November 11, 2007

Canda Marks 40 Years of Gay Rights

On November 7, 1967, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the appeal of George Everett Klippert, who had been condemned to indefinite imprisonment for consensual sexual relations with other men.



The next day, Tommy Douglas, the first leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, rose in the House of Commons and called for homosexuality to be decriminalised.



Since then, the NDP has led the pack in defense of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.



New Democrats succeeded in banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, tirelessly worked for equal marriage and are fighting today for international LGBT rights and for an end to discrimination based on gender identity.



As proof of its firm resolve to stand up for full equality and human rights, the NDP marked this important anniversary by unanimously adopting a comprehensive range of policies on LGBT rights during its Federal Council in Winnipeg last weekend.



In light of the fact that same-sex marriage is now legal in Canada, I was quite surprised that it has been less than 40 years since homosexuality was against the law up north. They've come a very long way in a very short time.



Click here to read more about the history and the new action taken by the NDP from PinkNews.

1 comment:

  1. Let's hope the U.S. isn't far behind in following Canada's example. :-)

    ReplyDelete