Quote:
Originally posted by troutman@Sep 16 2004, 03:23 PM
I don't see how gay marriage is onconstitutional
Courts in four provinces have ruled it is unconstitutional. The precedent is established.
Yard said precedents set in other British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec weighed heavily in his decision. He noted that no less than 12 judges in Canada have been asked to consider the issue.
"The cumulative effect and the overwhelming effect of that judicial authority is to the effect that the traditional definition of marriage is no longer constitutionally valid in view of the provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms," he said.
People of the same sex are being denied a right available to people of the opposite sex. This infringes s. 15 of the Charter.
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Just because courts in 4 provinces rule something unconstitutional doesn't mean that the supreme court is going to agree. What if BC and three other provinces got together and said that making POT illegal was unconstitutional?? I think you could make a good arguement for that.
Some could claim it's a freedom of choice or expression issue. Provinces have tried to do many things that the supreme court strikes down (God, I'm sure Quebec has something struck down every couple of months).
Just to clarify, I'm just trying to point out the other side of the arguement here, my personal feeling is that I supppose I support gay marriage in everything but name.
Why shouldn't gay people have the same rights as a maried couple. That is to say as far as property laws etc go. You wanna have a "Civil union" or whatever you call it, and have your partner have rights to work benefits, inheretance and stuff like that sure, it's not a bad idea.
Lookout, whole new argement starting below.
However, I do draw the line at things like adoption. I do not think it's appropriate for two men, or two women to raise a child. The case is certainly different with parents who find out they are gay after the fact, because there is still a male and female influence in the childs life. For an adopted child to grow up in an all male or all female household is not the idea situation. I'm not claiming that the child will turn out gay his or herself, but it's life will be missing a kind of balance that most children grow up with. This will of course be disputed with the what about children with single parents arguement, but to that I say, you can't really argue that a single parent family is the ideal situation (monetary factors aside), so if something is lacking from this situation, as it would be in a gay/lesbian parent home, then how can you support putting a child into a home which you clearly believe to be less than idea.
I'm rushing and my thoughts are possibly not clear, and I'm not really arugeing wiht anyone at this point, but that's my opinion.