Jul 22, 2005  |  By: ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG  | COMMENTS     

The Canadian Senate gave final approval this week to a plan legalizing same-sex marriage in a historic 47 to 21 vote, making Canada the fourth nation in the world to extend marriage rights to gay couples.

Canadian courts have ruled in favor of marriage rights for gays since 2003, legalizing the practice in most provinces. In June, Canada’s House of Commons voted to approve legislation allowing gay couples to marry.

Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium are the only other countries to recognize gay marriage. In the United States, one state, Massachusetts, has legalized gay marriage. Many American gay couples have traveled to Canada to marry because it has no residency requirements for marriage. However, those unions are not recognized by the federal government when they return to the United States.

“This law is based on the principle that no minority is diminished when another minority is acknowledged,” said Laurie Arron, director of advocacy of Egale Canada and political coordinator for Canadians for Equal Marriage. He added, laughing, “I think that’s what makes this country great — or I should say one of the things.”

The legislation was drafted and vigorously supported by Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberal Party government.

Liberal senators had threatened to force a vote on the bill if Conservatives dragged out the debate. Conservative Senator Gerry St. Germain tried to push through a motion that would have delayed a final vote for six months.

St. Germain told the Senate that recognizing gay marriage would damage heterosexual marriage, according to Canadian news reports.

The vote for marriage equality finally came around 11 p.m. on Tuesday.

“There is no point in further postponement,” said Jack Austin, the Liberal leader in the Senate, as reported by the Canadian press. “There are no new issues to be argued, there are no new positions to be taken. I think everyone in this chamber understands that we have, along with the Canadian people, come to our own conclusions.”

Canadians tired of debate

Arron said that polls show that a majority of Canadian voters don’t want Parliament to reopen the issue. According to the Toronto Globe & Mail and CTV News, 55 percent of those polled earlier this month want a same-sex marriage law to stand. Thirty-nine percent said they favored a repeal, and 6 percent were undecided.

If elected prime minister, the Conservative party leader Stephen Harper has said he would try to repeal the law.

“For [Harper] to win he has to get the middle ground and folks in the middle are sick of this debate,” Arron said, who noted that Harper’s popularity sinks when he raises the gay marriage issue.

Many Canadians view opposition to marriage equality as a wedge issue, designed to distract and divide voters, he said.

When asked why Canada differs from the United States on the gay marriage question, Emily Turk of Canadians for Equal Marriage said their conservative party is not as influenced by religion as the U.S. Republican Party. While many voted along party lines, not all conservatives voted against the bill to recognize gay marriage, she said.

“Our right and our left are not quite as polarized [as in the U.S.],” she said. “The Conservative Party is split amongst themselves.”

Canada’s gay marriage debate was at times contentious. Recently a conservative, religious organization, Marriage Canada, started a letter writing campaign to urge Queen Elizabeth to intervene.

Premier Ralph Klein of Alberta had publicly opposed recognizing gay marriage but he has said he will respect the law.

“This is federal legislation,” Klein’s spokesperson Jerry Bellikka told the Blade. “We’re not lawbreakers here.”

Brian Rushfeldt, executive director of Canada Family Action Coalition, said that his organization would now fight to overturn the bill, which became law when it received royal assent on Wednesday. Unlike the United States, Canada is run by a “fascist-type liberal government,” Rushfeldt said.

“There are other solutions to the problem of homosexuals supposedly wanting to be equal,” he said.

Canada’s Catholic Church has also been vocal in its opposition. Charlie Angus, a member of Parliament, was denied communion for his support of the bill.

While opponents of marriage equality pledge to kick into high gear, Canadians for Equal Marriage happily shut their doors, Arron said.

“Our goal has been accomplished,” Arron said. “We will close down.”

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg can be reached at eweill-greenberg@washblade.com.