Michael Connolly, the recently elected MLA for Calgary Hawkwood and one of three gay/lesbian MLAs, was born and raised in Calgary. He is one of the younger MLAs, but his interest in politics started early: Grade 4 or 5. It was an election year, and it was during the Ralph Klein tenure of budget cuts that saw his mother, a single parent, face a suddenly reduced paycheque. His interest in public policy ignited, he chose the NDP as he found "they had the best plan for the common people."
He learned more about the party and the political system as a student at the University of Ottawa. He gained valuable experience as an intern with an NDP Member of Parliament. Michael received insight into the area of which the MP specialized (Status of Women, and then Aboriginal Affairs). Like a lot of NDP members, they (in a perverse way) owe their passion to change to Ralph Klein – his cuts, his treatment of LGBTQ people and rights prompted many supporters to get involved.
During the recent provincial election campaign Michael, fortunately, did not encounter any bigotry. Being an NDP candidate, most people knew they were dealing with someone who is LGBTQ friendly. On the other hand, he did have a friend who was openly gay and working for a PC candidate who marched in the Pride parade.,People tend to be more free with their bigotry with the right wing candidates. "At the door, more than one person told him they would vote for that candidate as long as he doesn't promise to march in – I quote – those fag Pride parades,s" he says. Michael never really had to face those people; when he showed up, he would introduce himself as being with the NDP, and they would close the door.
As a gay youth, getting the door metaphorically slammed in his face by the provincial government was a formative experience. Michael was impacted by Bill 44 (Human Rights, Citizenship And Multiculturalism Amendment Act, 2009). His high school did have a GSA... and idiots scrawling ‘fag’ on the poster. "It wasn’t very long ago that people my age were still anti-gay, but in my high school, in my grade, we had probably five or six openly LGBT people, so that was really good for a high school in Calgary."
The dangerous thing Bill 44 did was shackle discussion and instruction. You didn’t think in your head that they weren’t discussing LGBTQ issues, you thought well, they're not discussing my concerns at all, so I’ll just suppress them. Michael remembers asking a sensitive question about religion in Grade 11 social studies class and was shut down; he was told by the teacher that discussing religious and sexual issues and orientation required written consent from every child in the classroom.
At this time, Michael was inspired to ask Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk his opinions. It eventually ended up on Twitter, where Michael tweeted his questions to the minister (including asking to raise the pay of teachers and scrap Bill 44). Lukaszuk responded patronizingly, essentially telling him wow, that’s a lot of tweets; did you save time for homework? This started a week-long Twitter battle between the minister and Michael and friends. Lukaszuk really didn’t answer any questions but made it look like he was which, again, was probably the wrong thing to do to anyone, let alone a young person with a budding interest in the party sitting opposite you in the legislature.
We went on to discuss the outright absurdity and foolishness of Bill 44; in a public setting such as a school, how could anyone think they could keep a lid on these sensitive subjects? The parents may think they are protecting students, but these kids will encounter these situations as adults sooner or later. Even in school kids talk to each other, or worse, you have teens who are ignorant of basic human sexual issues. "We had one girl in junior high who didn’t take sex ed. It was the parents’ choice, but I remember in Grade 12 she asked my friend what menopause was! It’s the parents’ choice, but sometimes it doesn’t exactly work out in the child’s favour if you don’t actually talk about these things at home."
Fortunately, both times and government have changed, but there are still issues to tackle. In talking with Ricardo Miranda, the other gay MLA who is almost a generation older, and with me, Michael admits he knows more about LGBTQ people his own age. Yet he has listened to older members of our community, and a rising concern is their future living arrangements as seniors. "A lot of them are worried... a lot of seniors are being forced back into the closet when they go to retirement homes because a lot of the people that discriminated against them back in the day, they’re now forced to be in the same home with them, and it’s hard to get away."
Michael’s youth does give him an advantage over some of the older MLAs – he has grown up with social media. "I’ve had Twitter since 2009, so I know a lot more about Twitter than other people and am a lot more used to it." He is a lot more active on all social media than other MLAs, usually updating all of them daily. For him, it is a helpful tool for connecting with people.
We have seen numerous stories about potential candidates having to quit because of something they said as a young person – views which reflect more on their immaturity at the time but, unfortunately, any opposing political parties pounce on it to question the person’s current suitability. Michael was going to run federally, so he got vetted last August on his social media profiles. "I was lucky that everything was all fine when the election came, but some people weren’t so much. It’s unfortunate, but sometimes things get out on Facebook, and sometimes your friends aren’t necessarily your friends." Michael had one post that got sent to local right pundit Ezra Levant and Ezra, being Ezra, twisted what Michael said into something opposite of his meaning. "It was a bit stressful, and it wasn’t exactly fun, but you get used to it after a while."
It’s almost starting to become a bit farcical; Michael has had Facebook for almost half his life, and teens and kids post a lot of stupid things online. People who are 40 and above not only had the luxury of growing up without digital cameras everywhere, they didn’t have social media that someone could use against them ten years later. "The things you say when you’re 12... you’re not exactly the smartest person or the most mature. So you say some stupid things... I think eventually it will get to the point where [people say] yeah, whatever! We’ve all done things we’re not exactly proud of."
Because it is a bit of a novelty having a gay MLA, I asked Michael if he had a partner helping him on the campaign trail, and how campaigning – and now helping shape public policy – impacted his romantic life. He told me he was currently single, and almost too busy in his new role. "Estefania was luck because she already had a girlfriend. Ricardo and I are single, and we haven’t had much time to go around dating."
When we contacted Michael it was after Stampede and various Pride festivals, so he had been going nonstop, along with all the prep work required in being a newly elected MLA of a newly formed government. "It has been a bit hectic... I’ve put 8,000 kilometres on my car in the past few months." He doesn’t have a lot of time to himself, but things will be easier when he has an assistant.
What we can expect, short term, is to see Michael, Ricardo and Estefania at our community events; friendly faces from the government – a welcome change. For the future, whether the injection of youth and a strong LGBTQ caucus in legislature makes important changes, we shall see.
Related Articles
Contributor Evan Kayne |
Locale Calgary |
Person Michael Connolly |
Topic Alberta NDP |Politics |
