The Issue Of Canada Legalized Same Sex Marriage

The first reason that shows that Canada has become a “just society” is the changes to women’s legal rights. Since the 1970s, many women have stepped up to the work of politics. Several instances include Kim Campbell, the first woman to become the prime minister of Canada,1 Kathleen Wynne, the first premier of Canada to be lesbian,2 Beverley McLachlin, the “first female chief of justice of the Supreme Court of Canada,”3 and Catherine Callbeck, the second female provincial premiere and first woman to win

The idea of the legalization of same-sex marriage has always been frowned upon and always had Canada conflicted in the past, but now the vast majority of Canada has started to notice changes regarding this matter. Since the shift towards legalizing same-sex marriage, Canada’s perspective has drastically changed and has ensured that everyone, despite their sexual orientation or preference, receives the same benefits when it comes to marriage.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized for decades of state-sponsored laws and policies that led to discrimination and violence that ruined the lives of many Canadians. Trudeau expressed sorrow, shame, and guilt to the civil servants, military members, and criminalized Canadians who were victimized and mistreated based on their sexual orientation. This heartfelt apology shed many tears, in the audience and for Trudeau himself. Trudeau recounted on how the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Canadians were ruined, shamed, and silenced. “Our laws made private and consensual sex between same-sex partners a criminal offence, leading to the unjust arrest, conviction and imprisonment of Canadians”. These laws and policies enforced by the government legitimized and provoked hatred and violence towards the LGBTQ community, and impacted employment, volunteering and even travel. For many decades in the 1900’s, the Canadian government exercised its authority in a cruel and unjust manner, as those who admitted they were gay were fired, discharged or intimidated into resignation; they lost dignity, lost careers, and had their dreams and lives shattered. From this day forward, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau encourages Canadians to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and promotes equality amongst all.

In 1967 homosexuality was legalized in Canada by Pierre Trudeau. This was the first step towards creating a better environment for the LGBTQ community. By making homosexuality legal, taking pills and using other methods believed to change a gay person straight is no longer ‘required’. Equally important, In, “1999, Supreme Court of Canada expanded gay spousal rights; also ruled that while Quebec cannot secede unilaterally, Canada must recognize a clear ‘Yes’ vote.” Although this idea was not popular all over Canada, the rights of gay couples were changed to behave like the spousal rights of a hetrosexual couple. As a matter of fact, In 1976, the New Democratic Party(NDP) “became the first political party to support the gay movement”. This is important because it lets those in the LGBTQ community know that there is someone in the government who is on their side and that they are not alone. Over all, there has been small steps bringing our community together in acceptance, including those who were outcasted in the past. Homosexuality is no longer illegal, and more rights are given to the LGBTQ

As time has progressed, Canadian society has adapted an increasingly liberal attitude towards controversial subjects. Such changes have thereby prompted an evident surge of positive perceptual changes within the nation. Various prominent social advancements in Canadian history consist of the recognition of coloured individuals, multiple movements for gender equality and the acknowledgement of the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population, also known as the LGBT community. Throughout history, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals have been heavily discriminated against based upon their sexual preferences. Many individuals perceive homosexuality to be abnormal and immoral due to the fact that it violates the

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, LGBT people were vastly discriminated against. For many years, homosexuality was criminalized and during this time, Britain possessed an enormous amount of power over Canadian policy. Due to this, it was extremely difficult for Canada to change its policy regarding gay culture as Britain wouldn’t see to it. For countless years, homosexuality in

Over the course of 2003 and 2004 two cases concerning same sex rights appeared before the Canadian and American supreme courts. The Supreme Court of the United States heard the case of Lawrence et al. v. Texas, which dealt with the constitutionality of sodomy laws prohibiting male on male sodomy. The Canadian Supreme Court also dealt with a case related to same-sex rights, but in a very different setting. The case before the Canadian Supreme Court was Reference re Same-Sex Marriage, a reference case dealing with the constitutionality of a proposed federal law legalizing same-sex marriage. Although both cases ended in what can be considered a “victory” for same-sex rights, they also reveal deep differences between the ways the two countries

