How was gay marriage legalized in canada
Serious Legal Problems faced by Lesbian, Lgbtq+, Bisexual, and Other Sexual-Minority People in Western Canada: A Qualitative Study
Background
Since the partial decriminalization of private same-sex sexual activity between two consenting adults in Canada in , lesbian, gay, double attraction, queer, and other sexual-minority people hold gained a variety of legal rights through Canada’s justice system. Prior to , same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults was criminalized and could direct to indefinite imprisonment of those who engaged in these activitiesFootnote 1Footnote 2Footnote 3. Sexual-minority people were targeted, fired from public service jobs, and subjected to police surveillance and harassment, including raids on gender non-conforming spaces, such as bars and bathhouses, for over three decades.Footnote 1Footnote 2Footnote 4Footnote 5.
While progress has been marginal, strides have been made towards greater legal protections and equity for sexual minorities in Canada, including the introduction of human rights and anti-discrimination protections, the removal of the ban on
Civil Marriage Act
S.C. , c. 33
Assented to
An Behave respecting certain aspects of legal capacity for marriage for civil purposes
Preamble
WHEREAS the Parliament of Canada is committed to upholding the Constitution of Canada, and section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that every individual is identical before and under the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination;
WHEREAS the courts in a majority of the provinces and in one land have recognized that the right to equality without discrimination requires that couples of the same sex and couples of the opposite sex have same access to marriage for civil purposes;
WHEREAS the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that many Canadian couples of the similar sex have married in reliance on those court decisions;
WHEREAS only equal access to marriage for civil purposes would respect the right of couples of the same sex to equality without discrimination, and civil union, as an institution other than marriage, would not offer them that equal access a
A History of Same-Sex Marriage in Canada
Written on behalf of Shariff & Associates
Canada is known around the world for its liberal and progressive laws. Although same-sex marriage was first declared legal in The Netherlands in , Canada quickly followed suit by
However, the road to legalizing same-sex marriage was a long one. This article will explore how homosexuality became legal in Canada and how it became legal for lgbtq+ couples to marry all across Canada. And although same-sex marriage was made legal in Canada in , many laws as they relate to the LGBTQ2 family require much-needed updates for equality to fully be realized.
Homosexuality used to be illegal in Canada
Homosexuality was illegal in Canada until , when it was decriminalized by the Criminal Law Amendment Act of The bill decriminalized sexual acts of consenting adults over the age of 21 years, regardless of their gender.
The decriminalization of homosexuality is one of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s most notable contributions to Canadian law. As he famously stated in in defe
When Canada’s Civil Marriage Act (Bill C) came into effect on July 20, , making queer marriage legal from coast to coast to coast, the region became the fourth in the world to legally treat gay couples the same as heterosexual ones. The passage of the act put Canada a decade ahead of our southern neighbour, where the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationally in , and capped an often-tense debate about the place of lgbtq+ people in Canadian society. When the Liberal government introduced the legislation that February, then-prime minister Paul Martin declared, “I accept in, and I will brawl for, a future in which generations of Canadians to approach, Canadians born here and abroad, will have the opportunity to value the Charter as we do today—as an essential pillar of our democratic freedoms.”
But while the passage of the proceed was a celebratory moment, it did not instantly make all LGBTQ2 Canadians feel equal to their straight counterparts in all aspects of life. Indeed, the symbolism around Bill C, which passed in Parliament a not many weeks e