Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Canada Off the Podium

An early leader in same-sex marriage, Canada came in fourth yesterday. No, erase that.

Canada legalized same-sex marriage yesterday when its Senate voted 47 to 21 in favor. Three of the 95 senators abstained; 10 seats are vacant. That concludes three years of debate, both emotional and rational.

The last step is the formality of Royal Assent, given by the Governor-General, likely today.

Full coverage, with background is widely available in the Canadian press, such as Canoe here.

Churches can still refuse to marry same-sex couples, but public officials are technically obligated to do so. However, after the years of acrimony, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler has announced that he'll let some of the old coot marriage commissioners slide, so long as there is another public official handy who doesn't let religion get in the way of duty.

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