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Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ignorance far from bliss, PC leader pleads in effort to leave stench of '23 campaign behind
Opinion Obby Khan wants to make it perfectly clear that the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba's controversial 2023 election campaign is not an accurate reflection of who he is. Khan, who became PC party leader in late April, said he continues to struggle to explain his role in that campaign, particularly ads and flyers promoting him as the champion of 'parental rights,' a well-established dog whistle for anti-LGBTTQ+ activists in Canada and the United States. When the idea for the advertisements was first brought up, Khan said no one from the central campaign team ever warned him the term 'parental rights' was being used in heavy rotation by anti-LGBTTQ+ activists seeking to remove books from school and public libraries and expunge any reference to sexual orientation or gender in public school settings. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba Leader Obby Khan says he supports the LGBTTQ+ community and would never knowingly promote hatred towards them. 'People will believe me or not believe me on this,' Khan said in an interview on the Niigaan and the Lone Ranger podcast. '(But) I did not know the parental rights was a dog whistle. I was legitimately, like, 'It makes sense, you want to be involved (in your child's education). Let's go, let's go do this.' And then, it was afterwards… that I was made aware of (the meaning). People were talking to me about this and it was kind of like one of those 'a-ha' moments.' Khan said he supports the LGBTTQ+ community and would never knowingly promote hatred towards them. However, he said during the campaign, the parental rights issue was presented to him as a way of pledging support to families struggling to get their children's' education back on track after the worst years of the pandemic. Although he is reluctant to say he was misled by the campaign, Khan did say that he now realizes how divisive the term is and wants to apologize to anyone who thought he was promoting a hateful concept. 'I do believe parents should be involved in their children's lives but it's really sad and unfortunate that we used it in a way to create divide and anger and hurt some people, because that was never my intent. My intent was really about trying to protect all kids. If it has caused some harm to some people, I apologize for that.' Niigaan and the Lone Ranger | Khan said he also had an 'a-ha' moment on the 'stand firm' against the landfill search campaign ads. In fact, he said the first time he learned of the advertisements was when he drove past one on a McGillivray Boulevard digital billboard with his son in the car. 'Seeing the damage that it's done, the divide it's created, and anger… I'll say it again: unequivocal apology to the families and… the entire province of Manitoba.' Khan is not the first Tory to argue the most controversial planks in the 2023 election campaign were kept from candidates until the moment that they were broadcast in advertisements and plastered across digital billboards. However, many of the other candidates from that election have moved on, while others enjoy a political existence that is well away from the spotlight reserved for political leaders. The 2023 campaign is clearly still an albatross for Khan, the lens through which everything he says and does is assessed. For example, Khan had to scramble recently to explain why he did not participate in last Sunday's Winnipeg Pride parade, the annual celebration of LGBTTQ+ culture. Pride organizers said neither Khan nor any of his MLAs signed up as an official entry in the parade; Khan said he personally could not attend because of a conflicting obligation and besides, Pride organizers did not invite anyone from his party to participate. In any other year, with any other leader perhaps, this might not be a big concern. But when the poster boy for an ill-fated parental-rights campaign advertisement does not reach out to the Pride community, it leaves both leader and party open to criticism. Can he rise above the meanness of the 2023 campaign and once again stake out ground near the middle of Manitoba's political spectrum? On the positive side of the equation, he seems wired for the job. Despite a lack of experience in politics — he won a 2022 byelection to replace former Tory premier Brian Pallister in Winnipeg's Fort Whyte riding — he is gregarious and unafraid of wading into a room full of voters. Khan is also used to a certain degree of success in his personal and professional life. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. A superstar lineman in the Canadian Football League, Khan spent only eight years in professional football but won folk-hero status here in Winnipeg. After retiring, he became a successful business owner with two different local restaurant chains. As for politics, it goes without saying that his victory in 2023 in Fort Whyte was important for his party; Khan was one of only three Tories to win seats in Winnipeg. He quickly translated his political resilience into a leadership win. Now that he's in charge, Khan said he is looking for ways of getting past the mistakes made during the 2023 campaign. 'For any of the hurt or the damage that's been caused throughout the (campaign), I apologize for that. It was never my intent. My intent is always to work for a better Manitoba, for everyone.' Dan LettColumnist Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986. Read more about Dan. Dan's columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press' editing team reviews Dan's columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
