Gay rights in Canada and the US

Résumé du document

From an external point of view, Canada and the United States are sometimes considered as pretty similar countries, concerning cultures and policies. However, these two countries can have very different behaviours on some issues. This is the case in the domain of gay and lesbian rights, and notably same-sex marriage. In spite of the proximity between both states, they do not have the same approach at all. Canada seems to be much more tolerant and ready to grant rights to the homosexual community, contrary to the United States which is more reluctant on the subject. Even if there has been progress in each country _ for example, homosexuality has been decriminalized _ a significant gap remains between Canadian and American gay rights policies. So what are the main differences and why do they exist?

Extraits

[...] Then, it is easy to see the differences of policy between Canada and the United States. In Canada, homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969 by Pierre Trudeau, with his famous comment “there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation”[2]. In 1995, Canada adopted sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws. By the way, Quebec was the first state-level jurisdiction in the world to make discrimination based on sexual orientation illegal (in 1977). Already in 1978, the ban on homosexuals was remover from the Canadian Immigration Act. [...]

[...] They made the choice to be very active in policy making whereas American courts just follow the tradition not to interfere too much with the legislative power. Even if the United States is sometimes considered as the most liberal country of the world, there is a strong part of conservatism in their political culture. This is not the case in Canada. What is more, religious conservatives have a significant influence in the United States but not in Canada. And religious groups are the main obstacles to same-sex marriage because of their powerful lobby. [...]

[...] There are some gay right activists, like the organization ONE, but they are a little ignored by the media and the politicians. In the Congress, the Democrats are, to some degree, supporters of the gay rights movement whereas the Republicans strongly oppose it. The progress in Canada is also due to the fact that the federal government has an important role in marriage policy. Then, it is easier to see significant and homogenous decision in that field whereas in the United States, marriage policy is a state issue, so the federal government does not really play a significant role and will not seek to influence states. [...]

[...] Temple University Press Page 165. http://www.egale.ca Jason PIERCESON , Courts liberalism and rights : gay law and politics in the US and Canada. Temple University Press Page 173. Ibid. Page 3. [...]

[...] This finally strikes down the decision Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) in which the Supreme Court said that there was right to privacy for same-sex sex acts in the Constitution”[4]. Concerning discrimination, in Romer v. Evans, the US Supreme Court “denied gays and lesbians protections against discrimination”[5]. In the military, Clinton did not manage to suppress fully the prohibition against gays because of a huge opposition; however, the “don't ask, don't tell” policy was established in 1993 in order to allow gays to serve in the military but not openly. [...]