Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights of Ontario, To Have & To Hold

A woman sitting in a big wicker chair says to the camera, "We have been trying to have a baby for years, to share our love with a child. After a while, we just got tired of all of the doctors visits, red tape. I saw us with a baby, watching it grow. A family."

A narrator injects, "There are all kinds of families." The screen text reads, "A family is a family."

She continues, "But we won't be considered a family, really, because we live in Ontario. And because Helen and I are lesbians."

She looks down at her pregnant stomach and says gently to her unborn child, "But we know better, don't we, love?""

Created to support Bill 167, which would have recognized same-sex relationships, this campaign was sent to every TV station, who declined to air them for free as Public Service Announcements. So the group raised $10,000 (Canadian) to air the medical ad in the group on Toronto's progressive City TV, but it was only enough to air during late night for a few weeks.

The bill did not pass then, during the New Democratic Party leadership. However, in 1999 the Conservative government was forced by court challenges to introduce similar legislation which subsequently passed in the Federal government.