by Rex Wockner
Liberal Canadian Member of Parliament Scott Brison and his partner, Maxime St. Pierre, got married Aug. 18 in Cheverie, Nova Scotia — a town of 200 people on the province's western shoreline.
Brison is the first federal politician to take advantage of Canada's legalization of full marriage for same-sex couples, which took place nationally in 2005 after eight provinces and one territory had legalized it on their own.
Prior to the ceremony, Brison's spokesman told the Canadian Press wire service that the wedding was "a personal matter which is meant to be celebrated in private."
Attendees reportedly included former Prime Ministers Paul Martin and Joe Clark, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, former Defense Minister Bill Graham, former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna and former Ontario Premier Bob Rae.
Brison came out in 2002. He has said he is "not a gay politician, but a politician who happens to be gay."
Full same-sex marriage also is legal in Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and the state of Massachusetts. Numerous nations grant registered same-sex couples some, most or all rights and obligations of marriage under registered-partnership, domestic-partnership or civil-union laws. They include Andorra, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Greenland, a self-governing administrative division of Denmark, also has a civil-union law. In yet other nations, such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S., such rights are granted by city, state or provincial laws. Informal cohabitation of same-sex partners has become legally recognized in Austria, Colombia, Croatia, Hungary, Israel and Portugal — and in parts of Australia, Italy and the U.S.
