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December 9, 2004

Love And Marriage in Canada

Today I am very proud to be a Canadian. The Supreme Court ruled that the federal government can change the legal definition of marriage to include same-sex marriages. According to Prime Minister Martin, the Liberal government will introduce a bill to do this as soon as January.

I wonder sometimes if Canadians' support for gay marriage is merely support for Canada exercising its sovereignty, despite (or perhaps in spite of?) the recent American anti-gay sentiment (like an election "decided" by so-called Moral Values). I wonder how many Canadians are somewhat indifferent to gay marriage, but just want to stick it to Bush.

Meanwhile, groups opposed to gay marriage are asking for a referendum on the issue. I'm kind of split on this. On the one hand, in a democracy the majority rule, and should the majority be against gay marriage, then maybe it shouldn't be allowed (although my opinion is that a nation-wide referendum would be for gay marriage). On the other hand, there needs to be a careful balance between the desires of the majority, and the needs of the minority. Sometimes laws need to be made to protect minority rights, however unpopular (take anti-Japanese internment after World War II as an example of the need for such laws).

Today I'm proud because as a nation, we are moving forward and eliminating discrimination. Ok, and maybe a little bit because we're sticking it to Bush too.

22:04 | Canada , | Politics

Comments

Good to see you're still proud of your roots and keeping up to date on what goes on in the homeland. I think it's also beneficial to all the great Americans out there to have another open-minded and liberal voice not only on their side, but part of their country as well.

Posted by: Rew at December 10, 2004 4:57 AM

Interesting to think that twenty years ago politicians would be run out of town for being pro-gay marriage. Now they'd be run out of town if they weren't!

Posted by: Rew at December 10, 2004 4:58 AM

I'm not gay

Posted by: Ian at December 10, 2004 10:38 PM

Ian is not gay. Sorry if I gave that impression.

Posted by: Rew at December 13, 2004 5:07 AM

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