With all the gay marriages happening nationwide, we love to celebrate Canada and its progressive values, but even our neighbor to the north has some ugly moments in its past. In November of 1967, George Klippert, a mechanic from the Northwest Territories in Canada, was put in jail indefinitely as a “dangerous sexual offender.” His crime: Having gay sex with a consenting adult. The charges against him were upheld by the territorial Court of Appeals and then again by the Canadian Supreme Court.
His Member of Parliament provided the following robust defense:
I think it’s absolutely ridiculous for any man in our society today to be put in jail because they are affected by a social disease … I think that when two male adults wish to engage in an act which to me is a most repulsive act, but is something that they themselves want to consent to, I think it’s their private business.
There are undoubtedly many foes of the gay rights movement today who would still happily lock us up, so it is important to keep our eyes open and loudly remind them: socially diseased is our favorite way to be.
UPDATE: That very same year, Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced an Omnibus bill that not only decriminalized homosexuality, but also abortion and lotteries. (Thanks to Canadian reader Jason for the tip)
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NWT Man Jailed for Being Gay [CBC Archives]
‘There’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation’ [CBC Archives]
