Canada Passes Same Sex Marriage

By BETH DUFF-BROWN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 47 minutes ago



TORONTO - Canada's House of Commons passed landmark legislation Tuesday to legalize gay marriage, granting same-sex couples legal rights equal to those in traditional unions between a man and a woman.

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The bill passed as expected, despite opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders. The legislation drafted by Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberal Party government was also expected to easily pass the Senate and become federal law by the end of July.

The Netherlands and Belgium are the only other two nations that allow gay marriage nationwide.

Some of Martin's Liberal lawmakers voted against the bill and a Cabinet minister resigned Tuesday over the legislation. But enough allies rallied to support the bill that has been debated for months, voting 158 to 133 to approve it.

Martin praised Tuesday's vote as a necessary step for human rights.

"We are a nation of minorities," Martin said. "And in a nation of minorities, it is important that you don't cherry-pick rights."

There are an estimated 34,000 gay and lesbian couples in Canada, according to government statistics. Before the measure passed, gay marriage was legal in seven provinces.

Alex Munter, national spokesman for Canadians for Equal Marriage, which has led the debate in favor of the law, was triumphant after the vote: "The genius of Canada, almost unparalleled in the world, is built on shared identity, out of respect for each other."

Martin, a Roman Catholic, has said that despite anyone's personal beliefs, all Canadians should be granted the same rights to marriage.

Churches have expressed concern that their clergy would be compelled by law to perform same-sex ceremonies, with couples taking them to court or human rights tribunals if refused. The legislation, however, states that the bill only covers civil unions, not religious ones, and no clergy would be forced to perform same-sex ceremonies unless they choose to do so.

The Roman Catholic Church, the predominant Christian denomination in Canada, has vigorously opposed the legislation, saying that it would harm children in particular.

Charles McVety, a spokesman for Defend Marriage Canada and president of Canada Christian College, called the vote an "onerous breach of trust and the deconstruction of so much that is dear to our hearts."

Flanked by clergymen, McVety vowed his group would work to vote out lawmakers who supported the legislation in the next general elections.

"This is the beginning of the formal fight against the redefinition of marriage," McVety said. "We will, in the next election, be able to correct this incredible democratic deficit before us today."

The debate in Canada began in December, when the Supreme Court ruled that passage of same-sex legislation would not violate the constitution.

According to most polls, a majority of Canadians supports the right for gays and lesbians to marry. In the United States, gay marriage is opposed by a majority of Americans, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll taken in November, shortly after constitutional amendments in 11 states to ban same-sex marriage were approved.

Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay marriages; Vermont and Connecticut have approved same-sex civil unions.

Roberta Sklar, spokeswoman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington, D.C., said same-sex American couples applaud Canadians.

"We know that it has been somewhat contentious in Canada, but at the same time the Canadians have largely approached this issue in a rational and democratic way and are providing a very positive model for the rest of the world," Sklar said.

Though hundreds of foreigners have come to Canada to seek civil ceremonies since gay marriages were first allowed in Ontario and British Columbia in 2003, not all countries or states recognize the unions. While a slew of Israeli men were married in Toronto City Hall earlier this year, for example, the Israeli Interior Ministry does not recognize those unions.

In the United States, the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage and most states refuse to acknowledge marriage certificates from gay and lesbian couples, regardless of where they wed.

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On the Net:

Canadians for Equal marriage: http://www.equal-marriage.ca

Defend Marriage Canada: http://www.defendmarriagecanada.org


It's about time some nations get with the program! Maybe America can learn something from their neighbors to the North.

oh my god!!! people are going to start marrying their hamsters and parrots now!!!

we can't have this!

now we all just have to realize that marriage is something the government has nothing to do with in the first place...

About time.

Excellent news! Let us hope that this trend spreads all over the globe and institutionalized homophobia is abolished once and for all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ermitonto

Excellent news! Let us hope that this trend spreads all over the globe and institutionalized homophobia is abolished once and for all.

