Homosexual

10 Pages 2450 Words

ear, Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau proposed amendments to the Criminal Code, which would facilitate the laws regarding homosexuality. Discussing the amendments Trudeau says,
It's certainly the most extensive revision of the Criminal Code since the 1950s and, in terms of the subject matter it deals with, I feel that it has knocked down a lot of totems and over-ridden a lot of taboos and I feel that in that sense it is new. It's bringing the laws of the land up to contemporary society I think. Take this thing on homosexuality. I think the view we take here is that there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation. I think that what's done in private between adults doesn't concern the Criminal Code. When it becomes public this is a different matter, or when it relates to minors this is a different matter. (Fight for Gay Rights: Canada Timeline, 2001)
Two years after, Trudeau’s amendment to the Criminal Code was passed, and homosexuality was no longer a crime in Canada. In the next three decades to follow, there was not a great deal of information about homosexuality and the law. Indeed there was still a great deal of controversy, but homosexuality was still viewed in a derogatory manner. A large number of homosexuals began to make a stand for themselves in the late eighties to the present day. In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled on a case involving Jack Nesbit and Jim Egan, two gay men who sued Ottawa for the right to claim spousal pension under the Old Age Security Act. The court ruled against Nesbit and Egan, however it was agreed by all of the judges that sexual orientation is a protected ground and does extend to partnerships of lesbians and gay men. Woods research (2001) found that in 1999, The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that homosexual couples should have the same benefits and obligations as heterosexual common-law couples, and homosexuals should also have equal access to benefits from social programs in which t...