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Equal
Marriage and the Law in Canada June
20, 2003 Same-sex
marriage heats things up!
The Summer of Love
"I don’t think anyone is ready for this kind of change,
but when it happens it’s very exciting and positive and people will adjust. It
will come through further education. We’ve won in the court of law, we can’t really
say we’ve won in the court of opinion yet. That will take more time. I think we
have to reach out to those who have fought us so hard. We live in the same community.
Joe and I personally do not wish to take the victory and walk away off the court.
We have to do some more work with those who have opposed us and move from tolerance
to true acceptance."
Kevin Bourassa, Boston
Phoenix, June 20-26, 2003
Within
hours, following the monumental June 10 decision from the Court of Appeal for
Ontario, same-sex couples in this province began exercising their legal right
to marriage. There would be no going back. The City of Toronto acted immediately,
and the provincial government soon confirmed it would register the marriages.
| We
waited hopefully for the federal government to respond in a similar fashion. A
victory in Ontario was a hollow victory without a timely solution for couples
elsewhere in Canada, including the couples and lawyers involved in the British
Columbia and Quebec cases. These battles, lost and won, helped convince our federal
government to accept equal marriage. | "Kevin
Bourassa and Joe Varnell's marriage became official this week, two years after
they said their vows. That ceremony, it turns out, was historic: Canada's first,
officially sanctioned gay marriage."
MetroWest Daily News
(Massachusetts), June 15, 2021 |
Standing Committee Stand-off The
first signs of movement in Ottawa came on June 12 when the Standing Committee
for Justice and Human Rights barely voted to recommend that Parliament accept
the Ontario decision. The tie-breaking vote for equal marriage came from the chair
of the committee, Liberal MP Andy Scott, in a process that included the replacement
of opponents to same-sex marriage with more agreeable M.P.s. While
we watched Mr. Scott on live television, we applauded the New Brunswick Member
of Parliament as he spoke about being "informed" by the recent court
decisions and the testimony about marriage heard by the committee. Mr. Scott's
public support was an important and significant step forward. Since Mr. Scott's
lead, other M.P.s have been listening and learning, building consensus for the
final approval of same-sex marriage in Parliament. Justice
Minister prepared the way for the P.M. On
June 16, Canada's Minister of Justice Martin Cauchon advised the Prime Minister's
cabinet to stop the court battles against gay and lesbian couples, and to accept
same-sex marriage nation-wide. News traveled around the world on June 17 when
Prime Minister Chretien announced the Canadian government would stop the legal
battle and support rolling out equal marriage beyond Ontario, to the rest of Canada. The
Prime Minister said that his government will: - Draft
legislation aligned with the common-law definition of marriage that came into
effect on June 10.
- Protect
faith communities from having to perform any marriage that does not conform to
religious values.
- Seek
approval from the Supreme Court of Canada, to ensure that the marriage law complies
with the Charter, and that it is applicable to all provinces/territories.
- Introduce
the new law in Parliament's next session (September) for a "free vote"
| "Canada
has legalized gay marriages. So, what's happening in the bastion of freedom, the
home of democracy and human rights, the greatest country on Earth? The Supreme
Court is trying to decide whether someone like me should have to serve prison
time for my crime against humanity: Loving someone in a way that they don't approve
of. As a decorated Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, I never in my life thought I'd
someday be considering moving to Canada."
Michelle
Kaye, San Francisco Chronicle, June 19, 2021 |
People
impatient for Parliament to catch-up "My
same-sex partner and I applied for a marriage license back in 2000, it was held
in abeyance because of court challenges. We have spent the last three years in
court and shortly after the May 1 decision of the B.C. Court of Appeal we wrote
to vital statistics, asking when we could expect our certificate. So far there
has been no response. With respect we ask you to instruct your staff to begin
issuing marriage certificates to those who apply."
Lloyd
Thornhill and Robert Peacock in a June 10 email to British Columbia justice
minister, Geoff Plant. Same-sex
marriages have been happening all across the province, with local stories aplenty:
enough to drive home the point to every corner of the province, and beyond. On
Canada's east coast, Wayne
and Art Toole were married in Ontario and they returned home to New Brunswick
seeking to share the same last name. Similar stories are emerging in every province
of the country. In
the Quebec marriage case , Michael Hendricks and
Rene LeBeouf have filed an appel incident (i.e., a counterappeal) saying,
"We have no intention of withdrawing our appel incident until we are
sure that same-sex couples will have the same access to civil marriage from coast-to-coast-to-coast
as do opposite-sex couples." Couples
involved in the B.C. Marriage Case are seeking to
have their victory in the B.C. Court of Appeal implemented immediately too, rather
than delayed until Parliament passes legislation in September. | "Congratulations
to our neighbours to the North from some of your friends in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin
area. You have accomplished in a short time what so many of us in the supposedly
free United States of America have tried to accomplish for years. Your legacy
may move on to the USA through our courts, and to other countries as well"
Scott
Ohlman & Wild Bill Klitzkie,
from our
June mail. |
Nothing
prevents any of the provincial premiers from complying with the new federal definition
of marriage that became law on June 10. Within days, each province could start
issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples, just as Ontario has, but instead
they delay while Ottawa makes its own preparations and couples continue to pressure
for change. A
new focus on Alberta | Alberta
is the only province to say that they will fight the new law, but the Prime Minister's
referral of the issue to the Supreme Court of Canada is a pre-emptive strike against
Premier Klein's pretensions. Still, couples in that province hope they won't be
abandoned by those of us living under better governance. On June 12, we received
the following email from Ivann: | "I
would like all brothers and sisters of same-gender, who are sharing the same thoughts
and vision of what it is to be legally married and recognized by the Canadian
law, to continue the fight for rights in Alberta."
Ivann,
email,
June 12, 2021 |
"First
of all, I would like to congratulate all sisters and brothers who fought really
hard for our rights and bringing in the recognition of same sex marriage. As far
as we all know, same sex couples are capbale of long lasting and loving relationships.
I have no doubt about same sex relationship because i am one of the couples who
are looking forward to have our marriage registered in Alberta. "I
would like all brothers and sisters of same-gender, who are sharing the same thoughts
and vision of what it is to be legally married and recognized by the Canadian
law, to continue the fight for rights in Alberta. It is a big shame that we are
denied our rights and it is a shame that the big boys out there refused to obey
the rulings even though it is a battle that they most unlikely to win."
Advocates
are at work. Today, Keith Purdy and Rick Kennedy applied for a marriage licence
in Calgary to reminded the Alberta government that citizens in that province expect
to have their rights respected. We'll participate in an hour-long phone-in radio
program on June 25 (9:00), on CHAT-1270, Medicine Hat, Alberta. Please consider
how you can help to ensure Alberta complies with the law. And
Beyond "While
it may take some time, we are optimistic that having equality in marriage so close
to home will be a catalyst in eventually bringing full marriage equality to us
here in the U.S. as well. With hard work and perseverance, we plan to make it
happen! Congratulations again and keep up the great work!"
Marriage Equality
New York, from our June mail.
Couples
from around the world are planning trips to get married in Canada. Visitors are
advised to be informed,
prior to making this important decision. The international impact is just beginning,
raising expectations in other countries where, increasingly, this human rights
struggle is making progress. As
we gain our rights in Ontario, and the rest of Canada, we cannot forget that many
people live without the justice and equal treatment now enjoyed here. And
we remember partners with loved-ones who did not live to see this day.
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