Reverend Brent Hawkes is a retired senior pastor and founder of the non-profit organization Rainbow Faith and Freedom.

Last week, I was sanctioned by Russia.

Given that Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland have also been forbidden from entering the country, I was flattered that Mr. Putin would even think of me, even though I’ve never been to Russia and would never go anyway because I’m a gay man. In Russia, homosexuality is a crime.

Mr. Putin sanctioned me for two reasons. First, I’m known for having performed the first legal same-sex marriage in the world. Second, it was a form of retaliation for Canada’s sanctioning of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a big supporter of Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine. Russia has claimed Canada’s sanctions were “an insult to Orthodox believers around the world.”

I know, the logic felt forced to me, too. But this strange incident illuminates a bigger issue.

The state may have no place in the bedrooms of the nation, as Pierre Trudeau famously said in 1967. But neither does organized religion.

Tragically, both of these ideals are under huge threat not just in Russia, but in our much closer neighbour, the United States. And as with most everything defining the relationship between our two countries, there is a large spillover effect growing more dangerous every day.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade was arguably the first shot in a much bigger war against progressive social policies. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has publicly predicted the court will soon set its sights on rolling back gay rights (including gay marriage) and contraception rights.

Also in June, the U.S. Supreme Court said that a high-school football coach who knelt and prayed on the field was protected by the constitution. Later, it voted to allow state funds in Maine to support private schools, including religious schools.

This isn’t the rise of just any religion in a land that claims to be based on the separation of church and state. It’s a particular kind of Christianity that claims Christian beliefs are an integral part of the American identity. Obviously, such beliefs infringe on the rights of others – not just to live a secular, non-religious life, but to live a life that is not Christian.

Here in Canada, things feel much different. After the Roe decision, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau immediately stated his support for Canadian women seeking abortions. His government also said American women would be free to come to Canada to get an abortion.

But as Roe v. Wade has taught us, progress on social issues is neither a straight line nor inevitable. As a senior pastor at Canada’s largest “gay” church for 40 years, I’ve learned that civil rights are never “won”; they’re just advanced in order to make us better prepared for the next battle.

In 2001, when I presided over the first gay marriage, it was held at my home congregation, the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto (MCC).

It was not fun. For days leading up to the ceremony, I received death threats from people who made their intolerant religious views shockingly clear. The morning of the wedding, I was assaulted. I had to wear a bulletproof vest and moved about only with a police bodyguard, including at the ceremony.

It’s easy to say that the turmoil between church and state in the U.S. isn’t happening here, or that it can’t happen here. But that would be wrong. There are certain trends I’ve observed recently in Canada that have me especially worried.

These include the toxic religious messages that formed a part of the Ottawa truckers occupation. The high percentage of LGBTQ2S people who continue to experience religious-based homophobia and transphobia. The increasing incidence of vulnerable, LGBTQ2S seniors experiencing discrimination in long-term care. The bullying that young LGBTQ2S people continue to experience in schools.

Creeping religious intolerance isn’t just limited to the United States. It happens here, too.

This is why, when I retired from the MCC in 2018, I decided to form a non-profit called Rainbow Faith and Freedom, to create a home for the global movement that confronts religious discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It is still illegal to be gay in 70 countries around the world.

Today, we are building an organization that supports better education, health care and faith institutions for LGBTQ2S people.

I’ve always believed that the right to marry and the right to make your own personal health choices are human rights. They deserve both protection and our constant attention.

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