Worms Come Out

The Worms came out of the Woodwork in response to this Globe & Mail article :

As a heavy rain poured down on this picturesque Nova Scotia community, Scott Brison made history Saturday by becoming the first MP to marry his same-sex partner since gay marriage was legally recognized two years ago.

The Liberal politician wed his partner Maxime St. Pierre at a small white church near Mr. Brison's country home in Cheverie, in what guests described as joyful and emotional ceremony.

Guests included Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, former prime minister Joe Clark, former Liberal defence minister Bill Graham, former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna and Liberal MP John Godfrey.

"It's something we need to celebrate and we must be proud that Canada is showing the way," Mr. Dion said after the wedding.

Mr. Brison ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives himself in 2003
before switching to the Liberals just days after it merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative party. He ran for the Liberal leadership in the contest won by Mr. Dion last year.

Mr. Brison publicly acknowledged he is gay in 2002 and became Canada's first openly gay cabinet minister in 2004. But he has always closely guarded his private life, saying once that he is "not a gay politician, but a politician who happens to be gay.

Congratulations, Scott and Maxime, I wish you a long and loving relationship.

Needless to say, our Regressive Conservative PM, who has courted the Religious Right and championed Bigotry, had nothing to say. Stevie Blunder is not doing well in the polls, so he probably does not dare to alienate any more voters in a nation that is mostly tolerant.

The article contained comments from local people in Cheverie, NS:

"If they're in love and want to be together, then that's awesome," she said as she shopped at a yard sale. "Love is hard to find."

"To each their own. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions and own way of life."

"He's a very fair guy . . . he's not just a politician who went through school to study politics and then goes into it. He knows economics, politics and social issues from the bottom and has not forgotten where he comes from."

Public opinion poles indicate that most Canadians are sufficiently liberal in their attitudes that they believe that homosexual orientation should not be a political issue.

The Globe & Mail comments section , however, had its usual outpouring from hateful, right-wing, bigots (the browns).

Illogical Bigot somewhere in Canada: "Unbelievable. Next, polygamy will be allowed to be openly practised, and then.....pedophelia will become acceptable. . . don't worry. the G & M censors won't post my true feelings. . . I am not 'christian' , I am Moslem and I wish ti express the tenets of my faith. But the G & M censors prohibits free expression of Moslem religion. "

This is the typical fallacious slippery slope argument that the hate-filled and bigotted embrace and spout. I very much hope that Illogical Bigot does not represent the attitudes of the majority of Canadian Muslims any more than the other 'browns' represent Canadian Christians.

Regina "Wow, a beautiful meaningful day -- and one hard-fought for -- for one of our MPs and nothing but vitriol from the peanut gallery.Congratulations to Scott and Maxime and may you have long happy lives together."

Montreal "Historic? Does no-one at the G & M have a dictionary? Since when has the celebration of unnatural acts deserved to be qualified as 'historic'?"

This Montrealer has obviously forgotten about the Spanish Inquisition in which those who did not toe the religious-party-line were burned at the stake. He/she has also forgotten about the various holocausts in which those of different ethnicity, religious affiliation, or sexual orientation were slaughtered.

As to the term "unnatural acts", even though I have no inclination to participate in those particular acts, I do not consider them unnatural. An act that is unnatural goes against human nature and, no matter that the religious right denies this, homosexual activity is a part of nature. What he/she really ought to have written was "statistically unusual" or "not statistically common".

Tolerant in Canada writes: "An MP gets married. Yawn. Historic? Please. Nice way to fluff the headline. Big deal.Gay, straight, who cares? If all 'we' want is equality, then why the special coverage for just another wedding? I'm sure the happy couple would prefer the media leave them alone as well."

Vancouver : "Congratulations....and best wishes....and may it be true that at some point in the near future this won't even need to be news and couples like Scott Brison and Maxim St. Pierre can be married in the privacy and intimacy which they seek.

What's 'unnatural' here is not marriage, which is a profound and beautiful expression of shared love and commitment, but the hatred being spewed by people who probably consider themselves 'christian', but who have apparently forgotten Paul's wise words to the Corinthians..."

Balmertown Ontario: "These guys can have all the 'marriages' that they want, but it will never be a marriage in the sense that it was intended for. There are reasons that marriage is between a man and a woman. The main one is that, should they have children, the children deserve a mother and a father. I am afraid that with same sex 'marriages', something is missing..."

So, allow gay adoption! Better being adopted by a loving gay couple than being raised in foster care or an orphanage. Before the reader raises the objection that pedophilia could be a problem for gay adoption, I point out that pedophiles are statistically far more likely to be heterosexual males.

However, the chief problem with this marriage-for-procreation argument is that some gay couples do parent children (technically easier for lesbians) and many heterosexual couples choose not to have children or cannot have children. Would Balmerton suggest that childless heterosexual unions must be dissolved?

Further, it is technically very difficult not to have a biological mother and father. Unfortunately, heterosexual biology is no guarantee that the biological parents did not parent out of wedlock, will be good parents even if cohabiting, will not separate or divorce, or that one or both parents not dying during the child's pre-adult years.

I am not denying that growing up with both of one's effective, loving, biological parents is good for a child, but I am saying that preventing gay marriage does not ensure this, so it fails as an argument against gay marriage.

West Coast "I agree with comment that the day this kind of thing isn't news will be a good day. Until then, we can only work to eradicate the hatemongers and wanna-be local religious terrorists from this country. Hypocrites hiding behind their subsidized religions of 'love' while spewing their bile and hatred at all and sundry."


"Vineland, Canada writes: "[Illogical Bigot] and the rest of you who have posted the ugly comments GET OVER IT! The vast majority of Canadians find it perfectly acceptable for Mr. Brison and people like him to marry and we've said so democratically through our elected representatives in parliament. My grandchildren don't even understand why this is an issue. I keep telling them that pretty soon it won't be anywhere in North America. If you interpret your religion to condemn this fine, but keep it to yourself, the rest of us are tired of hearing from you!!!"

I totally agree, Vineland, but religous bigots are vocal for a reason: some are hate filled, and looking for any excuse to label and blame; many are black-and-white thinkers and gravitate toward those denominations that justify and amplify their good-bad, reward-punishment thinking.

Calgary, Canada writes: "To the passionate objectors: There are dozens of worthy causes to volunteer for where you could use your passion to alleviate immediate suffering. Instead you have a fit because two consenting adults want to celebrate their love for each other. "

It is nice to see so many Westerners expressing liberal attitudes. Happily most Easteners are not so 'brown' as these bigots.

Read all the G & M comments here.