Alberta's Tory government may invoke the "notwithstanding" clause which allows Canadian politicians to override sections of the Charter of Rights, and right-wing "family values" groups have condemned the Supreme Court ruling as a "social experiment."

Unfortunately, the Quebec bill makes exceptions for laws covering marriage and adoptions, and the Supreme Court decision did not address the issue of the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. Then in June, the majority of federal MPs caved in to right-wing pressure and backed a Reform Party motion declaring that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

Reactionary forces are mobilizing to turn back the clock. Their homophobic and transphobic agenda is part of a broad attack against working people and the labour movement, serving corporate interests which seek the destruction of democratic rights and the gutting of social programs in their drive for globalization and intensified exploitation.

Like racism, sexism, and national chauvinism, homophobia and transphobia are weapons of hatred used by the ruling classes to divide working people and to hold back struggles against oppression and exploitation. The Communist Party dedicates itself to fighting all such manifestations of hatred.

The struggle for queer liberation is entering a new stage. The CPC believes that the key to advancing this struggle lies in building a broad People's Coalition to fight for a genuine People's Alternative to the neo-conservative political agenda. Such a movement must be based on unity between labour and the popular movements of youth and students, women, seniors, environmentalists, peace activists, farmers, aboriginal people, immigrants, queers, and many others. With an effective action plan to win mass support, such a coalition can step up the fight outside and inside Parliament for a people's agenda.

A People's Alternative should be centred on a policy of full employment and higher wages, but it also must contain sweeping measures to achieve greater social equality in Canadian society, especially for women and seniors, whose gains are increasingly under attack; for young Canadians who bear the brunt of high unemployment; and for people of colour, immigrants, aboriginal peoples, queers, and other targets of the "scapegoating" ideology of the ruling class and the ultra right.

These and many other vital steps will be impossible without curbing the transnationals, stopping privatization and deregulation, protecting the environment, and defending Canadian sovereignty. Achieving such a program requires mobilization and solidarity by organized labour movement and all democratic forces. The Communist Party pledges to continue its efforts to help build such a broad and powerful People's Coalition.

The CPC believes that such a struggle can lead towards full social emancipation and genuine people's power in a future socialist Canada, where our economy will be socially owned and democratically controlled. In such a society, it will finally be possible to eliminate exploitation and oppression, achieve broader equity, defend our sovereignty, and protect our environment.