‘Hard-won rights’

Dear Editor:

RE: Axe Pride, prevent hate? (June 29).

It is my view that people have the right, in most circumstances, to believe as they wish. Canada is a free country, after all.

On the other hand, rights enshrined in the law, civil rights, have often been grudgingly granted by the status quo, and ofttimes not at all. We have seen repercussions of this rigid patriarchy in the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Liberation Movement, and here and now, the fight for gender equality.

It is in light of the current situation that I must take issue with the simplistic solution proffered by Henry Brunsveld – i.e. “the elimination of ‘Pride’ events in schools.”

The majority and the least affected have always desired that these protests, agitations and celebrations be a bit more subdued - or better yet, nonexistent.

I would counter by saying that hard-won rights, those that are already on the books in the first place, deserve to be acknowledged and validated.

Allan Berry, Fergus