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Advocacy News
Advocacy
news from 2006
December 13, 2020
Siksay
fights discriminatory marriage policy
 Bill
Siksay, NDP (Burnaby-Douglas) spokes-person on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual
and Transgender Issues and NDP critic for Citizenship and Immigration
slammed Stephen Harper's Conservative government for a clearly discriminatory
immigration policy that fails to recognize legal lesbian and gay marriages
performed abroad.
Read "Siksay
fights discriminatory marriage policy"
December 8, 2020
Harper
1st post war PM to attack a minority
 Conservative
Stephen Harper has the dishonour of being Canada's 1st post-war Prime
Minister to attack a Canadian minority group. Just this year, Harper apologized
to Canada's Chinese community for discrimination. Will he apologize for
his attack against gay marriage? Liberal MP Bill Graham delivered a speech
asking what message is sent by a PM who panders to bigotry?
Read "Harper
1st post war PM to attack a minority"
December 6, 2020
Stephen
Harper tries to divide Canadians
 Stephen
Harper and his Conservative minority government insulted Canada's constitutional
democracy today when it pandered to extremist Kristian fundamentalists
by challenging the Charter rights of gays and lesbians, again. The motion
is doomed to failure, so why do it? Harper is employing wedge-politics,
aping the despised American Republican strategy. Notwithstanding, gay
marriage is here to stay.
Read "Stephen
Harper tries to divide Canadians"
December 6 , 2006
What
Canadians think about gay marriage
 What
do you think of same-sex marriage? What do you think of Stephen Harper's
Conservative party reopening the debate on gay marriage? Steven Townsend,
of Grimace TV, took a video camara to the streets to ask Canadians what
they thought of the Conservative motion put forward for debate today in
Parliament. Watch the four minute video as it spreads across the Youtube
network.
Watch the video "What
Canadians think about same-sex marriage"
November 30, 2020
Paul
Martin: "Progress ... will not be denied"
 Former
Prime Minister Paul Martin criticized Stephen Harper's Conservative government
plan to revisit gay marriage in Parliament next week. Martin spoke today
at a Liberal Party convention in Montreal. "... when Canada needs to be
tackling the challenges that the future will bring, the Conservatives
look not forward but backwards revisiting old debates ... settling scores,
tearing down rather than building up. "
Read "Paul
Martin: "Progress ... will not be denied"
November 23, 2020
Increased
acceptance of gay marriage ahead
 Mark
Lehman first sent us his research on public opinion of gay marriage in
2003. The paper soon became one of the most read documents on this site,
remaining in the top ten items until 2005 when the document was removed
for updating. We are pleased to republish Mark's refreshed work: Affect
change: The increased influence of attitudinal factors on Canadians' support
for legal same-sex marriage.
November 23, 2020
Israeli
Supreme court orders registration
 Two
days ago, the Israeli Supreme court agreed, in a 6 to 1 decision, that
same-sex couples who married in Canada should be registered as married
in Israeli. In a country where only religious marriage exists, opposite
sex Israeli couples seeking civil marriage have been doing so in Cyprus
for years. Now Canada offers similar hope for lesbian and gay couples
seeking to have their gay marriage on record in Israel.
Read "Increased
acceptance of gay marriage ahead"
August 30, 2021
America:
a symbol of hypocrisy & injustice?
"The
false veneer of a "Bill of Rights" in the United States is rapidly becoming
a synonym for hypocrisy and injustice in the eyes of all civilized nations
of the world," writes gay marriage advocate Bud Evans. "Do countless
numbers of same-sex couples have to flee to Canada, or some other progressive
democracy, in order to avoid constitutionally mandated oppression in their
home country, the United States of America?"
Read "America:
a symbol of hypocrisy & injustice?"
August 7, 2021
Message
from U.K. frontline: protect Bill C-38
"We
have lost our High Court case seeking
a declaration of the validity of our legal Canadian marriage in the UK,"
report marriage advocates Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger. "We
have been stripped of our marriage in our home country. In the UK, we
are civil partners - not, as declared in Canada, wife and wife."
It all part of a series of defeats in the ongoing struggle for equal marriage.
Read "Message
from U.K. frontline: Protect Bill C-38"
August 6, 2021
Message
from U.S. frontline: "Mad as hell!"
Washington
State’s Supreme Court ruled against same-sex couples seeking access to
marriage last month, following the disgraceful judgment from New York's
court. Marriage advocate Bill Dubay has worked for equality in his home
state for decades, like many others, sometimes taking time out to give
support to his Canadian neighbours. Bill wrote to us, sharing his thoughts
on being officially second-class.
