Same-Sex Marriage: Canada’s Biggest Issue in 2004?

Originally Posted on: Thu, Dec 23 2004 12:12 PM

This year, the First Ministers agreed to an 18 billion dollar health care funding deal to last six years. The tides are changing when it comes to the overall financial structure of our beloved confederation with the recognition of the economic importance of cities—though I’ll believe it when the cheque comes. The Auditor General lifted the carpet and swept the sponsorship scandal out from under the rug. It would appear some ‘friends’, though not yours or mine, got some of your hard earned money through shifty government accounting at the federal level. Then there’s Maher Arar. Really people, we all know that something’s up there. A journalist’s home was raided by our own RCMP. I mean, a Canadian citizen was deported to a country known for aggressive questioning (in Syria that translates to ‘torture’) under suspicious circumstances done with not only the consent of your government, but possibly with its outright assistance. And now your government wants to hide the details under the guise of national security.

But no, let’s not worry about this, let’s all talk about whether the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is meant to protect gays and lesbians from the discrimination of not being allowed to marry like opposite-sex couples. Well duh! I mean come on. The truth is that not one of our elected politicians has the balls to stand up and say yes so we can move on with other things. Apparently, Mr. Martin thinks you might not vote for him next time around. Yes, he thinks that you’ll be more concerned with this than about Canada condoning torture, of a fellow Canadian Citizen at that. Uh-huh, right. What’s wrong with this picture?

The Charter was meant to be a defining document for Canada. You can read through it, but the bottom line is that you are who you are and are to be valued as a human being because of that. Admittedly, though I was only 6 when it came into force, the Charter does predate a lot of the more notable strides made in the gay rights movement, but it was never meant to be an exclusive document. In fact, the whole point is INCLUSION.

And what of this nebulous “same-sex union” gobbledy-gook that is being floated around, most notably by Albertans? [I’m not saying that all Albertans have their heads up their asses. Just the ones who don’t think there aren't any gays and lesbians in their Province. Yeah right!]

Let’s draw a parallel here. There are two water fountains in your child’s school, clearly labeled—one for white children and one for black children. You’re Jewish and you like to play golf, but you can’t play at the city’s biggest course because you’re not allowed to be a member. But there’s a golf course owned by a local Jewish family where you can go to play. You and your partner can’t get married like opposite-sex couples, but you can have something called a ‘union’. See my point? Is there really such a thing as ‘equal, but different’? So why are we still discussing this?

If you think recognizing [note my choice of words] the right of same-sex couples to marry threatens your life in some way ask yourself, how? Maybe you don’t even know anyone who’s gay or lesbian. Maybe they just haven’t told you that they are. Ask yourself why that might be. Have you ever been embarrassed by an elderly relative commenting on “those people who moved in next door” and “why do they want to live in our neighbourhood anyway?” Do you remember rolling your eyes and biting your tongue? Perhaps you even left, or took on their prejudices?

Will your children and grandchildren be rolling their eyes at you someday?

Or maybe they’ll just get yanked off a plane on their way somewhere and deported to Syria for ‘questioning’.

Google Maher Arar for yourself and learn more. What do you think was Canada's biggest issue in 2004?