MONTREAL – Quebec’s Minister of Justice Bertrand St-Arnaud launched the province’s first awareness-raising campaign to combat homophobia on Sunday.
The government is hoping that two French television ads and an English radio commercial will encourage viewers and listeners to ask themselves whether they really are open to ‘sexual diversity.’
The TV ads end with couples sharing a kiss and then a question is asked: “Does this change the way you thought twenty seconds ago?”
The ads may be shocking to some people, but according to St-Arnaud, that’s the point of the campaign.
In an interview with Global News, political activist, Mona Greenbaum, from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) Family Coalition, agreed that there is a need for the government ads designed to make people feel more comfortable with gay and lesbian affection.
A phone survey of 800 Quebecers revealed that 90 per cent said they had no issue with homosexuality, but that 40 per cent felt uncomfortable when homosexual couples were affectionate in public.
The government has also launched a website, which through a series of questions, offers Quebecers a chance to check their reactions to various situations and “learn more about various aspects of homophobia.”
Watch and listen to the ads here.
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