OK, kiddo! Here are all the fantastically amazing posts tagged with Court decisions
Conservative MP Blasts Court For Equal Rights Ruling
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that civil marriage commissioners—individuals licensed by the government to perform non-religious civil marriage ceremonies—cannot refuse to marry same-sex couples.
Saskatchewan’s government, under premier Brad Wall, had asked the court for advice on two proposed bills. One would have allowed marriage commissioners to deny public services to gay couples, and the other would have allowed only marriage commissioners licensed before the legalization of same-sex marriage to do so. Both proposals were ruled unconstitutional.
This decision was expected and right. Marriage commissioners are there to perform non-religious, legal ceremonies and are not representatives of their privately held religious beliefs. Allowing a public service employee to refuse their duties based on the sexual orientation of their clients would have been unprecedented, opening a can of writhing, slimy worms as to what other services can be denied to the public.
Not everyone is content with the court’s ruling, of course. Maurice Vellacott, a Conservative MP (who has been on this site before, imagine that), angrily blasted the court decision on Tuesday. “The Court has hereby belittled religious faith or any faith for that matter,” he announced, hereby, in a press interview. “It sets up a hierarchy of rights saying these same-sex rights are more important than freedom of consience and religion.”
Utter nonsense, of course. No one, not even gays, are allowed to deny public services to anyone legally entitled to those services. That right never existed, and this ruling hasn’t changed it. Religious freedom, also, still exists in Canada. Everyone is free to worship whichever religion they choose.
So, if you believe that a gaggle of motley-clad deities mandates that all moral humans must get their left nipple pierced by an 84-year-old former acrobat upon graduating high school and have it fastened with a pewter-cast triskaidecagon, then by all means, go for it. But that doesn’t mean you get to go around denying boating licenses to anyone who has their pewter-cast triskaidecagon through their right nipple instead of their left.
At least, I think so. Technically, that court decision is still pending.
- Marriage officials can’t refuse gays: Sask. court [CBC News]
- MP blasts Sask. court for gay marriage decision [Toronto SUN]
Proposition 8 Was Discriminatory Nonsense
On Wednesday, just days after my wedding, a federal judge declared that California’s Proposition 8—a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage—violated the constitutional rights guaranteed to all U.S. citizens.
I couldn’t be happier. Canada got its first taste of equal marriage rights in 2003, and eventually recognized it nationwide in 2005. Knowing that so many people south of the border will soon share the same joy and freedoms that we have up here makes me giddy with anticipation.
Californians still have to wait a little while before enjoying their full legal equality, mind you. Anti-gay lobbyists have already appealed the decision and a temporary stay has been put into effect, possibly until a decision is reached there. I don’t know enough about the U.S. justice system to offer a prediction of the outcome, but I do think that the anti-equality side simply hasn’t demonstrated arguments that can hold up to court scrutiny. After all, according to them, Canada should be a smoking crater by now. Of course, in reality, nothing bad has come of it by any demonstrable standard.
California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Attorney General, Jerry Brown, has both filed formal motions to lift California’s stay, which would reintroduce full equality immediately. Until then, congratulations to California for your important step toward the full equality that your constitution guarantees!
- California judge rejects same-sex marriage ban [CBC News]
- California gay marriage ruling appealed [CBC News]
- Schwarzenegger urges gay weddings revival [CBC News]
Hate Crime Gets Tough Sentence
A Vancouver man has been given a harsh, year-long prison sentence for assaulting a gay man back in September, 2008.
Jordan Smith was holding hands with his boyfriend as they walked along the street in Vancouver’s gay district when he was attacked by Michael Kandola. The attack knocked Smith out cold and broke his jaw, requiring surgery to have it wired shut.
Smith had never held hands with his boyfriend in public before and hasn’t done so since.
Kandola’s lawyers argued that the assault, caught on film by a security camera, should not be considered a hate crime—a notion that the judge rightfully dismissed. The attacker shouted anti-gay slurs before and after the assault, even as the victim was laying unconscious on the ground.
This is one of the first gay bashings to be ultimately ruled a hate crime under sections 318 and 319 of Canada’s criminal code—a very welcome change from the norm.
You see, occasionally, I hear some nonsense about how “all crimes are hate crimes,” and that tougher sentences shouldn’t be given in instances like Smith’s attack. I could not disagree as completely as I do with this sentiment. Hate crimes are different from regular crimes in that they target an entire community, not just a single victim. They send the message that all gay people had better watch their backs. This ruling sends the message that anyone who would terrorize the gay community with violence should watch theirs.