​Canada is often seen as a leader in the gay rights movement and it has a long history of providing rights to those that identify as homosexual (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016; Cotler, 2015). As far back as 1969, Prime Minister Trudeau passed Bill C-150 which amended the Criminal Code to decriminalize “gross indecency” and “buggery”; if committed between two consenting adults if they are over 21 (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016). The Code was further amended to drop the age of consent for anal sex from 18 and 14 for other sexual activity and it was recognized that a higher age for consent of anal sex was unconstitutional (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016). Since then there have been many changes to the political and social system in Canada to be able to improve the rights not only individuals whom are part of the LGBTQ community, but also for those whom are in same sex relationships (BC Teachers’ Federation, 2016). As of 2005, same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada; however, there is still debate of whether or not same-sex legalization has legitimized same-sex partnerships within society (Colter, 2015). Many cases that have come before the court regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriages have argued that the actions of society are a direct violation of people’s s.15 rights in the Constitution; which allows for every person to be treated equally and bear the freedom of religion (Supreme Court Judgements, 2004). It will be argued that Canada has created equal rights for

"Gay Marriage in the US Supreme Court, 2015 - Gay Marriage - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

In May of 2002, Marc Hall, a gay student in an Oshawa catholic school was not permitted by school officials to take his boyfriend to the graduation prom. A court case was launched and the judge ruled in favour of Hall. The school officials said that they were not against Hall's homosexuality but did not wish to send an image of public homosexual acceptance as it goes against the teachings of the church. Hall had the right to switch to a public school but he refused. (CBC, 2002) The result was great merriment amongst the gay community and outrage amongst the religious. This ruling made a mockery of catholic schools where it could have been avoided. Hall should have been advised by the judge to transfer to a public school and had his prom there.

If you cannot beat them join them, this commonly used phrase is overlook and ignored by many. The power and value of this simple phrase holds in todays society is quite astonishing. Individuals ban together for a cause, influencing society and then enacting legislature to allow authoritive figures to enforce the common cause. Louisiana is a perfect example of this. The state lost government funding when they did not raise the drinking age. By pressuring, or as some say punishing, the federal government was able to use their authority to force Louisiana to coincide with the rest of the nation. More recently states are slowly but surely legalizing Gay Marriage. This is also an example of how slowly individual states are acknowledging the

A brief history of LGBT movements and attitudes, and current social and political movements in both countries:

On July 20th 2005, Canada became the fourth country to legalize the marriage of homosexuals. However this did not just happen overnight. Just 40 years ago, all homosexuals were subject to criminal charges and imprisonment. Brick by brick the homosexual community was granted more equality until marriage was proposed. The legalization of gay marriage in Canada was the culmination of more than 35 years of society and court rulings pushing the federal government to give homosexuals more equal rights.

Few know the issue of legal same sex unions first made news nearly 20 years ago. The Defense of Marriage Act was originally enacted in 1996, but has only been in the spotlight the past few years. Now, another hot topic issue about gender and lifestyle has found its way to mainstream media reports. The issue of gender reassignment has reached fever pitch levels, with Bruce Jenner transitioning to Caitlyn Jenner. Social media, daytime talk shows, and late night TV devoted countless hours to discussion of issues such as “what is a hero”, “will Caitlyn be treated differently as a woman, or a man”, and “can Jenner expect a lower paycheck as a female versus a male”? But, the one topic that has not received any airplay is the way transgender issues are treated during a divorce. In Jenner’s case, the divorce from Kris Jenner took place before the transformation. However, this is not always the case, and because it is not always the case the topic deserves a mention.

On June 26, 2015, it was ruled by the the US Supreme Court that the US Constitution will guarantee that same-sex couples have the right to marriage in all 50 states of the US (state by state, n.d.). By many, this was celebrated as a victory. A Victory in the sense of equality, rights, and love. By others, this was seen as an immoral setback. I come to wonder who is right. Is there a right side? I know that there is a side who is for same-sex marriage and there is a side of those who oppose it. However, I know that the Christian faith tends to side with the opponents. I am a Christian; does that mean I am to be an opponent?