Read "Message
from U.S. frontline: "Mad as hell!"
June 29, 2021
Gay
marriage reality TV show seeks couples
Same-sex marriage reality TV show My Fabulous Gay Wedding is seeking couples
planning to get married in the greater Toronto area between July and December
2006. The 2nd season, featuring new host Elvira Kurt, will highlight the
diversity of the queer community focusing on the rich and dramatic stories
of each relationship. Couples who are eager to share their story and their
wedding are encouraged to apply.
Read "Gay
marriage reality TV show seeks couples"
June 26, 2021
Marriage
advocates out for Pride Toronto
Marriage
was once again a significant theme in Canada's largest Pride parade celebrations.
In Toronto, advocates and leaders, couples and lawyers, unions and politicians:
all were out in the streets celebrating equality and gay marriage. Wearing
the "fearless" garb provided by Pride Toronto, we were honoured to bring
up the rear of the parade on float number 80.
Read "Marriage
advocates out for Pride Toronto"
June 24, 2021
Marriage
advocates are "fearless heroes"
Marriage
advcoates are among a group being honoured by Pride Toronto in Canada's
largest parade. Lawyers and couples involved in the landmark Ontario marriage
court challenges have been invited to participate "in the first Pride
Toronto float that will be honouring the fearless heroes and acts of heroism
that have given meaning to celebrating Pride".
Read "Marriage
advocates are "fearless heroes"
June 22, 2021
Gay
Marriage: the story of a Canadian social revolution
Same-sex
marriage pioneer Michael Hendricks reviews Sylvain Larocque's new book,
Gay Marriage: The Story of a Canadian Social Revolution. "The
weaknesses of Larocque's 'history' are directly related to its strengths
... A must read for anyone interested in the subjects of gay marriage
and the reality of the Canadian political system ..."
Read "Gay
Marriage: the story of a Canadian social revolution"
June 1, 2021
A
British marriage made in Canada
Marriage
advocates Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson invite your support and provide
the latest update days before their U.K. same-sex marriage court case:
"We're the British lesbian couple who married in British Columbia
in August 2003, following the historic decisions of the Canadian courts
to open up marriage to same-sex couples, and who are seeking a declaration
of the validity of our marriage in the UK."
Read "A
British marriage made in Canada"
March 30, 2021
Appeal
from Quebec: stand up for equality
Familles
d'aujourd'hui
have placed Stephen Harper and his muzzled minority Conservative government
on notice: do not attack Canadian families and their Charter of Rights
and Freedoms. Harper has threatened to fight a war on freedom, creating
a two-tier system of rights, targeting gay marriage and the rights of
LGBT citizens. The group will fight the marginality, violence and hatred
that Harper may inspire.
Read "Appeal
from Quebec: stand up for equality"
March 22, 2021
Business
to Harper: support equal marriage
 A
survey released this week by the Gandalf Group reveals that Canadian business
leaders want Stephen Harper and the Conservative party to drop plans to
introduce unconstitutional legislation that would ban same-sex couples
from marriage. Corporate leaders are a driving force in advancing equality
and acceptance of lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender employees.
Read "Business
to Harper: support equal marriage"
February 11, 2021
Gay
marriage: a test in living our principles
 Rachel
Miller is an American heterosexual male cross-dresser, speaker and author.
Marriage equality is being used as a wedge issue, writes Rachel, when
human rights should be a common principal of a modern constitutional democracy.
"Gay marriage is being used as a wedge issue to divide us, but it also
has surprising power to unite us based on our most fundamental principles
..."
Read: "Gay
marriage: a test in living our principles"
January 24, 2021
Harper's
social agenda gets red light
 Stephen
Harper and the Conservative Party won last night's Canadian federal election,
but with a smaller minority than the Liberal government it replaced. A
thin hold on power means that social conservatives do not have a mandate
to impose their agenda on Canadians. Gay marriage is not under immediate
attack, but heightened vigilance against attacks on rights is needed more,
starting today.
Read "Harper's
social agenda gets red light"
January 12, 2021
5th
anniversary of the 1st legay gay marriage
 "It
was the beginning of the stripping away of another accepted wrong," wrote
a Toronto Sun columnist after we were married on January 14, 2021 by the
Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto. Our pastor wore a bullet proof
vest, while police in riot gear stood guard outside. The sanctuary was
swept for bombs. It was a wedding unlike any other. This weekend marks
the 5th anniversary of that historic day.
Read "5th
anniversary of the 1st legal gay marriage"
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