- B.C. judge declares attack on gay man a hate crime [CTV News]
- Attacked for holding hands [Surrey Leader]
Anti-Gay Crusader Wins Court Challenge
Bill Whatcott, Canada’s most hysterically obsessed anti-gay activist, does not have to pay $17,500 in fines after successfully challenging a Human Rights Tribunal ruling in Saskatchewan.
Whatcott was fined in 2005 over a “clear pattern or practice of disregard for protected rights,” sparked largely over some insane, anti-gay fliers.
The ruling was upheld by the Court of the Queen’s Bench in 2007, but the appeals court overturned the ruling, saying that the fliers didn’t violate Canada’s hate speech laws by inciting hatred and violence, and were therefore protected by freedom of expression.
Hey, I guess that means the Bill Whatcott flier collection fundraising effort for GLBT organisations is still on!
Russian Court Says Canadian Marriages Aren’t Real
Two lesbians that wed in Canada last October will not be seen as married in their homeland. A Russian court threw out their case this week, saying that same-sex foreign marriages simply won’t be recognized. “I will have to uphold the decision made by the registry office in May,” said judge Boris Gerbekov, “foreign marriages accepted in Russia must involve a couple of opposite sex.”
This is the same couple that had tried to get a marriage license last May, but were rejected in early October. That prompted them to get a marriage license here in Canada, hoping it would be recognized. Now that their latest attempt has been turfed, they’ll appeal to the European Court of Human Rights where a decision could take up to five years.
Rights have to be fought with persistence. Best of luck, you two! It’ll pay off someday.
- Court rejects Russian lesbians’ Canada marriage [Reuters Canada]
Lesbian Refugee Fleeing U.S. Army Gets Second Chance
Bethany Smith, a lesbian seeking refugee status in Canada from the U.S., will get a second chance to have her case heard by the Immigration and Refugee Board after the Federal Court ruled that her previous plea was wrongfully dismissed.
Bethany, a 21 year old U.S. soldier, fled the U.S. in September 2007 over the institutionalized homophobia in the country’s army. Bethany says that other soldiers discovered she was a lesbian after seeing her hold hands with another woman at a shopping mall. Gays and lesbians are forbidden to serve openly in the U.S. army, so this information was used to harass, blackmail, and threaten her with violence—with no available recourse in the army’s administration.
The Immigration and Refugee Board originally rejected Bethany’s case in February, but will now give her a second chance with a different adjudicator. The Federal Court says the IRB should have taken into account “the particular environment” at Bethany’s Kentucky army base, including information that a gay man was murdered there in 1999 by fellow soldiers as he slept.
Considering Canada’s abysmal record on these sorts of cases, I don’t know how much of a chance Bethany has of getting full refugee status. Still, I wish her the best, as well as the speedy turfing of the U.S’s terrible Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and other forms of institutionalized homophobia!
French Court Kinda OKs Gay Adoption, Almost
Promising news from France this week.
A French lesbian has won a court case in her fight to adopt a child. In 1998 and 2008, Emmanuelle B’s adoption papers were rejected, citing a “lack of paternal figure.” An upper court finally reversed that decision on Tuesday morning, noting that “the household conditions offered by the demander with regards to family, education, and psychology correspond to the needs and the interests of an adopted child.”
This would be a big victory for same-sex couples and all the children looking for homes across France, except for one detail: The courts only authorized Emmanuelle as the adoptive parent, leaving out her longtime partner, Laurence R.
France has routinely allowed single persons to adopt children; nevertheless, until Tuesday, Emmanuelle had been rejected from adopting even as the sole legal applicant simply because she is gay. While the court decision recognized this unequal treatment and opened the door to for gays and lesbians to adopt, they stopped short of letting same-sex couples adopt children. That is, if a gay or lesbian couple wants to adopt, one half of that couple must be left out of the legalities, or their application will be rejected.
The fact that France allows singles to adopt children (and has done so for quite some time) flies in the face of their “lack of paternal figure” reasoning against same-sex couples. Here’s hoping the courts follow the next logical step and lets children in need of a loving home find just that!
- French lesbian wins adoption case [BBC News]
- Lesbian gets green light to adopt [RFI English]
