OK, kiddo! Here are all the fantastically amazing posts tagged with Same-sex marriage

Proposition 8 Was Discriminatory Nonsense

August 9th, 2010

Warning: Extreme pressure may build up in closed minds

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!

Argentina Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

July 16th, 2010

Cool! Strange it took so long, what with Madonna's marriage to the president in the 40s and al...

Argentina has become the first Latin American country (and the tenth country overall) to permit full, equal marriage to all its citizens. The vote, which passed 33-27, took place Thursday morning.

Opponents had hoped to instead pass a separate, and inherently unequal, civil unions bill that would have granted most of the rights of marriage to gay couples, but would have barred them from adopting children or even undergoing in-vitro fertilization (an astonishing personal rights invasion, if I ever heard one). Good thing full equality passed instead!

I really don’t have much else to say but congratulations, Argentina!

European Court Says No To Same-Sex Marriage

June 28th, 2010

Illustration is blocked by a sign 'Due to a lack of EU consensus, your right to see this is revoked.'

A European human rights court has ruled that the legality of same-sex unions should be left up to individual European countries since there is no Europe-wide consensus on whether or not equal marriage recognition for everyone is a fundamental right.

The case was brought forward by an Austrian gay couple who are being denied the right to marry in their home country.

Six EU states have full equal marriage rights for all citizens, and ten more have state recognition of gay partnerships, without full marriage equality. The other eleven states don’t allow any kind of same-sex unions.

Justice is slow, but at least the majority of European countries have at least some kind of recognition of gay rights; keep fighting for your human rights and the rest will follow.

Iceland Gets Marriage Equality

June 14th, 2010

Global equality loading screen with progress bar inching forward.

Great news coming out of Iceland this month, as it became the ninth country in the world to offer full marriage equality to all its citizens! The parliamentary vote passed unanimously, 49 to 0, making Iceland join the ranks of Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Sweden in legalizing same-sex marriage.

This is fantastic news, although I’m a little surprised it didn’t happen earlier. I mean, what with Björk and all.

Iceland also made international news in 2009 after electing Johanna Sigurdardottir, the world’s first gay leader.

And Society Still Stands

April 9th, 2010

People overreact at a gay wedding.

Let’s end the week on some sweet notes, why not?

British Columbia’s legislature will have a new name to remember after an NDP MLA married his longtime partner last month. Spencer Herbert will now be known as Spencer Chandra Herbert, making him Canada’s first MLA to take his gay partner’s last name. The Vancouver-West MLA has already updated his website with the change, and hopes that other legislative sources will soon follow. The change won’t take too much effort, mind you; during house proceedings, MLAs are always referred to by their constituency.

On the other side of the ocean, Slap reader Melanie has written in with some good news about a British soldier in Prince Harry’s regiment. Lance Corporal James Wharton from the Blues and Royals has married his boyfriend, Thom McCaffrey. James wore military regalia to help formalize the wedding, which was held at the regiment’s Knightsbridge barracks. It was the first same-sex wedding for any member of the Household Cavalry.

Of course, after these two weddings, I’ll keep an eye out for news on whether or not society will continue. Until then, have a great weekend!

Portugal Passes Gay Marriage Bill; Who’s next?

February 17th, 2010

Good news! The Portuguese parliament passed a same-sex marriage bill last week, which will make the country the eighth in the world to have equal marriage rights nationwide.

President Cavaco Silva can still veto the bill, but there hasn’t been any indication that he will do this, which gives it a pretty good chance of being ratified. Encouragingly, the bill sparked very little opposition in the public, even among social conservatives.

I’m not sure what country will be next, but I’ll be taking bets all morning on which country is more likely to give equal rights and freedoms to all of its citizens before the other: The United States… or Slovenia. (And just a head’s up for my stateside friends, Slovenia has recognized gay registered partnerships since 2005 and is likely to send a same-sex marriage bill to parliament this year; think you can beat them to it?)

Churches Want Involvement In Marriage Commissioner Case

February 5th, 2010

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal will consider and rule on whether or not civil marriage commissioners can deny their otherwise public services to gay couples. The case is in response to a request from the provincial government, which is seeking information on the constitutionality of a proposed legislation to allow just that sort of thing.

In addition to the usual suspects—unions, rights groups, and some individuals—several church organizations have sought intervener status so that they can speak on the case. Most will argue that presiding over a gay marriage violates the religious freedoms of the individuals doing the presiding.

Churches are already exempt from Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and therefore do not need to serve everyone equally regardless of their gender, race, or sexual orientation. That does not, however, apply to individuals. At least not yet—and that includes civil marriage commissioners, who are, after all, just people who perform the legal duties at non-religious wedding ceremonies for people who do not wish to get married by a priest in a church. They’re not, nor are they supposed to be, representatives of their personal religion.

Nevertheless, the Canadian Fellowship of Churches and Ministers, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, the Chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and the Christian Legal Fellowship are all seeking to influence this public ruling. (I shall assume that they all pay taxes, then…)

Here’s my thoughts. Much in the same way that a vegetarian mustn’t deny a carnivore a boating license (lest the carnivore go fishing in violation of the vegetarian’s personal beliefs), a marriage commissioner  cannot deny a marriage license to a gay couple; and that’s the way it should stay.

I mean, where did this idea come from that you can just avoid the duties that you’re expected to do? (cough, cough)

Politician Accuses State of Selling Children to Gays

January 27th, 2010

Alfred Baldasaro, a Republican State Representative for New Hampshire, went on a bizarre rant this week, starting with the accusation that the state government was selling children to gay couples for $10,000 a pop.

The statement was made in reference to same-sex adoption, which has been legal in New Hampshire since 1999. When asked to rescind the offensive remark, Baldasaro simply repeated it: “I wanted to make sure everyone understood here, that this legislature sold the rights of $10,000 per kid under title four, when they said that homosexual couples, not married, can adopt.”

This was only the start of the rant, mind you. Baldasaro then directly compared gay couples to incestuous ones, asking “aren’t we discriminating against all them?”

“What about the Muslims?”, he continued. “Everyone’s praising the Muslims. They’re killing us. What about them, they want three, four wives. We’re discriminating against them!”

…

Well, that was a masterpiece of crazy.

Baldasaro’s statements were made in support of a bill that would ban same-sex marriage in the state, demonstrating exactly the type of people that are typically behind those types of bills.

Russian Court Says Canadian Marriages Aren’t Real

January 22nd, 2010

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.

PEI Finally Puts Same-Sex Marriage On The Books

January 11th, 2010

Prince Edward Island finally updated their lawbooks over the holidays in recognition of same-sex couples for 29 pieces of legislation. While same-sex marriages have been legal in the province since federal law changed in 2006, spouses were still referred to as “husband and wife” and “man and woman” in provincial documents and laws until now.

There was no reason given for the nearly four year delay, but the change means that vital statistics, birth certificates, and other provincial documents and departments will now have accurate data.

Well, I’m glad to see you’ve joined the rest of the country, Island! (I can call you Island for short, right?)

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