Lacombe community holding MLA-elect accountable for comments against LGBTQ2 community

Lacombe’s LGBTQ2 community is holding newly elected MLA Jennifer Johnson accountable after a recording of the candidate referring to trans kids as feces surfaced mid-campaign.

On Wednesday, the premier’s office confirmed that Johnson will not be sitting in the UCP caucus.

“Premier Smith has been clear, the MLA-elect for Lacombe-Ponoka will not sit with the UCP caucus,” reads the statement from the premier’s office.

“They were baseless accusations that harmed not only teachers but LGBTQ kids and many other minorities in that field and scope of LGBTQ.

“So, when the election declared her the winner, we were all disappointed but not shocked,” he said.

“As much as we’re used to things like this, it’s unfortunate to see that even though someone with the rhetoric and even someone being open to the public about it still gets about 10,000 votes is shocking.”

Johnson won the riding with 67 per cent of the votes — 14,218 in total — compared with 4,948 votes for the NDP candidate.

Luscombe said he was excited to see a woman leading a campaign in a rural riding, but as time passed, there were more and more things that came out that weren’t “supportive or communicative for an MLA to be doing.”

With Johnson keeping a seat in the legislature, albeit outside of the UCP party, Luscombe said it’s keeping a fire in the community to keep fighting for LGBTQ2 kids in the area and hold the politician accountable. He said he wants her to learn about and understand the community.

He said it’s easy to move to one of the bigger cities that are more liberal and forward-thinking, but in order to see change in the majority blue rural ridings, someone needs to stay and fight.

“As much as I’d love to be in a community of queer people that really uplift me and bring me to the surface and help me be myself, I cannot leave a community knowing that community is worse off than when I was there,” Luscombe said.

The Pride Society is trying to navigate, as best as it can, a relationship with an MLA who has made derogatory comments toward the community it serves. Luscombe said he was surprised by how many people weren’t aware of Johnson’s comments, which came to light roughly two weeks before the election.

“It was one of those things where it took time to circulate the feed of people in town, but the bigger majority of people from rural areas, they didn’t even have access to that information because in those areas there’s not a newspaper delivery, there’s not great internet connection, there’s not news sources and community hubs that share this information.”

He added Rachel Notley and the NDP have a very negative image in Lacombe and suggested that hindered a more socially progressive residents — even with the people who knew about Johnson’s comments — from voting orange.

“People really don’t try to gain more knowledge around these two major parties. … They only see the things that have happened in the past — that’s what they base a lot of their position off of because they don’t have this information that arises,” Luscombe said.

One Johnson supporter said everyone has the right to speak their mind and if they upset a few people doing so, then so be it.

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“I feel like we’re supposed to be in a democracy. Majority rules. There’s a few people that don’t get treated properly, so how do you address that problem? I don’t have the answers but if a few people are upset, so be it,” said a Lacombe resident who gave his name as Don.

“I think a lot of people who aren’t in the LGBTQ community think we’re brainwashing kids and I promise we’re not,” said “We’re just giving them space to be themselves.”

She added that any type of “life-altering decision” like transitioning is made after years of therapy and consideration.

“It’s not just something kids can change on a whim. … There’s years of therapy and years of decision-making that goes into this, and I trust that any kid that has made that decision and any parent that has made that decision, they might be young, but they’re probably doing what’s best for them.”

Luscombe said he sent an email to Johnson but says he never heard a response. He also sent her two messages trying to organize a meeting.

“There’s plenty of opportunity for her to really reach out, as we have reached out in several different ways to try and not even accuse her of anything but just to sit down and talk and try to figure out where some of these comments had come from, where we could help her learn and understand who we are as people,” Luscombe said.

“Just how little effort was being put in by her to really rectify the situation was unfortunate.

“Now that she has won, I honestly do not see any communication between us. … I will keep on trying to make sure our voices are heard and that we’re really getting at her. (I’m) going to make sure that she understands that she can’t just ignore an entire group of people in her constituency, that she has to address it and she really has to make strides to better her understanding around the LGBTQ community.”

Global News reached out to Johnson and the UCP. A response was not received by the time of publication.

— with files from Saif Kaisar, Global News