Same-Sex Marriage Resources

Bill C-38, the federal bill legalizing marriage for same-sex couples, was adopted by the House of Commons Tuesday. It is now on its way to the Canadian Senate.

If it passes, Canada will become the third country after Belgium and the Netherlands to legalize gay marriage.

To follow the debate, here are some helpful resources.

• Justice Canada Backgrounder - Civil Marriage Act (Bill C-38)
• Library of Parliament - Bill C-38 Legislative Summary
• Library of Parliament Reading List - click on "Further Reading" link
• Library of Parliament - Sexual Orientation and Legal Rights : background study on same-sex legal protections in Canada, spousal rights and marriage, with a chronology of parliamentary initiatives and important court decisions
• Supreme Court of Canada - Reference re Same-Sex Marriage, [2004] 3 S.C.R. 698 : In 2003, the Government of Canada announced it would draft legislation to legally recognize the union of same-sex couples, while recognizing the freedom of churches and religious organizations not to perform marriages against their beliefs. The Government indicated that the draft legislation would be referred to the Supreme Court of Canada to ensure its constitutionality. This is the Court's ruling
• CBC In-Depth: Same Sex Rights: Includes news, Canada and world timelines, text of the draft of the Ottawa same-sex marriage law, articles, and links to related sites and resources
• Same-Sex Marriage Quick Guide: from the Centre for Research and Information on Canada (CRIC), links to news coverage, legislative and judicial background from the provinces and the federal government, polling information
• FindLaw Legal News - Same-Sex Marriage Special Coverage: includes background information (legal landscape, historical overview of the debate in the US), court documents, legal analysis and commentary
• 50-state rundown on gay marriage laws: from Stateline.org, a nonpartisan online news publication on state government affairs, a listing of current law and proposals to change state marriage laws, including state constitutional amendments, changes to state law, and nonbinding resolutions
• The Battle over Same-Sex Marriage: San Francisco Chronicle website with up-to-date news and commentary from around the US and the world
• Same-Sex Marriage: A Selective Bibliography of the Legal Literature: books, websites, and articles from scholarly journals, on the topic of same-sex marriage, from Rutgers University
• American Association of University Presses: Books for Understanding Marriage - a list of academic books from member publishers
• Pace Law School - Same-Sex Marriage Litigation and News: links to news stories and court documents in many US states, state-by-state comparison charts of marriage laws
• Cornell Legal Information Institute Marriage Resources: links to landmark U.S. federal court decisions and state statutes
• State Library of Massachusetts - Same-Sex Marriage Bibliography: annotated bibliography with a major focus on Massachusetts, but it also contains material on other parts of the United States, also links to the websites of organizations in favour of and opposed to same-sex marriage