About 900 LGBT couples tied knot since same-sex marriage legalized in Manitoba
Jacques Marcoux | CBC News | Posted: September 16, 2016 10:00 AM | Last Updated: September 16, 2016
Close to 900 same-sex couples married in province since equal rights legalisation of 2004
Twelve years ago this Friday, Manitoba became the fifth province or territory in the country to legalize same-sex marriage. Since that 2004 landmark decision by the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench, there have been on average 79 same-sex marriages in the province annually, figures released by the Vital Statistics office show.
Karen Busby, law professor at the University of Manitoba and director of the Centre of Human Rights Research, was intimately involved in the court battles in the early 2000s that ultimately paved the way for equal marriage rights.
"If you'd asked me 20 years ago whether or not gay marriage would happen in my lifetime, I would have said 'no,'" said Busby.
After joining Egale Canada — a group that fights for equal rights for gay and lesbian citizens — Busby said the group anticipated decades of drawn-out court battles.
"But actually the success came relatively quickly because we won at court of appeal levels and it turned around much faster than I had expected," Busby recalled.
"Early challenges were made in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, and when those challenges were successful, the federal government realized the writing was on the wall and it stopped challenging the cases in court."
From this juncture, it took the federal government close to another year under then-prime minister Paul Martin to introduce the Civil Marriage Act on July 20, 2005, to legalize same-sex marriage. Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first outside of Europe to redefine its marriage laws in such a way.
'Pent-up demand' for marriage
Busby said that when Ontario became the first jurisdiction in the country to legalize same-sex marriage, months before the legal floodgates burst open in other provinces, many gay and lesbian Manitobans drove out to Kenora, Ont., to get legally hitched.
"Then we saw kind of a rush of marriages shortly after it happened, kind of [from] a pent-up demand, and since then there's been a steady stream of people getting married," Busby said.
Records maintained by Manitoba's Vital Statistics office shows that close to 900 same-sex marriages have occurred since legalization. The peak year was in 2014 with 107 same-sex marriages — levels not seen since the early years following changes to the law.
Put in a broader perspective: there are on average 79 same-sex marriages per year, while there are on average just over 5,600 marriages overall in Manitoba.
In addition, the figures show that there have been nearly twice as many lesbian same-sex marriages in Manitoba as gay same-sex marriages.
Younger LGBT generations
Amanda Kinden, 35, owner of Oh Doughnuts in Winnipeg, has been married for nearly two years to her spouse, Noreen Mian.
Kinden said that while she has never taken for granted the history of discrimination and hard-fought battles of the past, the victory over same-sex marriage took on greater significance over time.
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"Honestly, as a younger person who didn't have a drive to get married, it wasn't really important to me then, but I'm very happy that I have that option now," Kinden said.
Kinden said that although she still encounters glimpses of homophobia, she feels that emerging issues transgender people face constitute the next important hurdle for Canadian society.
Busby said that beyond simply achieving equal legal rights in Canada, same-sex marriage laws helped normalize gay and lesbian relationships in society in general.
"For many LGBT people, the experience, the discrimination they face [today] is really on the margins, rather than at the centre of our lives," Busby said.
"For many LGBT people, the experience, the discrimination they face [today] is really on the margins, rather than at the centre of our lives," Busby said.