Pierre Poilievre Under Fire After Video Surfaces of Homophobic and Transphobic Speech

A recent speech by Pierre Poilievre is being denounced by 2SLGBTQIA+ community leaders, who say the Conservative leader is using hateful and demonizing rhetoric targeting gay, queer and trans people.

Over the weekend, Poilievre hosted a “meet and greet” for party loyalists in Richmond Hill, Ontario alongside former Conservative MP Costas Menegakis.

Video later obtained by the right-wing Western Standard news website shows Poilievre delivering a speech in which he “condemns radical gender ideology.”

“Justin Trudeau does not have a right to impose his radical gender ideology on our kids and on our schools,” Poilievre says in the video.

According to the Western Standard, Poilievre’s spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said Poilievre stood by his statement: “The video stands on its own.”

It remains unclear how the Prime Minister of Canada would personally impose a “radical gender ideology” on Canadian schools — education falls under provincial, not federal, jurisdiction, and most schools are governed by elected school boards.

Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ leaders noted Poilievre’s rhetoric appears carefully worded to foment paranoia and hate against their communities.

Tyler Boyce, the Executive Director of the Enchanté Network, Canada’s largest network of 2SLGBTQI+ organizations, adds that he’s worried about the impact of Poilievre’s “divisive rhetoric” on children in Canadian schools.

“Pierre Poilievre’s divisive rhetoric puts children and youth in danger,” Boyce told PressProgress.

“All youth deserve respect and the freedom to be who they are — and that’s why the radical conservative attempt to roll back inclusive education guidelines is unacceptable.”

Fae Johnstone, President of Momentum Canada, adds that Poilievre’s use of the term “gender ideology” is a “homophobic and transphobic dogwhistle.”

“The term ‘gender ideology’ is based in repackaged homophobia from the 1970s,” Johnstone told PressProgress. “It is nothing less than the latest evolution of a hate movement that, for decades, has painted queer and trans people and our inclusion in society as a threat, especially with regards to schools and young people.”

“In echoing this rhetoric, Conservative leader Poilievre is showing his support for a fundamentally hateful movement trying to vilify and demonize 2SLGBTQIA+ people,” Johnstone said.

“This is nothing short of Poilievre showing he’s willing to throw gay, queer and trans people under the bus to cater to a radical, fringe movement that hates our community.”

Pierre Poilievre voted against marriage equality, then changed his tune as society progressed.

Now, he’s made the deliberate decision to align himself with an anti-gay hate-movement that wants to force us back into the closet and out of society.

Don’t let him get away with it.

— Fae Johnstone, MSW (@FaeJohnstone) November 9, 2023

Poilievre’s comments follow a wave of far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ “Million Man Marches,” disruptions of school board meetings and rallies targeting Canadian schools opposing a range of inclusive 2SLGBTQI+ policies and programs.

In September, delegates at the Conservative Party of Canada’s convention voted in favour of policies placing restrictions on the rights of trans people in Canada.

Last month, one of Poilievre’s Conservative MP’s invited a dozen members of the conspiratorial, anti-LGBTQ+ “Save the Children Convoy” group into the House of Commons.

Correction: This article has been updated to note that Costas Menegakis is a former Conservative MP.