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We can hope, and we'll keep fighting for it, but I doubt homophobia can be abolished completely. This is a step.

Yes, you're right, there will always be ignorant people who think gays are inferior, but we can at least try to stop the governments from falling for it (what I meant by institutionalized homophobia).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ermitonto

Yes, you're right, there will always be ignorant people who think gays are inferior, but we can at least try to stop the governments from falling for it (what I meant by institutionalized homophobia).

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Howdy ermitonto,

I don't think gays are inferior,but I do think that the compulsion to have sex with the same sex,is dysfunctional and defective,because humanity reproduces heterosexually..not homosexually.

You should be happy that Spain has also passed gay marriage just today or yesterday..the march towards Sodom and Gomorrah..continues...

Have a good one....

well at least its good for population controll

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Torog

..the march towards Sodom and Gomorrah..continues...

....

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Some of the stuff Torog says used to piss me off. Now I just find him laughable. Am I the only one who thinks this guy would be a great character on SNL?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Torog

Howdy ermitonto,

I don't think gays are inferior,but I do think that the compulsion to have sex with the same sex,is dysfunctional and defective,because humanity reproduces heterosexually..not homosexually.

You should be happy that Spain has also passed gay marriage just today or yesterday..the march towards Sodom and Gomorrah..continues...

Have a good one....

---

The idea that the only sexual acts that produce more humans are the only moral ones is ludicrous. Is oral sex immoral? Are all the animal species that engage in homosexuality immoral? Homosexuality does not pose a threat to society. In fact, I can't see why we would want to make everybody engage only in the kind of sex that can make more people with this overpopulation crisis going on. I also can't see any reason to deny homosexuals the right to marriage, or to deny any group of people any right for that matter, unless you somehow view them as inferior.

The argument that homosexuality can't make more people, therefore it is immoral, is lost on me.

And using the Bible to discredit homosexuality isn't going to convince me either. Homophobes often like to quote the passage that says a man should not lay with another man or whatever, but then they completely ignore the next chapter in which it is said we should stone disobedient sons to death.

Homosexuality is not now nor has ever been exclusively about sex. Even if it were, sex is not only for reproduction either. If you disagree then please kindly explain the clitoris, which has no other known function then to induce pleasure/orgasms.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fengzi

Some of the stuff Torog says used to piss me off. Now I just find him laughable. Am I the only one who thinks this guy would be a great character on SNL?

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Howdy Fengzi,

Dang..yer right...I could be the token,ignorant,redneck hick from fly-over country ! I'm certain,that more leftists would tune in and their ratings would soar ! Maybe I should git a manager for my new career ?

Have a good one !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stedric

Homosexuality is not now nor has ever been exclusively about sex. Even if it were, sex is not only for reproduction either. If you disagree then please kindly explain the clitoris, which has no other known function then to induce pleasure/orgasms.

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Howdy Stedric,

In my opinion,homosexuality is almost exclusively about sex,because it's basically all about dysfunctional urges,it is dysfunctional for humans to engage in homosexual acts..because we don't reproduce that way.

As for the clitoris,it's meant to cause muscular contractions in response to pleasure,in order to facilitate the success of fertilization..for the man,the response to pleasure,is ejaculation and the 2 moments are meant to work together,for optimal success.

In my opinion,marriage will always be for heterosexuals and is the reason for it's being..gays can join together in a civil union and stop trying to destroy the meaning and value,of marriage.

The push for gay marriage,is also a push to banish all mention of God,Christianity and Judaism..and is a big part of the agenda of the Left,in an on-going Culture war.

Have a good one....

you're pretty leftist yourself torog, at least you worship our current socialist/liberal president...george bush is clinton on steroids.

how about CAFTA torog? pretty darn conservative, ain't it? do you support the end of our borders and sovereignty like george bush does?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fengzi

Some of the stuff Torog says used to piss me off. Now I just find him laughable. Am I the only one who thinks this guy would be a great character on SNL?

