A Brief Canadian History of Laws

Affecting Gays and Lesbians

1960s ...

1965 - Everett George Klippert was sentenced to life in prison (Northwest Territories). He had been arrested for arson. In the course of the investigation he admitted he had sex with men. When psychiatrists determined that he was unlikely to stop having sex with men, he was declared a dangerous offender. Klippert was not released until 1971.

1969 - Pierre Trudeau (Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada) introduces Bill C-150, which decriminalizes homosexuality in Canada.

1970s ...

1971 - Canada's first gay rights march took place in Ottawa. The Body Politic, Canada's first gay liberation newspaper, was published in Toronto and continued for about 15 years. A short run documentary series, Coming Out, became Canada's first LGBT television series when it aired on Maclean-Hunter cable in Toronto in 1972.

1975 & 1976 - Large scale protests after the police raided gay establishments in Quebec and in Ottawa in preparation for the 1976 Olympics.

1977 - Quebec became the first jurisdiction (larger than a city or county) in the world to prohibit discrimination based on "sexual orientation" in the public and private sectors. The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and certain services and other activities, but it does not apply to federally regulated activities in Quebec.

The same year, the Canadian Immigration Act was amended, removing a ban on homosexual men as immigrants.

1980s ...

1981 - A major bathhouse raid occurred in Toronto. This outraged the gay community and an estimated 3000 people poured into the streets of Toronto to protest the raid. Infrequent bathhouse raids continue to occur to this day.

Laws from the 1800s known as "bawdy house laws" are still listed in the Criminal Code of Canada; police use these laws to lay charges, and use liquor violation laws as grounds to enter the premises.

1982 - Canada repatriated its Constitution, and creates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 15 of the Charter guarantees equality "before and under the law" and the "right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination".

Thirteen years later (1995), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that "sexual orientation" should be 'read in' to Section 15.

1980s - Several attempts were made to add "sexual orientation" into the federal government's Human Rights Act, an amendment that did not take place until 1996.

1986 - Sexual orientation was added to the Ontario Human Rights Code as a prohibited ground for discrimination. Like most other human rights acts in Canada, this act prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, services and certain other activities in the public and private sectors, but  the provincial law does not apply to federally regulated activities.

1987 - Sexual orientation was added to the Manitoba Human Rights Act, and included in the newly adopted Yukon Human Rights Act.

1988 - New Democratic Party Member of Parliament (MP ) Svend Robinson became the first MP to come out, declaring that he is gay to the media outside the House of Commons. In the same year, the United Church of Canada became the first church in Canada to allow the ordination of gays and lesbians.

1990s...

1991 - Sexual orientation was added to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act.

1992 Kim Campbell – then Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada-- announced that Canada was lifting its ban on homosexuals in the Canadian Forces, allowing them to serve openly and live on-base with their partners. Canada was one of the first countries to allow homosexuals in the military. Sexual orientation was added to the human rights laws of New Brunswick and British Columbia.

1993 - Sexual orientation was added to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Act.

1994 - The Supreme Court ruled that gays and lesbians could apply for refugee status based on their sexual orientation.

1995 - The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Egan v. Canada that "sexual orientation" should be 'read in' to Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The ruling had a wide impact since section 15 applies to all laws, including human rights acts that prohibit discrimination by all employers, landlords, service providers and governments. A court in Ontario ruled that gay and lesbian couples wishing to adopt jointly should be allowed to do so, making Ontario the first province to allow this. Currently, nearly all provinces allow gay and lesbian couples (and single gays and lesbians) to adopt children. The Newfoundland Human Rights Act was amended to include sexual orientation.

1996 - Sexual orientation was added to the Canadian Human Rights Act, an anti-discrimination law that applies to federally regulated activities throughout Canada.

1998 – Alberta’s human rights law does not expressly mention sexual orientation. The Supreme Court of Canada decided in  Vriend v. Alberta, [1998] 1 S.C.R. 493 that the Alberta human rights law should be read and applied as if the words "sexual orientation" were included.

Glen Murray was elected Mayor of Winnipeg becoming the first openly gay Mayor of a large North American city.

The Prince Edward Island Human Rights Act was amended to include sexual orientation.

1999 - Supreme Court of Canada rules that gay and lesbian couples should have the same rights as heterosexual common-law couples. M. v. H., [1999] 2 S.C.R. 3

In June 1999, a 216-55 vote in the House of Commons supported the preserving legal definition of "marriage" as union of a man and a woman. The law will be changed within five years.

Sexual orientation is included in the newly adopted Nunavut Human Rights Act.

2000s...

2000 - The federal Liberal government passes Bill C-23 which amended 68 federal statutes, including pension benefits, bankruptcy protection, income taxes, old age security, and immigration.

The law affects married couples, and gives same-sex couples the same status and rights as common law couples.

2000 - The Canadian Supreme Court in Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v. Canada (Minister of Justice), [2000] 2 S.C.R. 1120; 2000 SCC 69 (December 15, 2000)  ruled that gay publications, even those that were sexually explicit were protected by the freedom of speech and expression clauses in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This ended a common police practice of seizing gay publications for being obscene.

2001 - NDP MP Libby Davies publicly acknowledged she had a female partner, becoming the country's first (and so far only) openly lesbian Member of Parliament.

2002 - Sexual orientation and gender identity were included in the Northwest Territories Human Rights Act.

2002 – Alberta Human Rights Panel upholds the complaints of 12 individuals that Alberta Health and Wellness discriminated against them on basis of sexual orientation when providing of health care services customarily available to the public. Alberta Health and Wellness would not include their partners as spouses.

2003 - The British Columbia Court of Appeal made a unanimous decision that limiting the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples violated equality rights. The ruling was not effective immediately, but allowed a two year transition period for Ottawa to legally recognize same-sex marriage. In June, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the decision of a lower court to allow same-sex marriage.

2004 - The House of Commons and the Senate passed Bill C-250, which added "sexual orientation" to the "hate propaganda" section of the Criminal Code, thus making it illegal for people to propagate hate based on sexual orientation. This did not include clergymen however.

2004 - Scott Brison became Canada's first openly gay cabinet member.

2004 - The Supreme Court of Canada replied to the federal government's draft legislation that would legalize gay marriage nationwide. The Court ruled that the federal government has the exclusive authority to define marriage, that same-sex marriage was constitutional and was far from violating it, in fact "it flowed from" it, and that religious officials can't be forced to perform gay weddings. The Court refused to answer whether or not the traditional definition of marriage was consistent with the Charter.

2005 - By a vote of 158-133, the House of Commons passed Bill C-38, the Civil Marriage Act and on July 19th, 2005, by a vote of 47-21, the Senate gave its approval to the bill.

As a result of Bill C-38 Canada became the fourth country to officially sanction gay marriage nationwide, behind Belgium, The Netherlands, and Spain.

2005 - All provinces (except Alberta) and territories have included "sexual orientation" in their human rights laws. The Northwest Territories include "gender identity" in theirs.

While the Alberta human rights law had still not been amended in 2005, in 1998 the Supreme Court of Canada had decided in the Vriend v. Alberta case that section 15 of the Canadian Charter required that the Alberta law be read and applied as if the words "sexual orientation" were included.

2005 Brokeback Mountain was filmed in Kananaskis Country, Alberta.

Source:  This is compiled from two sources, the work of researcher Angela Johnston, and from Religioustolerance: Timeline of Important Developments in Homosexual Rights in Canada http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_marb15.htm