CANADA:

Canada 4th Nation to Legalize Gay Marriage
By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press Writer
Posted: July 20, 2005 6:53 pm ET

TORONTO -- Canada legalized gay marriage Wednesday, becoming the world's fourth nation to grant full legal rights to same-sex couples. Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin signed the legislation making it law, hours after it was approved by the Senate late Tuesday night despite strong opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders.

The bill gives homosexual couples the same rights as those in traditional unions between a man and a woman, something already legal in eight of Canada's 10 provinces and in two of its three territories. The legislation drafted by Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberal Party government easily passed the Senate, which essentially rubber stamps any bill already passed by the House of Commons, which passed it late last month.

The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain are the only other nations that allow gay marriage nationwide. The law comes after years of court battles and debate that divided families, religious groups and even political allies. The Roman Catholic Church, the predominant Christian denomination in Canada, has vigorously opposed the legislation.

But Martin, a Roman Catholic, has said that despite anyone's personal beliefs, all Canadians should be granted the same rights to marriage. Alex Munter, national spokesman for Canadians for Equal Marriage, which has led the debate in favor of the law, was triumphant Wednesday: "It is a signal to the world that Canada is an open and inclusive society that believes in the notion of full citizenship for all."

Churches have expressed concern that their clergy would be compelled to perform same sex ceremonies. The legislation, however, states that the bill only covers civil unions, not religious ones, and no clergy would be forced to perform same-sex ceremonies unless they choose to do so.

Charles McVety, a spokesman for Defend Marriage Canada and president of Canada Christian College, said he was "very sad that the state has invaded the church, breached separation of church and state and redefined a religious word."

McVety vowed his group would work to vote out lawmakers who supported the legislation in the next general elections. "A new Parliament is going to readdress this issue and common sense ultimately will prevail," McVety said.

In the United States, Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay marriages; Vermont and Connecticut have approved same-sex civil unions. Though hundreds of foreigners have come to Canada to seek civil ceremonies since gay marriages were first allowed in Ontario and British Columbia in 2003, not all countries or states recognize the unions.

The U.S. government does not recognize same-sex marriage, and most states refuse to acknowledge marriage certificates from gay and lesbian couples, regardless of where they wed.

"We are not legislating, honorable members, for people far away and not  known by us.  We are enlarging the opportunity for happiness to our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends and, our families: at the same time  we are making a more decent society, because a decent society is one that does not humiliate its members. 
                                           
"In the poem 'The Family,' our [gay] poet Luis Cernuda was sorry because, 'How does man live in denial in vain by giving rules that prohibit and condemn?'

"Today, the Spanish society answers to a group of people who, during many  years have, been humiliated, whose rights have been ignored, whose dignity has been offended, their identity denied, and their liberty oppressed. Today the Spanish society grants them the respect they deserve, recognizes their rights, restores their dignity, affirms their identity, and restores their liberty.

"It is true that they are only a minority, but their triumph is everyone's  triumph.  It is also the triumph of those who oppose this law, even though they do not know this yet: because it is the triumph of Liberty.  Their victory makes all of us (even those who oppose the law) better people, it makes our society better. Honorable members, There is no damage to marriage or to the concept of family in allowing two people of the same sex to get married. To the contrary, what happens is this class of Spanish citizens get the potential to organize their lives with the rights and privileges of marriage and family. There is no danger to the institution of marriage, but precisely the opposite: this law enhances and respects marriage.

"Today, conscious that some people and institutions are in a profound disagreement with this change in our civil law, I wish to express that,  like other reforms to the marriage code that preceded this one, this law will generate no evil, that its only consequence will be the avoiding of senseless suffering of decent human beings. A society that avoids senseless suffering of decent human beings is a better society.

"With the approval of this Bill, our country takes another step in the path of liberty and tolerance that was begun by the democratic change of government.  Our children will look at us incredulously if we tell them that many years ago, our mothers had less rights than our fathers, or if we tell them that people had to stay married against their will even though they were unable to share their lives. Today we can offer them a beautiful lesson: every right gained, each access to liberty has been the result of the struggle and sacrifice of many people that deserve our  recognition and praise.

"Today we demonstrate with this Bill that societies can better themselves and can cross barriers and create tolerance by putting a stop to the unhappiness and humiliation of some of our citizens.  Today, for many of our countrymen, comes the day predicted by Kavafis the great Greek gay poet, one century ago:

'Later 'twas said of the most perfect society/someone else, made like me/certainly will come out and act freely.' "

Thanks to gay journalist Rex Wockner for providing this translation.

UPDATE, JULY 9:
"I just watched on C-SPAN a tape of the vote in the Cortes (the Spanish parliament on the gay marriage and adoption bill, including part of the debate, Zapatero's speech, and the approval of the bill by a 40-vote majority. Just before the vote, the chamber's president asked the gallery -- crammed with gays and lesbians -- to refrain from cheering or hissing when the vote was announced (depending on which way it went, although the result was not in doubt). Naturally, when the bill passed, the queers in the gallery couldn't restrain their joy at this extraordinary event, and the chamber's president, as he'd warned he'd do, ordered them out of the gallery. Then, a remarkable thing happened -- Zapatero and the Socialist deputies rose and gave a sustained standing ovation to the gays and lesbians as they left. It was a stunning tribute to the homosexuals' sacrifice, courage, and refusal to accept less than full equality before the law -- a recognition that this was their victory. I've seen many parliaments in operation in many parts of the world at times of crucial debate -- but I've never, ever seen the parliamentarians applaud the gallery. I'm a tough-minded old cynic, but to see the Spanish parliamentarians give lesbians and gays the standing ovation we so richly deserved actually made my eyes rather moist."