NewsWrap for the week ending June 21, 2003 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #795, distributed 6-23-03) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Fenceberry, Rex Wockner, Jason Lin, Graham Underhill, and Greg Gordon] Anchored by Greg Gordon and Cindy Friedman Canada's Government will act to legislate full equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. In response to a series of judicial decisions climaxed by last week's ruling by Ontario's highest court that immediately opened marriage to same-gender couples, Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced this week: [sound from Chretien making the announcement] Parliamentary passage of the Government's marriage bill is believed to be a sure thing. Although the ruling Liberal Party will allow its members to vote their consciences, more than two-thirds of them are supportive, as are the Bloc Quebecois and New Democratic Party and some members of the Conservative Party. The largest Opposition party, the right-wing Alliance, is vehemently against same-gender marriage, but acknowledges that the Government's decision not to appeal the court decisions has already made it law. Before the Government brings its marriage bill to the Parliament, it will ask the Supreme Court of Canada to review it. While that review could delay the legislation for many months, it could also serve to preempt legal challenges to it. One key question is jurisdiction, since Canadian law divides jurisdiction over marriage so that provinces register marriages while federal statutes define the institution. The provincial Government of conservative Alberta -- which historically has fought against every gay and lesbian civil rights advance -- has already declared it will never issue marriage licenses to same-gender couples and will refuse to recognize their marriages contracted elsewhere. It will invoke the so-called "notwithstanding" clause to sidestep the equality guarantees of the national Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the province's own 3-year-old so-called Marriage Act which restricts marriage to one man and one woman. Most believe Alberta will ultimately lose the legal battle. And only a bare majority of Alberta residents share their Government's position, according to recent polling. The mayor of Banff, a prime wedding destination, believes gay and lesbian marriages would be an economic boon for the city. Calgary gay couple Keith Purdy and Rick Kennedy have already set their challenge in motion, this week applying for a marriage license and immediately filing a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission when the registry clerk refused them. Alberta so far stands alone among the provinces, with the Governments of nine others affirming this week that they'll comply once the federal redefinition of marriage is in place. Those affirmations came from British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The question increasingly facing those provinces is whether to begin marrying gays and lesbians now, and federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said "it would be a good thing" if they did. The pressure is particularly intense in British Columbia, where the province's highest court already affirmed equal marriage rights but suspended the impact of its ruling to allow time for legislative action. The gay and lesbian plaintiffs are asking that court to lift the suspension, since the BC Government is unwilling to change policy ahead of the federal law. At the moment Ontario is the only province issuing marriage licenses to same-gender couples, but that will force other provinces to make some changes. In New Brunswick, gay couple Wayne Toole and Art Vautour are threatening to file a human rights complaint, since Vautour was refused the chance to change his name to Vautour-Toole following their marriage this week in Ontario. Polls find national support for equal marriage rights running about 54%, but some Canadians are strongly opposed. About 600 evangelical Christians rallied outside a courthouse in Toronto this week to protest last week's appellate court ruling. But same-gender couples' demand for marriage licenses continues to keep Ontario's city clerks very busy indeed. Those couples are coming from all over Canada and so far about a fourth from outside the country. In Toronto this week, openly gay City Councilor Kyle Rae married his partner Mark Reid, the first politician to do so. [Rae sound: We haven't been able to think about this possibility for the 9 years of our relationship, but now we have that choice, just as other Canadians do.] When Toronto holds its huge pride celebration at the end of the month, the city clerk's office will stay open on Saturday and Sunday for visitors wishing to marry. While U.S. activists believe Canada's example can only advance their own struggle for recognition of same-gender couples, they continue to urge U.S. gays and lesbians to consider carefully before crossing the border to marry. They've also called for unity in any attempt to challenge U.S. legal barriers to the status of those marriages, noting that the wrong kind of test cases could serve to hurt the cause. At the other U.S. border, Mexico's President Vicente Fox has signed into law a broad civil rights measure including a prohibition against discrimination based on "sexual preferences". To the disappointment of some, it does not criminalize such discrimination. Instead, it creates a National Council to Prevent Discrimination which can receive complaints, discuss them with alleged perpetrators, and publicly condemn violations. The law also requires federal agencies to take steps against discrimination and calls for a national campaign to promote tolerance. The Roman Catholic Church is among those expressing concerns that the new law will restrict free speech, while minority groups complain that it's toothless. A bill has already been introduced in Mexico's Senate that would provide harsher penalties for discrimination. The expanding European Union's constitutional convention has produced a dr aft that would explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, despite strong opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, and name "combat[ing] social exclusion and discrimination" as an EU objective. These are notable victories for activists who had feared the EU would water down its commitment to social justice. Parts of the draft constitution -- including what steps will actually be taken against discrimination -- are still under consideration by the convention, and the whole still faces a series of meetings by representatives of the governments of current and future EU member nations in its long process towards adoption. One of the EU member candidates, Slovakia, has grudgingly added to its revised labor code an explicit prohibition against employers asking workers about their sexual orientation. Gays and lesbians are not granted the actual protection from employment discrimination that apply to bias based on gender, race and physical ability. The move represents a political compromise in a sharply divided Parliament, but activists and their supporters will continue to seek stronger protections from anti-gay bias. It's now generally expected that a partnership bill will be announced by Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair in the Queen's Speech outlining the agenda for the next legislative session. The British Government's discussion paper on legal registered partnerships for gay and lesbian couples had been expected at the end of this month. That may be delayed by a Cabinet reshuffle that replaced the Equality Minister, although Barbara Roche's replacement Jacqui Smith is seen as equally gay-supportive. Britain's Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues this week adopted a ritual for rabbis to bless same-gender couples, following in the footsteps of the U.S. Reform sect of Judaism. The UK group said the ritual exemplified its values of equality and inclusion, and hoped it would bring estranged gay and lesbian Jews back into religious life. More orthodox Jewish rabbis in Britain reacted with dismay. Jerusalem's second pride march, already delayed for a week by a terrorist bombing whose victims included a pride organizer, was further marred by a right-wing group's attack on the rainbow banners hanging along city streets. Some 20 to 30 of the 100 flags were pulled down and destroyed, with the long-banned far-right group Kach claiming credit for the action. Nonetheless, with a heavy security presence, several thousand people marched peacefully, after observing a minute of silence for all victims of violence in the Middle East. On the same evening, a pride march was held in Haifa for the first time, organized by the Haifa Forum for the Gay Community. In Australia, Tasmania's state Government has introduced its measure to open adoption to gay and lesbian couples. After intense controversy, what had been planned to be full equal adoption rights for same-gender couples has been reduced to a move allowing a co-parent to co-adopt a partner's biological child. The adoption debate has almost overshadowed the rest of the Government's sweeping move to advance legal recognition of same-gender partners and other non-traditional relationships by creating Australia's first partnership registry and amending more than 100 state laws. The state's lower house will debate the measure shortly but the upper house won't take it up until reconvening after its break. And finally... New Zealand's national Government is also sweating out a parenting measure introduced last week. Its Care of Children Bill is intended to provide a long-overdue update to laws on parental and guardianship status. The Labour Government's more socially conservative partner, the United Future party, has backed away from the bill, and that could leave it languishing in committee, although Labour is still hoping that Green Party support can carry it forward. Among numerous other provisions, the bill actually allows for recognition of 3 parents, in the case of a lesbian couple who raise the child of a sperm donor who wishes to be named as father. But Members of Parliament, particularly the Opposition, have made their greatest fuss over the language of the bill, which would technically label a lesbian co-parent a "father".