Public divided over politicians’ refusal to attend Pride parade, poll shows

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/07/2016 (3610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Half of Manitobans think it’s OK for politicians to duck out of Steinbach Pride for personal reasons, a new Probe Research poll reports.

But the research also finds Manitobans are divided on the issue, with more than one-third of respondents saying politicians should attend the city’s first Pride parade this Saturday regardless.

Probe Research wanted to learn Manitobans’ thoughts after Provencher MP Ted Falk said he would not attend Steinbach Pride, said research associate Mary Agnes Welch.

“There’s been a lot of debate over what’s been a divisive issue,” Welch said. “We were mostly just curious to see if we could put some numbers and some figures on the views of Manitobans on two of the issues that emerged from this larger debate over gay rights.”

Falk’s reasoning for not attending came under fire last month from critics and other politicians, such as Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman. Initially, Falk said he would not attend because he had prior plans to attend Frog Follies, a small fair in neighbouring St-Pierre-Jolys. When the organizer of the event said Falk should participate in Pride instead, Falk issued a statement saying he wouldn’t attend the Pride parade, even if there wasn’t a scheduling conflict, due to his personal beliefs.

According to the latest poll in which 653 adults were asked about LGBTTQ issues in Steinbach, 52 per cent of Manitobans believe Falk’s decision should be respected, but a significant minority of 36 per cent believe politicians should attend regardless of their personal views.

“What it says to me is this is a nuanced issue and there’s no consensus among Manitobans yet on how politicians should behave when confronted with these kinds of choices,” Welch said.

Prior to helping plan the parade, Michelle McHale asked Hanover School Division trustees to teach middle school students about sexual orientation and gender identity after her own child was bullied for having two moms. The board denied McHale’s appeal and she and her partner have since filed a human rights complaint.

Poll results suggest 50 per cent of Manitobans believe Education Minister Ian Wishart should intervene and force the division to change its curriculum to teach younger students about LGBTTQ issues before they enter high school, while one-third of respondents said intervention isn’t necessary.

“This kind of encapsulates how split we are on this question,” Welch said. “There is no consensus on how to move forward as a province on this yet.”

Saturday’s parade will begin at 11 a.m. at Steinbach United Church at 541 Main St. and head to city hall for a rally. Following speeches, the parade will make its way back to the church.

Probe Research conducted the survey through its own online panel between June 30 and July 4, 2016. Participants are recruited through a quarterly, random telephone poll. The survey is a non-probability sample, so a statistical margin of error can’t be ascribed. But a margin of error on a probability sample of the same amount of people is plus or minus 3.83 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

— with files from The Carillon

bailey.hildebrand@freepress.mb.ca