Windsor Pride 2007 kicked off a full week of events and activities with a real live dual wedding ceremony, on stage at the University of Windsor theater. Two Michigan couples, Marjorie Rogers and Roberta Davis of Detroit, and Erik Tichik and Peter Spencer of Harper Woods, were legally married in a public ceremony that commemorated the second anniversary of the passage of Bill C38, the legislation that legalized same-sex marriage in Canada. Two of the witnesses were a couple that were involved in the landmark case that changed the law in 2005. What a wonderful, loving and beautiful way to start a week of prideful events!
In the past two years thousands of same-sex people have been joined in marriage, and Canadians have discovered that their country has continued on with little change since. The sky has not fallen, society has not crumbled and no one has been seriously hurt as a result of these marriages. The governement has become accustomed to supporting its LGBT citizens as a matter of public duty and responsibility. LGBT citizens have begun to relax and become accustomed to the rights and responsibilities that come with being full citizens.
Across the border on the U.S. side, we are not so enlightened. Our government at the state and federal levels has gone to great lengths to make it impossible for our relationships to have parity with straight ones. We are not welcome in our country's armed services. Our families are unsafe and our children do not have the protections that children of straight-couples take for granted. In Michigan, there are even legal challenges to domestic partner benefits, on the grounds that offering employment parity might give too much legitimacy to same-sex couples.
We feel that the U.S. has a lot to learn from our neighbors to the north about liberty, freedom and equal rights. This weekend, Hotter Than July! will also be in full swing with the annual picnic event in Palmer Park this Saturday. Tens of thousands of LGBT people of color will gather for the festivities. Yet LGBT people, especially LGBT people of color, will have to settle this year for only slight gains in social acceptance, while also mourning the loss of affirmative action programs due the passage of Proposal 2 last fall.
While Canada steps forward towards a more enlightened future, it feels like Americans need to work harder than ever to save our values that speak to equality, justice, humanity and faith. Too often our leaders and the policies they invoke are driven by fear of "the other," whether it is in attempts to drive LGBT people back into the closet, people of color out of the universities, or "illegal" immigrants out of the country all together. We must believe that we can do better and have faith iin the future and our collective ability to rise above fear and learn to govern ourselves with real vision.
As we look forward to this weekend's events in Palmer Park and on the riverfront in Windsor, we know there will be lots of socializing, partying, celebrating and networking. We also hope that we will take the opportunity to be realistic about what needs to be done at the personal, professional and communal levels to obtain equality and freedom for everyone, including LGBT people. We are not stronger divided and isolated, we are only more vulnerable. The Canadians seem to have adjusted to this modern reality, and as Americans we must keep the flame of hope alive so that someday, maybe soon, we can celebrate our full equality too.