---

lol, Him and Al Franken would be a force to reckon with in comedy.

(I was going to quote a bunch of science and facts as well as "contradictions" of the bible but decided it was too much effort and not as amusing as someone else has already done most of that :( ).

We've influenced Torog's views before it can happen again ;) , Just keep plugging away at him, he can't deny facts forever :).

Have a good one Torog , You always make me smile (sometimes in a good way sometimes in a bad but always a smile :) )

P.S. Torog I can just picture a room full of leftists as you say plotting the downfall of christianity very machiavellian I must say. I think you gotta smoke more schwag your stuff is too good your getting paro bud ;)

P.P.S. (I'm actually the only guy in the room plotting the downfall of christianity the rest are just stuffed animals ;), voices provided by myself as well of course).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pisshead

you're pretty leftist yourself torog, at least you worship our current socialist/liberal president...george bush is clinton on steroids.

how about CAFTA torog? pretty darn conservative, ain't it? do you support the end of our borders and sovereignty like george bush does?

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Howdy pisshead,

You ask:"do you support the end of our borders and sovereignty like george bush does ? "

No sir..I don't support that..in fact,I want Bush to continue to be embarrassed over the border issue..and I will never swear allegiance to any other country than America.

Have a good one ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weirdo79

(I was going to quote a bunch of science and facts as well as "contradictions" of the bible but decided it was too much effort and not as amusing as someone else has already done most of that :( ).

We've influenced Torog's views before it can happen again ;) , Just keep plugging away at him, he can't deny facts forever :).

Have a good one Torog , You always make me smile (sometimes in a good way sometimes in a bad but always a smile :) )

P.S. Torog I can just picture a room full of leftists as you say plotting the downfall of christianity very machiavellian I must say. I think you gotta smoke more schwag your stuff is too good your getting paro bud ;)

P.P.S. (I'm actually the only guy in the room plotting the downfall of christianity the rest are just stuffed animals ;), voices provided by myself as well of course).

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Howdy weirdo79,

Arrrggghhh !!!!

Have a good one....

(LoL) :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ermitonto

The idea that the only sexual acts that produce more humans are the only moral ones is ludicrous. Is oral sex immoral? Are all the animal species that engage in homosexuality immoral? Homosexuality does not pose a threat to society. In fact, I can't see why we would want to make everybody engage only in the kind of sex that can make more people with this overpopulation crisis going on. I also can't see any reason to deny homosexuals the right to marriage, or to deny any group of people any right for that matter, unless you somehow view them as inferior.

The argument that homosexuality can't make more people, therefore it is immoral, is lost on me.

And using the Bible to discredit homosexuality isn't going to convince me either. Homophobes often like to quote the passage that says a man should not lay with another man or whatever, but then they completely ignore the next chapter in which it is said we should stone disobedient sons to death.

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my 2 cents could not stay out of this after reading this

Is oral sex immoral?
probubly

Are all the animal species that engage in homosexuality immoral?

animal is the key word,brother on mother,ect ect so YES to that one.

Homosexuality does not pose a threat to society
uh now i ask how the hell do you know?oh yea excuse me yes GOD i hear your OPINION and we shall see wont we
so i just dont dont believe you know if it will or not, holy-father
ill say im sorry saturday when i give my 10% if thats alright with you but so far your book has no solid end and man cant comprehend the thee's


my piont is here you say its no threat,it may not be but
you cant know that
your just a human GUESSING
i can guess it can hurt mankind just like you can guess it dont,

but you type of people thinks it all ok ,people can do about anything for the pleasure of it,and becuase SO many do ya thinks it got to be ok to do
some things man should not do ,to another man,
being married to one is just one of them,lol
its man and wife,
a man cant be a wife,
so wtf it would be funny if not so sad.
i dont care what canada does,in fact im glad THEY did,
the usa hardly takes canada's lead ya know.
peace

Were all fucked? the scriptures state clearly this would happen,truly the end is right around the corner...except christ now before it's too late.

accept christ

get a fucking clue bruiser cummon you cant be that blinded by religion.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by makor01

get a fucking clue bruiser cummon you cant be that blinded by religion.

