Revolutionary Moderation

Hooray redux



Ottawa will not contest the Ontario court decision to recognize same-sex marriage.



I have to admit, part of my joy in this is that I think the Alberta Tories and the federal Liberals could both sustain significant self-inflicted wounds. Gay marriage is a subject, like capital punishment, which has a tendency to cause debate that generates much more heat than light.



The provincial Tories might in fact have the right idea: promise to do everything in their power on the side they've chosen, and when they lose, blame Ottawa. It's the best of three worlds: they get to appeal to the Ottawa bashers and the anti-gay rednecks, but in the end, they won't lose many that they had among the gay and gay-positive community. As long as the law stands despite Alberta's efforts, the position won't be any more of a deal-breaker than the Vriend debate was.



And if you're still waiting for me to make the eloquent arguments in favour of same-sex marriage, well, you'll have to keep waiting: while this is an extremely significant symbolic victory for lesbian and gay Canadians, in practice it won't have a huge impact until one member of the couple is incapacitated or dead. Very little remains of the privileged position once held by marriage in law. Civil unions and common-law relationships both carry with them most of the rights and responsibilities one assumes in marriage.



But if you're still waiting, try this guy on instead.