Quebec launches campaign against homophobia

Resources on the website aim to dispel common homophobic stereotypes. Image / fighthomophobia.gouv.qc.ca

In a bid to combat homophobia, a new ad campaign has been launched in Quebec asking readers, "How open are you?"

The campaign website's quiz - part of a $7.5 million project aimed at eradicating homophobia in the Canadian province - takes you through a series of hypothetical situations, asking how comfortable you are with each one.

Before you begin, the site asks you your gender and age and tailors the questions to suit you.

Some scenarios begin by showing you a situation and asking if it bothers you. It then ups the ante by asking if it would bother you if one of the people involved was a co-worker or family member.

If your answers reflect an openness to sexual diversity, readers see this message: "Your openness to sexual diversity sets an example for your friends, family and society at large. Despite everything, even in Quebec, too many people are still victims of homophobia," and are asked to share your results on social media.

Adversely, readers will be told: "Discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity, whether through words or gestures, may seem innocuous but still causes havoc," and directed to a page to "better understand homophobia".

Resources on the website aim to dispel common homophobic stereotypes such as homosexuality being a Caucasian phenomenon, and children of homosexual parents become homosexuals.

How open are you? Take the quiz here.

The second reading of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill is likely to be debated this evening in New Zealand. Read further details here.

- nzherald.co.nz