Multiculturalism, Human Rights, and Cultural Relativism: Canadian Civic Leaders Discuss Women's Rights and Gay and Lesbian Rights

Although the relationship among multiculturalism, human rights and cultural relativism is much discussed by academics, there is very little, if any, information on how ordinary citizens think through these concepts. This paper investigates the attitudes of 78 civic leaders in one multicultural society, Canada, to these concepts by asking them the questions, ‘Should all religious or ethnic groups have to support women's/gays’ rights?’ The choice of women's and gays’ rights reflects the centrality of the role of women, and of the family, in most cultures. The research finds that citizens are best described as weak cultural relativists. They are concerned to protect the cultures and religions of those who are seen to be different in Canadian society, but not at the expense of the basic human right of equality. They prefer persuasion and education to a strict ‘the law is the law’ approach to conforming to Canadian values. They are not concerned that minority groups’ values will undermine Canadian values, as they understand that through the process of socialisation, values change once immigration to Canada takes place. These civic leaders tend to agree with Kymlicka's perspective, that minorities should be protected from majorities, but not at the expense of the rights of individuals within the minority communities.