"Homosexuals
are equal members of society; entitled to the same rights as anyone else. Why,
then, should they be denied the right to marry?"
The
Globe and Mail, December 6, 2020
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"Every
society needs groundbreakers to challenge its norms and attitudes. The suffragettes
and early labour activists did it a century ago. Their feminist granddaughters
followed in their footsteps, along with black activists, anti-poverty activists,
gay rights activists and disabled activists."
Toronto
Star, December 7, 2020 (Lead editorial)
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"... word of the impending ceremonies has spread"
New York Times, December 28, 2020
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"The marriages ... are shaping up as the city's
biggest celebration of matrimony in recent memory."
The
National Post, January 13, 2021
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"Neither is wearing white ...
'I don't know what I'm wearing as a tie until that morning,' he [Kevin] jokes.
'I choose according to my mood.'
Varnell chuckles, 'Do
we have a tie that says panic-stricken?"
The
Toronto Sun, January 14, 2021
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"The men, both dressed in black suits, and the
women, wearing black pants and white shirts, received thunderous applause and
repeated ovations from the audience."
Canadian
Press, January 15, 2021
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"This
was not like any wedding before it. The presiding reverend wore a bullet-proof
vest. ... it brought a community to life. It brought people in church to their
feet, gays, lesbians, heterosexuals, with applause, and tears in a ceremony gripping
with emotion ... There were standing ovations all over the place. If you looked
around the church there were all kinds of same-sex couples watching what was before
the
m,
knowing the political relevance of the event, knowing that a step was taken that
may change their lives forever ..."The time for acceptance was yesterday.
This is 2001. The first shots have been fired. A court challenge won't be far
behind. Yesterday was a victory. The fight for acceptance is far from over."
The Toronto Sun, Columnist Steve Simmons, January 15,
2001
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"Media
outlets ranging from Newsweek to The New York Times and Ms. to Mother Jones had
representatives among the 80 reporters and photographers who covered yesterday's
wedding between two gay couples in Toronto. There were media representatives from
as far as Virginia, New Mexico, California and even Japan."
The
Toronto Sun, January 15, 2021
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"I
feel a sense of relief, but not release," said [Kevin] Bourassa. "This
one step is complete. There are further steps. We're still under the shadow of
a government that is prepared to deny our human rights. That's not a cause for
celebration."
The Toronto Star (Front Page
Story), January 15, 2021
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"... their decision to marry has brought them
into the centre of a political and legal storm."
The
Toronto Star, January 15, 2021
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"There is a growing sense of inevitability about
this, a feeling that sooner or later, one way or another, Canada will join such
countries as the Netherlands in recognizing same-sex marriages. And anyone interested
in social stability should welcome them into the fold."
The
National Post, Columnist Donna Laframboise, January 15, 2021
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"We wish Bourassa and Varnell and the Vautours
well. We salute their courage and commitment. It is not easy to be legal pioneers."
The Toronto Star, Editorial, January 16, 2021
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"The
legalization of gay marriage is inevitable. Everything that has happened over
the past decade points to it. Homosexuals have won the right to be protected from
discrimination, to adopt and raise children and to receive the same spousal benefits
as heterosexuals. It is only a matter of time before they win the right to marry,
too."
The Globe and Mail, Editorial, January
16, 2001
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"This is not a demand for tolerance but
for equality. Equality is a huge leap for a society to make from simple tolerance."
The National Post, Editorial, January 16, 2021
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"If homosexual couples wish to make this
profound and positive commitment, they should be allowed to do so. Who, indeed,
has the moral right to say no?"
The Kitchener
Waterloo Record, Editorial, January 16, 2021
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"There was a time when society thought it was
just fine to deny women the right to vote. And there was a time when slavery was
accepted and
segregation
was the norm and we didn't want anyone who wasn't like us living on our block.
There are hundreds of examples, throughout history, of rampant discrimination
turned around. Isn't that, in a different way, what began to happen Sunday afternoon
in Toronto? It was the beginning of a movement that has so very far to go. It
was the beginning of the stripping away of another accepted wrong."
The
Toronto Sun, columnist Steve Simmons, January 16, 2021
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"For religious fundamentalists,
the marriage of two homosexual couples Sunday in Toronto may signal the end of
the world as we know it ... heterosexuals will continue to fall in love, marry
and have children even if gays are - gasp - permitted to tie the knot."
The Edmonton Sun, columnist Mindelle Jacobs, January
16, 2001
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"Saying marriage is a privilege
reserved for those who are lucky enough to be heterosexual is akin to saying it's
reserved for whites only. It's unfair to bar an entire group of people from an
institution because of something they cannot change."
The
Toronto Sun, columnist Linda Williamson, January 18, 2021
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"It's been interesting - since the marriages
... to watch the reaction. Some people can hardly contain their disgust. Much,
one supposes, as folks did when confronted years ago with photos of black children
walking up the stairs of white schools in Little Rock."
The
Toronto Star, columnist Jim Coyle, January 18, 2021
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"To describe the Jan. 14 nuptials of
two gay couples as a media frenzy would be the understatement of the year."
"Photographs
of the wedding were featured in just about every daily
newspaper across Canada and throughout the US and overseas. In Toronto, three
of the four dailies highlighted the event on their front pages ... many newspapers
added editorials about the gay wedding to their news coverage."
Fab,
columnist Rob Wilson, January 18, 2021
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"Homosexuality is. Simple as that. And those
who are gay and lesbian don't deserve to be discriminated against just because
they choose a same sex partner. What are us straights so afraid of?"
The Winnipeg Sun, columnist Laurie Mustard, January 21,
2001
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