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Actually my eye's are wide open!...............I was blind but now I see...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bruiser

Were all fucked? the scriptures state clearly this would happen,truly the end is right around the corner...except christ now before it's too late.

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Right, and Nostradamus's poems state clearly that the world was going to end in 1999. You can't just blindly trust ancient texts that don't have any evidence to back them up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NowhereMan

my 2 cents could not stay out of this after reading this

Is oral sex immoral?
probubly
blah blah blah

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My two cents is, stay the fuck out of other people's bedrooms. If you want to believe in bigoted nonsense, fine, but you don't have the right to dictate how other people should live their lives.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ermitonto

My two cents is, stay the fuck out of other people's bedrooms. If you want to believe in bigoted nonsense, fine, but you don't have the right to dictate how other people should live their lives.

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Couldnt of said it better myself.

And as for bruisers eyes being wide open, you may wanna check that again bro...the only thing blind faith will lead you to is a collision with a wall.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by makor01

Couldnt of said it better myself.

And as for bruisers eyes being wide open, you may wanna check that again bro...the only thing blind faith will lead you to is a collision with a wall.

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hey man didn't mean to turn it into a religouse debate!,after all just put my 2 cents in their,just I was the only one who got shit on for my comments,but thats alright.......see what happens in the next few years,and remember,,, it is I who you will think about.....either way ya got dead faith and I atleast have faith........one day friend I will be one of those people who said I told you so.........obviouse I am talking to the dead so I will move right along....and stand with the living.....by the way I aint judging no one dudes! penis in a mans ass aint natural......you pigs...lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bruiser

hey man didn't mean to turn it into a religouse debate!,after all just put my 2 cents in their,just I was the only one who got shit on for my comments,but thats alright.......see what happens in the next few years,and remember,,, it is I who you will think about.....either way ya got dead faith and I atleast have faith........one day friend I will be one of those people who said I told you so.........obviouse I am talking to the dead so I will move right along....and stand with the living.....by the way I aint judging no one dudes! penis in a mans ass aint natural......you pigs...lol

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Bruiser, I'm curious...is heaven full of people like you? With similar opinions and biases?

Wow, that sure sounds like hell to me.

Yeah, if the universe really operates according to your "faith" (defined by Websters as "firm belief in something for which there is no proof"), I'd rather be in Hell with all the smart people.

Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company. â?? Mark Twain

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ermitonto

I'd rather be in Hell with all the smart people.

Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company. â?? Mark Twain

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Don't say that! My dad always said that hell is where the tops of the bottles and the bottoms of the girls are all corked up. I'll take heaven! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ermitonto

My two cents is, stay the fuck out of other people's bedrooms. If you want to believe in bigoted nonsense, fine, but you don't have the right to dictate how other people should live their lives.

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tell the soon to be fixed supreme court that,unelected activists.

Fuck the Supreme Court. I couldn't care less what they think. I'm planning on moving to the Netherlands as soon as I can, where bigots aren't in power and nobody has rights taken from them simply because of the gender of the person they choose to love.

well you better have great job skills or a direct family roots that are dutch because if you dont,you are not going to live in amsterdam my friend.wishfull thinking.

at the moment the Dutch government is throwing out alot of muslim finatics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amsterdam

the Dutch government is throwing out alot of muslim finatics.

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So much for pissant moving to Amsterdam! :D

or out of mommies basement.

*yawn* Christ you bigots are all the same. How boring.

