|
Raymond Blain was a Canadian politician, who served on Montreal City Council from 1986 to 1992.〔"Montreal voters chose gay councillor in '86". ''Ottawa Citizen'', March 8, 1988.〕 He has been credited by media as the first openly gay politician ever elected to public office in Canada,〔(Timeline of gay rights in Montreal ). ''The Gazette'', August 14, 2009.〕 although he now appears to have been preceded by at least two figures — Quebec municipal councillor and MNA Maurice Richard and British Columbia municipal councillor Jim Egan — whose pioneering status was overlooked by media at the time. Prior to his election to council, Blain studied law at the Université de Montréal and sociology, science and recreation at the Université du Québec à Montréal,〔"City councillor Blain dies of AIDS at 41". ''The Gazette'', May 6, 1992. p. A3.〕 and worked as a science educator.〔 ==Political career== Blain first ran for office in the 1986 election, as a candidate for Jean Doré's Montreal Citizens' Movement party in the Saint-Jacques district, which included the city's Gay Village.〔"Political yardage in homosexuality". ''The Gazette'', November 5, 1986.〕 Late in the campaign, some supporters of incumbent councillor Sammy Forcillo began using anti-gay slurs to turn voters against him, although Forcillo personally denounced the tactic.〔"The Politics of Coming Out: Society may be showing more tolerance to gays in the public arena". ''The Gazette'', March 5, 1988.〕 On election day, he defeated Forcillo by a margin of 695 votes.〔 Early in his city council term, he was responsible for helping to establish the city's first public health plan to combat HIV/AIDS,〔"City councillor prepares plan to fight AIDS". ''The Gazette'', June 18, 1987.〕 and for establishing a new committee to oversee and develop the city's burgeoning network of bicycle lanes.〔"Montreal gets serious about cycling". ''The Gazette'', September 11, 1987.〕 At Christmas in 1987, he dressed up as Santa Claus and distributed condoms as part of a safer sex education campaign in the Gay Village.〔 He also supported the establishment of a network of supportive housing for people living with HIV and AIDS in the city, and lobbied for the city to provide spousal benefits to same-sex partners of city employees.〔"Quebec initiative; Some employers give spousal benefits to same-sex partners". ''The Gazette'', September 12, 1992.〕 He also spoke out in favour of greater tolerance of LGBT people after the 1989 murder of Joe Rose.〔"No signs slaying on bus was gang work: expert". ''The Gazette'', March 29, 1989.〕 He championed issues including affordable housing〔 and the imposition of a smoking ban on public property.〔"City seeks $250 fines for illegal smoking". ''The Gazette'', October 4, 1989.〕 Along with council colleagues Richard Brunelle, André Lavallée, Abe Limonchik and Diane Martin, he endorsed a report in 1990 which criticized the city's development planning process, calling for new buildings in the downtown core to be limited to a maximum of 39 storeys.〔"Limit downtown towers: councillors; Report to MCM caucus criticizes proposed master plan". ''The Gazette'', January 15, 1990.〕 In 1988, he was one of several councillors, alongside Sam Boskey, Marcel Sévigny, Pierre Goyer, Marvin Rotrand and Arnold Bennett, who voted against the city leasing office space from Trizec Properties, because the company also leased space to the consulate of South Africa.〔"Dispute on South Africa splits MCM in lease vote". ''The Gazette'', January 27, 1988.〕 He later served on the civilian board overseeing the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal,〔 and as vice-chair of the council's culture and community development committee.〔"Auf der Maur renamed housing vice-chairman". ''The Gazette'', November 28, 1990.〕 He was reelected in the 1990 municipal election with over 50 per cent of the vote in his ward.〔"Mass to be held for councillor". ''The Gazette'', May 7, 1992.〕 He called his 1990 victory a special moment for the city's gay community, because it illustrated that voters who had opposed him in 1986 because of his sexual orientation were beginning to consider it a non-issue.〔"Blain calls his victory a coup for gays". ''The Gazette'', November 5, 1990.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Raymond Blain」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|