New gay rights coin divides LGBT community — and outrages social conservatives
A new dollar coin designed to commemorate 50 years of homosexual rights has sparked a dual backlash — from both members of Canada's LGBT community and from a social conservative group.
The loonie, to be launched April 23 at an invitation-only event in Toronto, will feature a stylized depiction of two overlapping human faces within a large circle, the dates 1969 and 2019, and the word "equality" in English and French. The Royal Canadian Mint is keeping tight-lipped on details until next week's official reveal.
York University historian Tom Hooper said the coin commemorates a "myth," since the sweeping changes to the Criminal Code introduced in 1969 — which decriminalized sexual activity between men over the age of 21 in a private setting — were modest, and police and courts continued to criminalize same-sex relations afterward....
