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Elections and Same-Sex Marriages
Dec. 19th, 2005 11:06 amIt's election time in Canada. Ever since 1993, the Canadian political system has been broken. We used to have two national parties that had a decent chance of being elected ... and being able to run the country. But 1993 was the year that the Progressive Conservatives or Tories (Tory means thief or robber in Irish Gaelic, by the way) entered an election after having been splintered in three. It's mean that the Liberals have been able to rule unopposed for over a decade. Even after a scandal that would have brought down the government in any functioning democracy, the Liberals won a minority government. But this time ... they might lose.
In some ways ... in many ways, that would be a good thing. It would be the end to the arrogance and corruption of a party with nothing to fear. Governments need to change every so often.
Unfortunately, the new non-Progressive Conservative party is the alternative. There are many things that worry me about Harper's goons, but one of them is their policy on same-sex marriages.
Canada was one of the first countries in the world to allow same-sex to marry. Not civil unions. Not some other made-up term, but "marriage" the same as straight couples. A former boss once told me that it may be the right thing to do, but why'd we have to be first. And this is a problem in Canadian thinking. Let's see what the other guy is doing. Let's look at their morality before we do the right thing. Perhaps it's the reason we're so far behind on environmental issues. But with same-sex marriage, Canada finally took a moral stand and led the way. Other countries have followed.
The world didn't shatter, the skies didn't turn to blood. I doubt Stephen Harper's marriage really feels cheapened because gay people are now allowed "to have and to hold".
And yet, in his attempt to pander to fear-mongers, Harper wants to return Canada to the "traditional definition of marriage". He wants to undo a great moral stride forward. Imagine someone wanting to undo giving women or non-whites the right to vote. We mock those people today. Well, Harper isn't that different from those bigots of the past.
This is why no matter how corrupt the Liberals get, I will not vote for Stephen Harper. A member of my immediate family is gay, and there's no way in hell that I'll ever suggest that she should be a second class citizen.
Harper's prejudice annoys me. And I'm annoyed that to his bigotries, I can't vote for change. Harper's whole campaign is around change. And yet, his view on marriage shows that he is unwilling to accept change.
In some ways ... in many ways, that would be a good thing. It would be the end to the arrogance and corruption of a party with nothing to fear. Governments need to change every so often.
Unfortunately, the new non-Progressive Conservative party is the alternative. There are many things that worry me about Harper's goons, but one of them is their policy on same-sex marriages.
Canada was one of the first countries in the world to allow same-sex to marry. Not civil unions. Not some other made-up term, but "marriage" the same as straight couples. A former boss once told me that it may be the right thing to do, but why'd we have to be first. And this is a problem in Canadian thinking. Let's see what the other guy is doing. Let's look at their morality before we do the right thing. Perhaps it's the reason we're so far behind on environmental issues. But with same-sex marriage, Canada finally took a moral stand and led the way. Other countries have followed.
The world didn't shatter, the skies didn't turn to blood. I doubt Stephen Harper's marriage really feels cheapened because gay people are now allowed "to have and to hold".
And yet, in his attempt to pander to fear-mongers, Harper wants to return Canada to the "traditional definition of marriage". He wants to undo a great moral stride forward. Imagine someone wanting to undo giving women or non-whites the right to vote. We mock those people today. Well, Harper isn't that different from those bigots of the past.
This is why no matter how corrupt the Liberals get, I will not vote for Stephen Harper. A member of my immediate family is gay, and there's no way in hell that I'll ever suggest that she should be a second class citizen.
Harper's prejudice annoys me. And I'm annoyed that to his bigotries, I can't vote for change. Harper's whole campaign is around change. And yet, his view on marriage shows that he is unwilling to accept change.
