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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, Lesbian Rights Struggle Continues in Sudbury - Article﻿</title>﻿
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﻿<b﻿>﻿Lesbian Rights Struggle Continues in Sudbury 
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by Gary Kinsmen﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, July - August 1997﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
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An important lesbian rights struggle continues in Sudbury despite a series of obstacles presented by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), the Sudbury leadership of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and now the Sudbury and District Labour Council. This struggle illustrates the obstacles employment related human rights struggles can face. 
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Mary Ross has faced discrimination at work in a Sudbury LOEB (grocery chain) store because she is a lesbian. In 1992 Stephen Strom became the franchise owner of LOEB and for the next two years Ross faced discrimination from him. In 1994 this eventually forced Mary Ross onto a stress-related disability leave. 
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After being forced to leave work in '94, Ross launched her first complaint with the OHRC. Although a Commission employee assured her that her complaint was in order, the Commission eventually decided not to investigate it because of an alleged violation of the time limit for filing. The arbitrary refusal to investigate Ross's and many other well-founded human rights complaints is based on attempts to eliminate the huge backlog of cases facing the OHRC. Section 34 of the Human Rights Act, which allows the OHRC the option of not hearing a case, is used frequently. Pressures to dismiss cases that were filed under the NDP government intensified under the Harris government with budget cuts to the OHRC of $700,000. For Ross and others the OHRC itself becomes an obstacle to their human rights struggles. 
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Ross filed a second human rights complaint when Strom obstructed her attempts to return to work in the fall of 1996. The reprisal firing she faced for this was later added to this complaint. After it became clear that this complaint would only cover Strom and not LOEB Inc., which now owned the store, Ross had to file a third complaint to cover the discriminatory treatment she faced since the corporation took over the store. These two complaints are still pending. 
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Fortunately, Ross has not had to act on her own. Last year, we formed the Campaign Against Employment Discrimination to organize support for her. The campaign is a small network of lesbian and gay, feminist, union and social justice activists, with the support of women's and other social service community organizations. The Campaign has coordinated petitions, press conferences, three demonstrations at LOEB stores or offices, and fundraising for Ross's legal expenses. Outside Sudbury, the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario has supported Ross' struggle and awarded her the John Damien Award for Human Rights in October 1996. 
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Unfortunately, union leaders have been a major obstacle to Ross's struggle for justice. One of the few pressure tactics open to the Campaign Against Employment Discrimination is protests outside the LOEB store where Ross worked. Twice the Sudbury Labour Council pledged support for such protests, only to have this support scuttled by the open opposition of the RWDSU leadership. The mainstream Labour Council leadership refused to confront the RWDSU and to adopt a principled position in support of lesbian and gay rights, despite the Canadian Labour Congress policy calling for affiliated unions to "play a key role in the achievement of lesbian, gay and bisexual rights." 
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Ross' struggle has been the most significant and public lesbian and gay rights struggle ever to take place in northern Ontario. It has raised the profile of the struggle for lesbian and gay rights in the area. Ross has received widespread support from lesbians, gay men, feminists, human rights supporters and many others in Sudbury. However, this support has been limited by the weakness of lesbian and gay activist networks and the small number of visible and out lesbians and gay men in the city. The Sudbury All Gay Alliance (the longtime lesbian and gay group in the city) fell apart last year. 
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There have also been problems of sexism and misinformation regarding Ross in gay men's networks in Sudbury. A fund-raising Halloween dance for Ross held in 1996 was virtually boycotted by gay men. One of the main organizations with connections to gay and lesbian networks in the city is ACCESS, the AIDS Committee of Sudbury. After some initial support for Ross the board of ACCESS, which is dominated by professionals, decided that her case was too controversial to support. The board of ACCESS adopted a position that they will only advocate for those who face discrimination directly related to AIDS/HIV. This is quite unlike most community-based AIDS groups, which include opposition to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation as part of their mandate. 
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Despite these obstacles Ross's struggle continues. The Campaign Against Employment Discrimination continues to build bridges between lesbians, gay men, feminists, unionists, social justice activists, and others. People are encouraged to contact LOEB to demand that the company enforce its own Code of Ethics and act to redress Ross for the discrimination she has faced. Call Paul Chidley (District Manager, Sudbury LOEB) at (705) 673-5641 ext. 2734 or write to LOEB, 1430 Blair Place, Box 8387, Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 3K8, or to the Provigo Ethics Committee, Secretary, Provigo Incorporated, 1611 Cremaize Blvd., east, 9th Floor, Montreal, Quebec, H2M 2R9. For further information on the Campaign or to send donations contact the: The Mary Ross Defence Fund, c/o 188 Somerset Street, Sudbury, Ontario, P3B 3B2. 
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