Do you really think I am dumb? out of 6 billion people on the planet,5 billion of them believe in God! atheist are the minority,just like the gay community,look don't tell me that this is good for the country!,were I am a christian with my 3 kids in public school,and we just ousted a homesexual female who goes around to all the schools teaching it's o'k to be gay,now mind you she ventured first only into the high schools,but now she is trying to come into the schools and speak will grade 8 and 6 and 4,she has a right to be gay but don't push your crap on me or my kids,also they just scrapped a book a couple of years back but now if gay marriage go's ahead throughout canada,the book will once again find it's demonic head back in our schools,the book was called it's o'k to have 2 mommys,also another book that ended up in alot of canadian schools was called edward and the prince,where it illustates a boy falling in love with a prince all done in cartoon form,it illustrates as well at the end of the book the prince and the boy come together and kiss...what the fuck?????? hey if ya want to be gay thats fine but don't push it on us.......we as parents can stop alot of it comming into the school,but once the gay marriage gets the o'k look out,every school and educational system will be drenched with homosexuality,not just educating but going further and making it a altertive life style like putting on a different pair of socks for example paul martin says this won't effect the church's or religions of our great nation,nor will people of faith be tied up in any of it,how could that be????..........for example paul says,no church will have to marry homeosexuals,butI say if the church parish or community hall,can't be rented to the homosexual receptions and gay marriage partys,if the church refuses to rent the haul,then they can be inviolation of their rights??....fucking loop holes...............it's the begining of the end.....tell me why would a human nation embrace a idea that one day could cause us to be exstinct....................... your all smoking way to much bud .....I once could keep my children from such things,but now it will be forced upon them over time..........who speaks for my kids not the gays certainly,,,,,I by no means hate gay people,infact I love them,but I do hate their sin!.............

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bruiser

Do you really think I am dumb? out of 6 billion people on the planet,5 billion of them believe in God!.

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Wow, a new record. Two sentences into that paragraph and already I'm bored. One, when did you hear me say dumb? No I don't think you are dumb by any means.

5 billion people?! I'd check that statistic if I were you, buddy. Worldwide there are about 2.1 billion people who adhere to the doctrines of Christianity. In the end that's still the majority, though. 'Course we know the majority is always right.

yeah bruiser please see my previous post. hows that wall feel? hit it yet?

Those of you who disaprove of Gay Marriage for religious reasons should start coming up with better excuses.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050704/...ed_church_gays

United Church of Christ Backs Gay Marriage

ATLANTA - The United Church of Christ's rule-making body voted overwhelmingly Monday to approve a resolution that endorses same-sex marriage, making it the largest Christian denomination to do so.

The vote is not binding on individual churches, but could cause some churches to leave the fold.

Roughly 80 percent of the members of the church's General Synod voted to approve the resolution. They debated for about an hour before voting.

On Sunday, a committee of about 50 United Church of Christ representatives gave nearly unanimous approval to the resolution, recommending that the General Synod approve it. It was supported by the UCC's president, John H. Thomas.

Traditionally strong in New England, the liberal denomination of 1.3 million members has long been supportive of gays and lesbians.

The committee also voted against an alternative resolution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. A small group of conservative congregations had proposed that ammendment, and suggested that approval of gay marriage could lead to the church's collapse.

The church was criticized last year for its television advertising campaign featuring a gay couple, among others, being excluded from a church. CBS and NBC rejected the 30-second ads.

In the early 1970s, the UCC became the first major Christian body to ordain an openly gay minister. Twenty years ago, it declared itself to be "open and affirming" of gays and lesbians.

The same-sex resolution was submitted by the Southern California and Nevada Conference. The resolution specified that bisexual and transgender persons merit the same support and protections as gays and lesbians.

UCC churches are autonomous, meaning the General Synod does not create policy for its more than 5,700 congregations.

No hard data exist on how many gays and lesbians are in the UCC.

The Rev. Rebecca Voelkel of Cleveland, national interim director of the UCC Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns, said about 2,000 people are on the group's mailing list and about 1,000 clergy or seminarians are gay. The denomination has 10,323 ordained ministers.

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On the Net:

United Church of Christ: http://www.ucc.org