Quote of the day by former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (Photo by: Yousef Karsh)
Everett George Klippert was the last person in Canada to be arrested, charged, tried, convicted and imprisoned for being gay. Klibert was originally from Kindersley, Saskatchewan, and grew up in Calgary, Alberta.
In 1965, police arrested him for questioning in connection with a case of suspected arson. He had nothing to do with the fire, but admitted to police that he had consensual homosexual relations with four different adult men.Because homosexual acts are classified as “sodomy” and “gross indecency” under Canadian law, Klibert was found guilty. He was called a serious sex offender. In November 1967, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld this life sentence in a polarizing 3-2 decision.
Public outcry was swift. Large segments of the Canadian public and media found it abhorrent that a man could be sentenced to life in prison for consensual private acts.
Pierre Trudeau And a starting point for gay rights in Canada
Canadian Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau, who later became Prime Minister, was Justin Trudeau’s father. One month after the Supreme Court ruling, Trudeau introduced Bill C-150, also known as the Omnibus Bill. A bill was passed in 1969, which decriminalized homosexuality.
In 1967, Trudeau said these words, which redefined Canadian political culture and modernized Canadian social policy on several fronts.He said: “What happens in private between two consenting adults is certainly not a matter of criminal law. Take that with regard to homosexuality… There is no place for the state in the nation’s bedrooms.”In 1968, Trudeau became Prime Minister and served until 1979 and then again from 1980 to 1984.Trudeau, a highly educated intellectual and lawyer, sought to formally unpack the concepts of sin and crime. In his view, the democratic state has a mandate to maintain public order and prevent harm, but it does not have a mandate to impose private, religious, or moral monotheism. If an act occurs privately between consenting adults, it may be considered a sin by religious institutions, but it does not rise to the level of a crime against the state.
This marked a profound generational shift from a Canadian government that acted as a moral guardian to a government that acted as a neutral arbiter of individual rights.The quote remains a master lesson in political framing. Trudeau successfully turned a volatile debate about ethics into a debate about the limits of government power, transforming himself into a symbol of modern liberalism and securing the office of prime minister after just one year.
Trumania
Pierre Trudeau was so popular and charismatic that the term “Trudeaumania” was coined to describe the excitement he instilled in politics. Young Canadians at the time were thought to be dazzled by his charm and good looks, and he was being stopped in the streets for autographs or photographs even before he became Prime Minister.
