A New York judge has ruled that the surviving partner of a same-sex couple married in Canada is entitled to the deceased’s estate—as stipulated in his will—without having to involve next of kin in the probate proceedings. It’s a barely interesting legal case for very many, terrifically boring reasons, but it does establish some precendent in how all the “death do us part” matters are handled when it comes to foreign same-sex marriages.

Say, let’s see how those nutty scribes at LifeSite are reporting this!

Despite the fact that same-sex “marriage” is illegal in New York, a New York Judge has ruled that a man will receive the estate of his deceased male partner, whom he had “wed” in Canada eight months earlier. [...] The decision is the latest in a series of decision [sic] in New York which have set legal precedent in the state in favor of same-sex “marriage.”

We’ll ignore, for a moment, that same-sex marrages are not actually illegal in New York when performed out-of-state, and focus on the much more interesting issue here: Scare quotes!

Yes, in their usual LifeSite style, every occurance of the words “marriage,” “married,” “wed,” and “spouse” in the article are encased by a pair of delightfully sneering quotations. Why, even the word “divorce” gets a nice pair of quotes when it refers to same-sex partners. In fact, of the exactly nine sentences, there are 13 pairs of quotation marks—none of which are used for proper attributions. Oh, how the contempt does drip forth! I can almost visualize the author’s face, locked in a disapproving rictus, the Shift key permanently held for maximum quotage.

Almost makes you wonder exactly what their beef is regarding state probate notification procedures with respect to estate transfer between same-sex spouses…

Probably the same-sex part.

Parenthetically, while LifeSite correctly points out that the couple was married in Canada eight months ago, they somehow neglect to mention that the couple had been in a committed relationship for nearly 25 years prior and the surviving siblings had no objections to the will.

• NY Judge Grants Estate to Surviving Partner of Same-Sex “Marriage” Effected in Canada [LifeSite]
• N.Y. Judge Finds Man Entitled to Inherit Same-Sex Partner’s Estate [National Law Journal]
• NY judge: Same-sex spouse gets husband’s estate [Associated Press]

Bill Siksay, the New Democratic Party MP for Burnaby-Douglas, has introduced a bill that would explicitly add transgendered people to the list of identifiable minorities protected from violent hate crimes.

This is fantastic news, if a tad later than desirable. And, for the most part, the press has reported this story with professional neutrality.

Say, let’s see how those amusingly partisan scribes at LifeSite are reporting this:

Now its the “transgendered” who are being presented as an “identifiable group” against whom it would be a criminal offence to “discriminate.” [...]

The “transgender” phenomenon, it is said, occurs when a person’s personal “gender identity” does not match that “assigned” by biology, their parents, or society’s expectations. [...]

While those who consider themselves “transgendered” usually claim they were “wrongly” “born into the body” of the opposite sex and that this can be “corrected” with a combination of surgery and hormone treatments, the biological sex of an individual is genetically determined from the first instant of the fusion of ovum and sperm.

Ten pairs of quotation marks used inside three sentences? Why, I believe we have a new scare quote record! I can actually taste the sneers—the contempt! Why, they even incorporated one in the article’s title: Canadian MP Introduces “Transgender” to the Hate Crimes Act.

Kudos, LifeSite. “Kudos.”

By the way, Happy New Year, kids! I’m back from my little break and I hope you all had a fantastically amazing holiday. Here’s to another great year!

• MP calls for expanded hate-crime laws [Burnaby Now]
• Siksay introduces trans hate crimes bill [Capital Xtra]
• Canadian MP Introduces “Transgender” to the Hate Crimes Act [Lifesite]

British Columbia high school students have a new elective to choose from next year! The course, entitled Social Justice Issues, covers various topics including race, ethnicity, women’s rights, and sexual orientation.

This is great news. But how do you suppose the “pro-family” scribes at LifeSite reported this?

“Government Agrees to Mandatory Homosexual Curriculum with No Opt-Out for Students or Parents!” Aaaaaaah!

Yes, that’s their actual headline. Of course it’s completely false, as the course is an elective—not mandatory. But, naturally, anything coming from a group that calls themselves “pro-family” when they’re actually crazily anti-gay is to be taken with a grain of salt. A big grain of make-believe space salt, anyway.

And to all students taking the new course next year, good for you! Never stop bettering yourselves.

• Gay and lesbian issues course for B.C. Students [CBC News]
• Gov’t Agrees to Mandatory Homosexual Curriculum with No Opt-Out for Students or Parents [LifeSite]