QT Guest Writer #1

Our first QT is Bruce McDonald. Bruce is a gay man living in what the rest of us call the centre of the universe, if you are not from Canada, I am referring to Toronto. A Canuck with attitude in a very Canadian sorta way! I like that and makes him a good choice as a QT guest writer.

Canuck Attitude

It’s About Basic Human Rights
- Bruce McDonald

If I see one more reporter on TV talk about religious groups complaining that the Gay marriage bill is a threat to their institutions, I’ll have to bitch slap somebody. This is in no way a threat and if they think it is, then they have pretty weak institutions. Their argument just doesn’t wash with me. This is a secular democracy where decisions are made based on what society wants and sees fit for it. Religious institutions play a much smaller role in society now than they used to, and for good reason.

As a Gay man, I can assure you that I consider these people to be a much greater threat to me through their teachings to millions of people than I could ever hope to be to them. Their argument is desperate, ignorant and selfish.

This is a Civil Human Rights issue, plain and simple. This is about finally putting an end to yet another discrimination that has gone on long enough. Nobody is trying to steal anything from anyone. In fact, it’s about people who have enough love and respect for one of society’s great traditions to actually want to be a part of it.

Marriage is a tradition, not an institution, traditions always change with time just as marriage has over the years. Those people who claim that the “institution” of marriage hasn’t changed for the last two thousand years or more are either ignorant or full of shit. The tradition of marriage has changed numerous times over the years to suit the needs of society at the time. This is one of those times.

Bill C-38 clearly accommodates the concerns of the religious community. Religious institutions will still have the freedom to practice their own brand of bigotry and intolerance as they see fit within the confines of their own institutions. In the context of today’s society I think they’re getting a pretty good deal, much better than the one they gave people like me for centuries.

Of course they’re not all bad, see this post.

Equal Marriage