Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the time today so we can discuss this.
I have listened to much of this debate. Luckily I am on House duty today, and it has been a very good debate, especially on this side where we are talking about this.
To begin, I hope that the member for Avalon will not mock people as I read the letters I have received from people throughout Canada, from the east coast to the west coast. They are telling us to please stand up for them, and so I am hoping I do not hear any further mockery. We must be non-partisan about this, because the bottom line is that it is in the best interests of Canadians. That is what I want to remind everyone of.
We have heard a lot of back and forth today. I was not part of the previous government, but I worked for a member of Parliament at that time and am very proud of the work we did. However, I do not want this to be a partisan debate. This is about the security and safety of fellow Canadians and the security and safety of refugees who sought Canada to get away from the terror that was happening in their own countries. Unfortunately, I think we are forgetting that point during this debate. I am hoping members will listen to this.
Tuesday last week was a historic day for the Prime Minister because of his apology to the LGBTQ2 community. At that time, we saw all four leaders stand and put forward apologies in support of the Prime Minister's words. Within two hours of that apology, I started receiving emails from Muslim gay men. By the next day, I had a group come forward to me. In less than 24 hours, they came to me fearing for their lives. They recognized that because of my work on LGBTQ2 issues, I was on their side and that their thoughts mattered. This is why I want to read their letters today. I have 10 in hand right now, but I can tell members that by the time I get home, I am sure I will have more, because over just a couple of days they started contacting me, a member whom they might not know but heard of me and knew that I was on their side.
For their own security, I will not read their names, because one of the gentlemen has already been targeted on Facebook, being told that they will be coming after him. I am hoping that all members can listen and not comment, because these are atrocities to our public security.
The first wrote the following:
My name is [YC]. I am a 30-year-old Gay Muslim. I was born in a small town in Eastern Turkey close to the Syrian border named Kahta. My town is officially run by the Turkish government but unofficially run by mullahs and radical Islamists. In my very early age I was aware of my sexual interest.
Growing up I heard about only 3 homosexuals, and their stories were scary enough for the rest of the homosexuals to hide themselves. One of them was buried alive by his Islamist relatives, despite all the pressure his family would not kill him and relatives see Ibrahim (people called him Ibo) dishonor to their tribe. Ibo was one of the first victim of gay honor killing that I have heard of, who I have met in person growing up in same neighborhood. The second gay man that I heard of was from near by village, all we heard is that family cleaned its honor and buried him alive. Third person I knew was [H]. People called him all kind of names male dog, top (Turkish stand for fag), ibne (insult for gay people similar to fag), raping him, harassing him, beating him, etc.
I sit here thinking, oh my gosh, this is what we are welcoming. It is unbelievable. The letter continues:
His family is open-minded compared to Islamists and they did not kill him. Instead they put him in a mental hospital. Some said that they were worried that his relatives were Islamic terrorists and that they would kill him.
On Tuesday when Prime Minister apologized and mentioned all the LGBTQ2 people all around the world, I was so happy. Finally someone was going to uncover the pain of the forgotton LGBTQ2 communities around the world. Finally someone is going to be a voice to gay muslims who are being victim of honor killing. All my memories, all my fear, all my pain of growing up as gay man in a very religious town pass through my eyes. I was free and there might be chance to free other gay muslims.
After I left the gallery, chatting with some people I heard that the Prime Minister is trying to bring ISIS members. I was in shock and did not believe them. I went home and did my research and find out they were right. Our Prime Minister who spoked for LGBTQ2 rights also emporing enemy of LGBTQ2 people and enemy of humanity. Prime Minister is not only bringing those terrorist back here but their ideology. In addition, Prime Minister is sending a wrong message to those who killed, rape, and torture gay people in muslim countries and a heartbroking message to the LGBTQ2 community in muslims countries who suffered from those Islamist.
Maybe being an openly gay Muslim activist and my friends, who are fighting for the liberation of Muslims of the community, are in fear. We are afraid to lose our freedom of speech, freedom to walk in our beautiful cities without fear of being attacked. I hope this will, in turn, be a non-partisan action and stop this tragedy before it is too late. The Prime Minister is constantly talking about constitutional rights. I guess we Canadians have the same constitutional rights and we must be protected, feel safe and secure.
I have a number of others, so hopefully, Madam Speaker, you will say, “Karen, you have a couple more minutes.”