The new $1 coin commemorates 50 years of progress in recognizing the rights of LGBTQ2 Canadians…
Fifty years ago, Parliament passed an act that helped initiate the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. Today, the Royal Canadian Mint announced that a new loonie that celebrates LGBTQ2 Canadians and their allies who have advocated for equal rights will officially go into circulation on Tuesday, April 23.
The Equality $1 commemorative circulation coin is one of a series of Government of Canada initiatives marking the 50th anniversary of a small, but important step towards decriminalizing homosexuality in Canada.
Most consensual same-sex sexual activity between adults over the age of 21 was decriminalized in 1969, two years after Pierre Trudeau, then the justice minister, introduced amendments to the Criminal Code, famously declaring that “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.”
Trudeau’s famous words on December 21, 1967, were an integral step in the decades-long efforts to achieve acceptance and equal rights for LGBTQ2 people in Canada.
Canada’s new coin design was approved by the government of his son, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on December 14, 2018. The approval follows new legislation that came into force last June, as part of Justin Trudeau’s 2017 apology to LGBTQ2 Canadians for past acts of discrimination by the authorities.
“The Mint takes great pride in celebrating Canada’s culture, history and values,” says Alex Reeves, senior manager of public affairs at the Royal Canadian Mint. “Celebrating 50 years of progress in recognizing the rights of LGBTQ2 Canadians is a powerful expression of Canada’s support of equality and inclusion.”
You can start finding Canada’s new loonie celebrating LGBTQ2 Canadians in your change as it circulates next week!
UPDATE:
– The New Loonie Honouring LGBTQ2 Canadians Is In Circulation!
The New Loonie Honouring LGBTQ2 Canadians Is Out On April 23!
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Adam / 22 April 2019
If equality is being honoured with this coin, then it’s time the honoured subject appear on the FRONT of the coin, not the backside. Incredibly, no Canadian person or topic has *ever* appeared on the front of a Canadian coin. It’s been one British monarch after another for more than 100 years. There is no law requiring it, and every new coin is a fresh opportunity to put Canadian people and subjects on the front. This could have marked a historic first. Instead, the Mint opted to continue picturing a monarch in another country on its obverse side.