Revolutionary Moderation

Is There a 'Queer Eye' to Straighten Out These Guys?



By announcing his same sex marriage, BC Liberal Cabinet Minister Ted Nebbeling strikes a blow for equality.



Actually, in their treatment of the opposition and the public, the openly gay members of the Liberal caucus, Nebbeling and Vancouver-Burrard MLA Lorne Mayencourt have already proven to be equal, if not superior, to their heterosexual counterparts.



Nebbeling has spewed hours of invective at the NDP members of the house, at one point neatly evading the rules of the House (and subsequent expulsion) by swearing at Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Jenny Kwan and referring to her as "Dar dey wah" (a liar) in Cantonese.



Nebbeling's Community Charter and Municipal Projects Streamlining Act paved the way for the RAV line to eventually bankrupt Greater Vancouver's municipal transit system. His reward appears to have been the chance to pad the value on his real estate holdings in Whistler as the government's pointman on the 2010 Olympics.



During the first six months of his term, Mayencourt kept the doors of his constituency office locked at all hours, and was just as belligerent as Nebbeling to the two NDP MLA's, at one point engaging them in a shoving match in a legislature stairwell.



As chair of the committee charged to overturn the 1999 WCB regulation prohibiting smoking in BC's bars and restaurants, Mayencourt had no problem meeting extensively with the members of downtown Vancouver's hospitality industry who had bankrolled his campaign, but absolutely refused to meet with "special interest groups" like the British Columbia Lung Association.



Isn't it great that in British Columbia, gays and lesbians can not only marry, but they can also run for office, get elected, lie, bully their opponents, and bilk the public just like their straight counterparts?