In other marriage-related news, the Canadian government’s finally voided a law that nulled foreign gay marriages. Although gay marriage has been legal in Canada since 2005, a 2004 Quebec law refused to recognize international marriages for immigration.
CanWest reports:
The Conservative government has quietly scrapped one of the last remnants of official discrimination against gay couples by allowing same-sex couples married outside of Canada to be fully recognized as spouses for immigration purposes.
…
The policy recognized same-sex marriages for immigration purposes only if the ceremony was performed in Canada, and if at least one of the partners was Canadian or a permanent resident.It also clearly stated: “If you were married outside Canada, you cannot apply to sponsor your same-sex partner as a spouse.”
After months of legal battle, lawmakers have finally succeeded in overturning the law, meaning that the government will recognize all gay marriages as valid.
So, kiddies, if you’ve been holding off on that big gay Canadian migration. Although, we think you should wait for the summer months…
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Threnody
If the makeup of Toronto’s gay community is any indication the “big gay Canadian migration” is well underway. Hell, even the lesbians from Queer as Folk moved here!
toronto
A little cold weather is a small price to pay for your dignity… come to Canada where everyone’s welcome and everybody belongs.
el polacko
i spent a winter in toronto that was so frigid i was chipping icicles off my balls. what good is a dick if it’s so shriveled from the cold that it can’t be used ? the weather is milder in vancouver .. but we now have two states with equal marriage rights in sunny mexico !
boy, is the u.s. starting to look like the regressive meat in a progressive-country sandwich or what ?!
Mike
El Polacko…not to rain too hard on your tequila parade, but those two Mexican states (Mexico City and Coahuila) permit civil unions, not gay marriage. Better than most of the U.S., mind you, but still not full equality.
Paul Edwards
As long as you have Gay Republicans and Republican apologizers in the States, you will be discriminated against. The only reason Canada’s Conservative government is going along with pro-gay marriage is because their stance was alienating the majority of Canadians, who would no longer support hatred and discrmination (even when veiled in “Christianity”).
Americans have a long way to go in terms of secular progressive social movement. This is not helped by the alarmingly high number of “bisexual” (not to be confused with bisexual) and closeted homos in the US.
Come out, you pussies, or come up here and leave your shame (and your year-round tan) behind.
John
Frankly, I don’t think the situation in America is as horrible as some people make it out to be. We have a long way to go, but we’re making progress.
The Supreme Court voided the few remaining sodomy laws as unconstitutional in 2003. In any case, 37 states had already decided to repeal such anachronistic nonsense at the time of the court’s decision. And with the obvious exception of Texas, enforcement in the 13 states that still criminalized homosexuality was virtually non-existent.
Most of the Western European nations that gay Americans fawn over have Domestic Partnerships, Civil Solidarity Pacts, or Civil Unions…only three have same-sex marriage.
Well, back home… same-sex unions are legal in California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont. Oregon will likely pass a civil union bill within a matter of months. This means roughly 60 million Americans already have access to some form of legal protection for their families.
In terms of anti-discrimination laws, the federal government has failed to act. However, the states have not neglected their responsibilities. In addition to all of the above… Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin has also enacted such laws. Thus, 120 million Americans cannot be fired from their jobs for being gay.
It’s not that bad, folks. And to coin an old chestnut, I hope most of us decide to “stay the course” and improve things here rather than run off to Toronto.