30-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pride is not just a parade — it's a fight for survival
Opinion This weekend, when you think of Pride, spare a moment to think about Kady Grass. Just two weeks ago, the 19-year-old was beaten severely by five men as she left the bathroom of a McDonald's restaurant in a suburb outside Chicago with her 13-year-old niece. Witnesses and closed-circuit video cameras confirmed that the attackers used homophobic taunts and insults right before the attack. Grass was beaten unconscious and suffered a broken nose. Two of the men who attacked her — one 19, one 16 — have been charged with a variety of offences including one count of perpetrating a hate crime. Mike Sudoma / Free Press files Violent hate crimes and the legal persecution of LGBTTQ+ people is a growing, global phenomenon. 'They attacked me because I like women,' Grass said in a social media post. 'All I did was exist that day. I went to go spend time with my family, and then, I was brutally attacked. There was nothing I did to deserve that.' The key statement is Grass' acknowledgement that she was attacked simply because she existed. That is something we all need to keep in mind as we enter the final weekend of Pride festivities here in Manitoba because, in case you hadn't heard, the very existence of LGBTTQ+ people here, across Canada, all over North America and across the world is under attack. In 2023, even as the incidence of overall violent crime was going down, Statistics Canada reported that hate crimes against LGBTTQ+ people had gone up 70 per cent. It's not just a blip; since 2016, hate crimes targeting sexual orientation have gone up by nearly 400 per cent. In the United States, the situation is similar in some ways, worse in others. The 2023 National Crime Victimization Survey found that LGBTTQ+ people were five times more likely to be a victim of violence than non-LGBTTQ+ people, and nine times more likely to be the victim of a hate crime. It's also not just a North American phenomenon. Violent hate crimes and the legal persecution of LGBTTQ+ people is a growing, global phenomenon. Just about every entity that tracks these incidents believes only half of all attacks are reported to authorities. Human Dignity Trust, a U.K.-based organization that advocates for legal protections for LGBTTQ+ all over the world, said 65 countries consider same-sex relationships to be illegal, 12 of those countries allow the death penalty as the maximum sentence. Of those that consider it illegal, 41 countries have criminalized 'private, consensual sexual activity between women.' Why the spike in hate and violence directed at LGBTTQ+ people? It's complicated but not impossible to discern. Compassion and empathy have been in short supply since the worst, early days of the pandemic. That, in turn, has helped ignite a global rise in far-right populism which holds, as one of its core principles, the desire to suppress, possibly erase, the existence of LGBTTQ+ people. It's not bleak everywhere in the world. In fact, while attacks on LGBTTQ+ people are escalating in Canada, this country can still claim a place on the forefront of this critical human rights issue. It's visible in gestures such as Manitoba's NDP government holding what very well could be the first Pride drag show inside a provincial legislative building. Two notable local drag queens performed in the rotunda outside the legislative chamber to a raucous crowd of Pride supporters. 'This is the people's building,' Premier Wab Kinew told those in attendance. 'I hope you always feel welcome here.' Tributes should also be extended to Canada's federal government. Love in a Dangerous Time, a poignant exhibit about the threats faced by Canada's LGBTTQ+ community that was created for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg was transported to Canada's breathtaking embassy in Washington, D.C. Taking this exhibit to Washington — ground zero in an aggressive anti-LGBTTQ+ campaign by the Trump administration — is a pretty courageous act by Ottawa. The exhibit will be in the embassy, which has a panoramic view of the U.S. Capitol buildings, until August 29. In a more perfect world, gestures such as this would not necessarily be required. But in this day and age, Pride celebrations are still essential largely because the world has become a harder and more dangerous place for LGBTTQ+ people. It would be easy to see Pride just as another cultural event, disconnected from any serious societal issues. In reality, the origins of 'Pride' can be found in violent attacks and persecution on the LGBTTQ+ community in the U.S. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. Pride has always been framed as a celebration, and with good reason. But in its earliest days, it was a courageous act of defiance against the legal and political systems that endorsed unmitigated violence and persecution. So, this weekend, it would be a great gesture if we all paid tribute to the origins of Pride, while keeping in mind the reason it exists. Most non-LGBTTQ+ people, when they hear the term 'Pride,' will almost automatically think 'parade.' When you hear the word 'Pride' this year, think 'survival.' Dan LettColumnist Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986. Read more about Dan. Dan's columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press' editing team reviews Dan's columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
