While many of our gay friends south of the border fight for same-sex marriage, employment non-discrimination and the right to serve in the military, today marks five years of Canada-wide gay marriage. Canada’s federal same-sex marriage bill received Royal Assent on July 20, 2005.
Lots of people are tweeting about the occasion, but other than “cool” and “no apocalypse yet!” it seems folks on Twitter don’t have much to say about the anniversary. However, I feel the need to highlight this gem of a tweet:
@StossyStoss – “July 20: The day the 1st man walked on the moon, same sex marriage was legalized in Canada and Lohan went to jail. 3 victories for humanity”
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With Argentina legalizing same-sex marriage earlier this month, there are now 250 million people living in places where same-sex marriage is recognized. Blogger Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com recently created this nifty chart:
That blip in 2008 represents California, which briefly had same-sex marriage from June to November 2008.
So, here’s to five years of gay marriage in Canada — and five years of time spent since then focusing on other queer issues.
Read more:
- Why most Canadian gays and lesbians are choosing not to marry
- Parliament rejects Harper’s motion to reopen debate on same-sex marriage
- Marriage bill passes Commons, just in time for Canada Day
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