Canada has advanced dramatically in the fight of same-sex rights, exceeding many European nations in laws and benefits directed towards same-sex couples and members of the trans-identified communities.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada in 1969 thanks in part to then-Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada, Pierre Trudeau (who later became the 16th Prime Minister of Canada). He famously commented, "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."
In 1977, the province of Quebec becomes the first province in Canada to include "sexual orientation" in its Human Rights Act. As of 2004, all provinces and territories have included "sexual orientation" to their Human Rights Act, and the Northwest Territories include "gender identity" in theirs.
In 1978, the Canadian Immigration Act was amended, removing a ban on homosexuals as immigrants.
In 1981 a major bath house raid occurred in Toronto, so outraging the gay community that thousands poured in to the streets of Toronto to protest the raid. Infrequent bathhouse raids continue to occur to this day. Laws from the 1800s known as "bawdy house laws" are still listed in the Criminal Code of Canada; police use these laws to lay charges, and use liquor violation laws as grounds to enter the premises.
In 1982 Canada received an amended Constitution, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The wording "sexual orientation" was not explicitly included in the list of groups listed in Section 15 of the Charter (Equality Rights), against which, "in particular," discrimination is forbidden. However, in 1995, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Egan v. Canada that "sexual orientation" should be 'read in' to Section 15.
In the 1980s, several attempts were made to add "sexual orientation" into the Federal Human Rights Act, an amendment that did not take place until 1996.
In 1988, New Democrat MP Svend Robinson became the first member of Parliament to come out, declaring that he is gay to the media outside the House of Commons.
In 1992, then-Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada, Kim Campbell (who later became Canada's first female prime minister) announced that Canada was lifting its ban on homosexuals in the military, allowing them to serve openly and live on-base with their partners. Canada was one of the first countries to allow this.
In 1994, the Supreme Court ruled that gays and lesbians could apply for refugee status based on their sexual orientation.
In 1995 a court in Ontario ruled that gay and lesbian couples wishing to adopt jointly should be allowed to do so, making Ontario the first province to allow this. Currently, nearly all provinces allow gay and lesbian couples (and single gays and lesbians) to adopt children.
In 1998, Glen Murray was elected Mayor of Winnipeg becoming the first openly gay Mayor of a large North American city.
In 1999, gays and lesbians scored a major victory when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that gay and lesbian couples should have the same rights at heterosexual common-law couples. This forced the federal Liberal government to pass a bill in 2000 amending 68 federal statutes, including pension benefits, bankruptcy protection, income taxes, old age security, and immigration, among others. Legal marriage, however, remained defined as being between a man and a woman.
In 2001, NDP MP Libby Davies came out as a Lesbian thereby becoming the coutry's first (and so far only) openly Lesbian Member of Parliament.
In May of 2004, the House of Commons and the Senate passed Bill C-250, which adds "sexual orientation" to the Hate Propaganda section of the Criminal Code, thus making it illegal for people to propagate hate based on sexual orientation (this does not include clergymen however).
In July of 2004, Scott Brison was appointed Minister of Public Works and Government Services by Prime Minister Paul Martin, thereby becoming Canada's first openly gay Cabinet memeber.
Between 2002 and 2004, several courts ruled that restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples is discriminatory, and struck down the federal definition. The first ruling required the federal government to draft legislation recognizing same-sex marriage, but later rulings brought the new definition into effect immediately in the jurisdictions concerned. Canadian jurisdictions thereby became the third in the world to allow same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands and Belgium.
As of December 2004, same-sex marriages are legally recognized in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, the Yukon Territory, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador, encompassing over 85% of Canada's population of roughly 32 million people.
The federal government announced in the summer of 2003 that it would not appeal the decisions and would draft legislation to allow same-sex marriages across the country. The bill was put before the Supreme Court of Canada to ensure that is would withstand a Charter challenge by those who oppose same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments on the draft legislation in October of 2004 and Parliament will vote on it in winter/spring of 2005.
In the House of Commons, all parties support LGBT rights with varying degrees. The New Democratic Party and Bloc Québécois are the most vocal supporters of these rights, the Liberal Party of Canada is divided in its approach to the issue, and the Conservative Party of Canada is seen as the least supportive of LGBT Rights, although they too are divided with many former members of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada being more supportive of these rights than former members of the Canadian Alliance who tend to support maintaining the status quo (although some Conservative MPs have been rebuked for calls to re-criminalize homosexuality).
There are currently 5 members of Parliament and a senator who identify as gay or lesbian. There is also one former MP and one retired senator who identify as such.
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