Gay Marriage Decision Gets Positive Response
Province taking compromise law to Court of Appeal
A move by the provincial government to seek advice on the issue of same-sex weddings and civil marriage commissioners is getting a 'thumbs up' from some people.
Three Prince Albert-area commissioners are suing the province. They argue they shouldn't be forced to conduct ceremonies for gay couples because it's against their religious beliefs.
Dale Blenner-Hassett, a solicitor representing the three, is glad to hear the province is turning to the Court of Appeal with a compromise.
"It is the first step in recognizing religious freedom in Saskatchewan and puts the matter in the hands of the Court of Appeal rather than in some politicians' hands, that were maybe reluctant to take any steps that might upset somebody," he says.
The draft legislation allows commissioners to opt-out of certain ceremonies while also assuring that same-sex couples will have access to willing commissioners.
"The government has an obligation to ensure that there are marriage commissioners that will do any and all same-sex marriage requests that come to them. That's the law and we recognize that," says Blenner-Hassett.
The Court will be provided two options to judge if either or both meet the requirements of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The process is expected to take well over a year.
"In following the law of the land, the government needed to be very careful not to go too far the other way and start to quash the religious freedoms of the marriage commissioners that would object to those ceremonies.
"I really think it's a no-brainer that you can accomplish both, and I think that the legislation that is going to be proposed will do that and hopefully will make both sides happy."
Comments
commissioners being allowed to not marry those of the same sex
I think this is a step in the right direction and I think that the legal counsel handling it are to be comended for their efforts. The ridged requirement forcing them to marry anyone they don't want to is an infringement on their individual rights.
So if I am reallllly
So if I am reallllly overweight, fatness being one of the last prejudices, then they can choose not to proceed over my CIVIL wedding? What if my hair colour is off to them? What if I am black or Asian?
If a fireman or woman was going into a burning building, and found out that one person was trapped in there was gay, does that mean that they could just leave them there because they do not like gay people?
I think not. This is their CIVIC responsibility. They can dislike the fact that the person is brown, blue-haired, or gay, but they HAVE to perform their civic duty. You are a CIVIC employee, not a church employee. You serve the PUBLIC, and are not an employee of the church. If they can`t handle the job, then quit, and let someone step up who can. Welcome to a secular society, where logic dictates and NOT religious leaders.
discrimnate
The only thing the govt is attempting is to find a legal way for these religious nuts to decimigrate against same sex marriage. Good luck with that. You,ll need it.
Thumbs up?
Would the writer of this news story be so pleased if the province was intending to let marriage commissioners use religious grounds to refuse to perform marriages for Aboriginal people? Or Muslims? Or Jews? Or Catholics? Any marriage commissioner who doesn't want to officiate at some marriages has the right not to be a marriage commissioner anymore.
marriage
If I am not mistaken,religion is not involved or used when a commissionare/J.P marries a same sex couple.The bible says no to that.From my understanding it is a "legal" ceremony.Since the ceremony is not based on the bible....the religious beliefs of the commish should have no bearing on him or her doing their job.They take an oath and swear on the Bible to abide by the laws of Canada not God......Correct me if i am wrong.
No brainer
It's a no brainer that the court will rule that this law is unconstitutional.
How can an agent of the government be allowed to discriminate based on a characteristic that has been declared by the Supreme Court to be constitutionally protected against discrimination?
If the court ruled that it was constitutional, it means that commissioners would also be allowed to refuse races they don't like, other religions they don't like, maybe disabled people, etc... Is that what we really want in our society from an agent of the government?
You can discriminate according to your religion beliefs inside your own church and in private (i.e. priests are not forced to perform same-sex weddings), but not when you represent the government.
Good for those marriage
Good for those marriage commissioners for standing up for what they believe. It doesn't always come down to religious belief's, there are folks who know how to make good ethical judgements. I just wish that more people in decision making postions would stand up for what is right and just. I applaud the Gov't
What would be interesting is
What would be interesting is the percentage of gay- traditional marriages we are talking about. I understand the percentage might be different in different regions. If this is like 5% verses 95% it is sure a lot of a lot of changing of laws for a few.
Why don't the marriage
Why don't the marriage commissioners involved quit trying to get the government to change the laws for their religion? Can't they just respect our laws and our society?
But seriously, religious freedom does not mean the freedom to discriminate against other groups while working of behalf of the secular provincial government.
These marriage commissioners are simply hiding their homophobia behind a facade of religion. Will he also want to refuse to marry those who worship Gods other than his One True God or worship none at all?
Where is the balanced,
Where is the balanced, unbiased news coverage of this story? What about those who are not responding positively to this move?
Others have made the reference to public servants being required to serve all citizens - this is correct. What if my partner and I went to SGI to get car or home insurance, and the staff refused to serve us or provide insurance, because we are a same-sex couple? Would SGI and the government just say "no problem, someone else can take care of you?" I don't think so - those employees would be disciplined. Marriage commissioners should not be treated differently from other public servants.
Anyone that gets paid to do
Anyone that gets paid to do a job get to choice what job they want to do and get paid for. What I mean by this is this....If for example I call contractors in to reno my basement and they don't like the way I want it done or they don't like me then they have the right to say no they don't want to do my basement and that means I don't pay them.If they want me to pay them then they have to do the work I want them to do. That just means I have to find a contractor that wants to do the work and wants me to pay them. I am getting married in May and I have been calling marriage commissioners and I have the choice of who I want to officiate my wedding. If I don't get a good vibe off someone then I don't hire them and vice versa. If the commissioner doesn't like me or gets a good vibe off me or my husband to be then the commissioner has the right to say no. I move on to look for another commissioner to officate my wedding. I cannot force a contrator, commissioner or anyone else out there to do anything they don't want to do. That is why we live in a free country. If commissioner don't want to perform gay marriages for any reason that is there choice. A commissioner can say no to performing a marriage because the couple have blue eyes. That is their choice not yours to say they have to.
I wouldn't call it a positive response
I think it's a disgusting step backward for the government to seek this 'compromise'. Like another poster said, would it be acceptable if these commissioners didn't want to marry two black people? What if they didn't want to marry two disabled people? The religious people can set whatever rules they want under the roof of their own church, but marriage commissioners are paid by taxpayers and should not be able to discriminate. Another poster made a point that same-sex marriage laws were too much work to benefit a very small percentage of the population. What does it matter if it only benefits one couple? Is it ok to discriminate if it's only a few people?
Good Decision by the Government
I fully support the government's decision. Finally, it looks like the our society is getting back to commonsense legislation. I bet the government will have 98% support from the Saskatchewan population on this one. Newstalk radio should do a opinion poll on this subject.