(The following article is from the October 1-15, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

Egale Canada, the main lobby group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, warns that "LGBT equality has never been so threatened" if the Harper Conservatives form a majority government.

     An election statement from Egale says, "The Tory record shows they not only dropped the writ this past weekend, but they have also dropped the ball on LGBT human rights issues. For the first time in decades, Parliament failed to pass any measures dedicated to giving our community, our families, advancement towards equality. In fact, the opposite happened!"

     The group warns that legislation and regulations which began to address LGBT human rights were abandoned and other homophobic and transphobic conditions materialized under Harper's government:

* The Court Challenges Program, a vital tool in the struggle for equality, was slashed.

* LGBT refugee claimants facing torture and even death in their countries of origin have been refused and deported.

* The Reproductive Technologies committee was stacked with ultra- conservative members, seriously threatening equal access to sperm and egg donations.

* Men who have sex with men prohibited from donating organs, perpetuating the stereotype that they are a high risk group.

* Bills tabled by MPs to introduce gender identity and gender expression as explicit grounds for non-discrimination gathered dust on the order paper.

     "With a Stephen Harper majority, what was a subtle, slow slide backwards in the areas of LGBT human rights will accelerate and once again our families will be the target," says Egale.

     For more information on these issues, visit http://www.egale.ca.