B.C. court approves same-sex marriages.
Woo!
That above quote just fills my queer heart with giddy glee 
Essentially BC has joined ranks with Ontario and Quebec in saying that same sex marriages should be allowed. Hopefully this will have an effect federally as well, but admittedly, my knowledge of political workings is regrettably slim, so I am unable to venture an opinion of what is to come. Perhaps some more knowledgeable dopers will be willing to voice their opinions?
You better watch out up there in Vancouver Emperor Penguin, or You Know Who, from here in Topeka, will be paying you a visit. He’s already condemned Ottawa and Toronto, and Canada as a whole, but I’m sure he’d be willing to add Western Canada to his repetoire.
Get some sharpened wooden stakes, because this one comes out in the daytime!
Yeah, but the last time You Know Who tried to enter Canada, they woudn’t let him in… 
For those of us who aren’t North Americans… Is You Know Who the Reverend Fred Phelps? or are we talking Voldemort here?
Are they, in fact, the same person?
And hooray for British Columbia! Maybe when I go work as a ski-lift operator there I can meet a nice girl and get married, too!
Yes, You Know Who is Fred Phelps. Voldemort has too much style for Phelps’ gig.
Congratulations, but don’t count your chickens just yet.
Well, good for BC!
Bravo, British Columbia, Bravo.
To calm down, this ruling doesn’t do anything right away. What it does is say that the federal government must change the definition of marriage (which is a federal law, although civil status is provincial jurisdiction) by 2004, or have the federal supremes do it for them. As stated, this is more or less the same decision Ontario and Quebec provincial courts already made. So we have that additional voice.
The House of Commons standing committee on justice and human rights just finished a tour of the country getting opinions on same-sex marriage. I testified before the committee as part of the Queer McGill Same-Sex Marriage Committee on Tuesday afternoon. The transcript will be available online here (look under April 29) in about three weeks.
The recommendations of this committee could lead to a change in the law, and not a moment too soon.
Also, Quebec and Nova Scotia currently have same-sex civil unions offering rights equivalent to those of marriage (at least here; not sure about NS). And we have the right to common-law marriage already.
Hey matt, has there been any word on how Canada will treat couples joined in legal marriage or civil union outside Canada?
Yeah, I realize that this is only one step, but it is a step closer as far as I a m concerned. There are still many hurdles to overcome, but this comes as a nice suprise.
And I never thought that I would see the day when the provinces of Ontario, Quebec AND BC would all agree on something.
[sub]ow… please don’t hit me…[/sub]
Uhh… the article posted by Otto wasn’t a nice suprise. Just to clairify.
Man, that looked bad, I can’t believe I didn’t notice that on preview.
Good heavens, I don’t know. However, I do know that there is no residency requirement for obtaining a Quebec civil union, except insofar as you must publish the banns 3 weeks in advance, IIRC. In other words, if it be relevant, you could always re-marry in Quebec.
What I wonder is, the Netherlands refuses to marry same-sex couples of whom neither are Dutch, Belgian, or Scandinavian, in order to avoid marrying people whose home countries do not permit same-sex partnerships. I therefore wonder when they’ll get around to permitting Canadians.