Eh, Canada?

Twice as many same-sex couples wed in Massachusetts since it legalized these marriages as have in Canada in twice the length of time. Of the approximate 4,500 such couples to wed in Canada, over a quarter of those were from outside the country – kiss-and-run unions.

About 85% of the 32 million Canadians live where they could legal marry. Yet there is much more vocal debate in the gay press and on Websites about whether conventional marriage is desirable. Some are strongly in favor. Others are not sure this is good for the homosexual culture.

Mitchel Raphael, editor-in-chief of the Canadian Fab magazine gets a lot of coverage in anti-same-sex marriage circles for his editorial comments. He calls infidelity, marriage and family “straight jargon.” One of his editorials reads, “As the gay community adopts mainstream terms, it will be a challenge to see whether they will twist their traditional definitions or simply fall victim to their traditional meanings.”

Other gay Canadians have wondered in print and online whether there will be conflicts between those who want to fit into conventional culture and those who do not want to assimiliate.

A reader poll published by Fab last April found:

• 47% "go for something like civil unions and develop our own customs as long as we have the same rights as straight married couples"
• 36% "settle for marriage and nothing less"
• 11% do not "buy into the heterosexist, oppressive institution of marriage"
• 7% "help lead a movement to abolish the institution of marriage."