The Media Must Stop Lumping LGBTQ Issues & Abortion Together. They’re Totally Different Issues

The establishment media struggles with nuance, and nowhere is that more obvious than in discussion of ‘social issues.’

A new survey by Angus Reid reveals something that has been increasingly obvious for some time:

Abortion & LGBT issues are not at all connected, and are in fact moving in totally different directions.

The establishment media tends to lump those issues together as ‘social issues,’ without noting how different those issues are.

The media tends to act as if both issues are ‘settled’ and the ‘debate is over,’ when that is only really true for one of those issues.

According to the survey, 70% of Canadians say “society should work towards greater acceptance of people who are LGBTQ”, while 30% say “society should work towards more recognition of the importance of traditional families where a man is married to a woman.”

Of course, it’s possible to do both simultaneously, as there can be acceptance for LGBT people and a respect for traditional families. They are not mutually exclusive.

The move towards greater acceptance for LGBT people has been happening for some time, with dramatic changes in the last two decades. That issue has moved steadily in one direction (though the increasingly absurd ‘gender’ issue, including physically male athletes identifying as women and then beating the crap out of biological women, is facing increased resistance).

Yet, when it comes to opinions on abortion, that issue is not steadily moving in one direction. In fact, Canadians remain divided almost right down the middle.

The Angus Reid survey revealed 51% of Canadians say they want no restrictions on abortion, while 49% want third trimester abortions banned, except when the life of the mother is at stake.

That’s a big divide, and as J.J. McCullough noted on Twitter, it means millions of Canadians are being left without representation:

“There’s a lot of interesting data in this poll, but the biggest takeaway is probably that about half of Canadians disagree with Canada’s abortion status quo, yet have zero political representation.”

The same survey showed 80% of Canadians support easier access to doctor-assisted dying.

Usually, the media lumps all these issues together as ‘social conservative’ issues. Yet, the survey makes clear that millions of Canadians support gay rights, supported doctor-assisted dying, and also want restrictions on third-trimester abortions.

This adds a new level of complexity and nuance to the ‘social conservative’ line the media and many politicians use. The assisted dying debate and the LGBT rights debate has been settled in a clear consensus among the vast majority of Canadians. Based on the facts, there is no such consensus on abortion, making it a very different issue that stands out dramatically.

You can already see and hear this somewhat in the reaction to Richard Decaire’s comments. He was widely condemned for his comments on LGBT people, yet faced little criticism for his thoughts on abortion.

Whether the media will ever admit this remains to be seen. Most likely, they will keep pushing the same naive and tired narratives, linking issues that have no business being linked.

Yet among a growing number of Canadians, there is an increasing recognition that ‘social issues’ in Canada are far different from what the media portrays.

Spencer Fernando

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