Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1994 14:25:02 -0400

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BLOC MP PUBLICLY REVEALS HE'S GAY
Chretien won't expel Liberal over comments

OTTAWA (CP-Staff)  --  A second member of Parliament has identified
himself publicly as homosexual amid a furor yesterday over anti-homosexual
remarks made recently by a Nova Scotia Liberal MP.

Bloc Quebecois MP Real Menard said yesterday outside the House of Commons
that he was "speaking for the community to which I belong" when he
demanded that MP Roseanne Skoke be expelled from the Liberal caucus for
attacking homosexuals.

Asked if his remark should be interpreted as a public statement that he is
gay, Menard answered:  "Yes, it can be interpreted that way.  That is what
I meant."  Only one other MP, New Democrat Svend Robinson, has openly
identified himself as homosexual.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien rejected the demand from Menard
(Hochelaga-Maisonneuve) and Robinson (Burnaby-Kingsway) to expel Skoke
from the caucus, saying MPs had a right to their opinions.

But he made it clear he expects Skoke, whatever her personal views, to toe
the party line when the government introduces amendments to the Canadian
Human Rights Act later this fall, prohibiting discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation.

"We give our members the freedom to express themselves," Chretien told the
Commons.  "Were we, in a political party, to see the leader be responsible
for each and every opinion expressed in this House, we would have a lot of
problems. We're in a democracy.  Everybody has the right to express an
opinion, a point of view and it may not be the point of view of everyone."

Last week, Skoke told the Commons:  "Homosexuality is not natural, it is
immoral and it is undermining the inherent rights and values of our
Canadian families and should not be condoned."

Yesterday, Skoke, a lawyer, would not back down.

"What the Prime Minister said and what you heard him say is that as
Liberal members we have the right to express our own views in debate at
any time," she said.



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