‘All lives matter’ mayor claims the LGBT+ Pride flag has made society ‘more violent’
Mayor of West Lincoln, Ontario, David Bylsma. (Township of West Lincoln)
A Canadian mayor who insists that “all lives matter” has now claimed that the LGBT+ Pride flag has made society “more violent”.
Despite Black, Indigenous and LGBT+ people facing disproportionate levels of violence and widespread discrimination all around the world, David Bylsma, mayor of West Lincoln, Ontario, has claimed there is nothing for these communities left to fight for.
“There are always going to be injustices, correct?” he told radio station 610 CKTB on Thursday (June 11), via St Catharine’s Standard.
“But in terms of rights, what are they, what are anyone who’s flying a flag whether that’s Black Lives Matter in America or the Pride flag, what are they still fighting for?
“Is it necessary? Or have they won?”
West Lincoln mayor thinks ‘identity politics’ have polarised communities.
Bylsma also said that he does not support Black Lives Matter, and that he prefers the phrase “all lives matter”.
The “all lives matter” slogan is used to undermine the message of the Black Lives Matter movement, by suggesting that activists want only Black lives to matter, and rejecting the fact that Black lives are the ones under heavy attack.
Asked whether West Lincoln will fly the Pride flag during Pride Month, as it is currently the only town in the Niagara Region that has not, Bylsma said: “Thirty years of identity politics, singling out a particular right or a particular grievance from one community against the next, what has that accomplished?
“After 30 years we’re more violent, we’re yelling at each other louder and we’re becoming more polarised.”
He added that “securing and acknowledging Indigenous rights” has also made Indigenous people violent.
In response to Bylsma’s trainswreck interview, St Catharines Liberal MP Chris Bittle wrote on Twitter: “What are they (LGBTQ2 community) still fighting for? The easy answer – bigots like you, Mr Mayor.”
Mayor of West Lincoln wonders "what are they (LGBTQ2 community) still fighting for?
The easy answer – bigots like you, Mr Mayor. https://t.co/4qWWrr3ZLy
— Chris Bittle (@Chris_Bittle) June 11, 2020
As well as being mayor of West Lincoln, Bylsma is also the president of the Christian Heritage Party, which is pro-gun, denies climate change, thinks “children must be protected from the LGBTQ gender agenda” and wants to re-criminalise same-sex marriage.
