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Whistler couple making same-sex marriage an election issue

Skerritt, Rein fed up with ‘all the right-wing’ parties that oppose gay marriages

The Conservatives have done a lot to generate interest and attention during this election campaign but there are two issues that party leader Stephan Harper has stumbled over or avoided: the war in Iraq and same-sex marriage.

With regards to Iraq, many believe the Conservatives would have sent Canadian troops to fight alongside the Americans, despite the fact that most Canadians were against such an action.

But with the war over, the U.S. about to hand over governance to the Iraqis, and UN involvement in Iraq becoming more likely, Iraq has declined as an issue. Meanwhile, the debate about gay rights and same-sex marriages is gaining some momentum.

And directly or indirectly, the issue affects many people in the Sea to Sky corridor, including those who benefit from the thousands of gay travellers that spend money here every year.

Tourism Whistler marketing vice-president Arlene Schieven said that during Altitude week alone gay people inject about one million dollars into Whistler’s economy every year.

She also said Tourism Whistler is working on a global strategy to attract more gay travellers to Whistler.

"Tourism Whistler recognizes that the gay and lesbian segment is a growing market and is driving incremental room nights throughout the year," said Schieven.

"For 2004 and beyond, Tourism Whistler has increased its commitment in marketing to the gay and lesbian segment in destination markets through print advertising, collateral and Web site content."

Schieven said Tourism Whistler had specific interest in the German, Australian and North American gay markets and is working at collating a network of gay media to help promote Whistler.

"Last year the media relations team hosted over 10 gay media outlets from around the world, including MyGayWorld, Gloss, Genre, Xtra West, Buzz, Fab, and Sergej magazine from Germany."

But for Whistler to truly reach out to the gay community it has to involve more than just a business strategy.

Dr Lisa Skerritt and Amy Rein are a lesbian couple who own a business and live in Whistler.

They have two children: their son Ethan is two and Skerritt just gave birth to Emma two weeks ago.

Both women are educated and articulate and they will soon be married, but right now they are livid at the Conservatives and "all the other right-wing" parties that oppose same-sex marriage.

Skerritt said she never really cared about the fact that same-sex marriages are not recognized by the federal government in the same way straight marriages are – until she had children.

"I never cared before when I was single and living in the West End. I was happy to be considered different and not accepted by the religious right because I don’t agree with most things they say anyway. But now I have children I take it personally," said Skerritt.

"I worry about how it’s going to affect them in school because I don’t want them to be bashed or ridiculed.

"So every word that comes out of these politicians’ mouths that is bigoted and prejudice against gay people has a direct result on my kids."

Debates about civil rights can be complicated but according to Skerritt the fight for same-sex marriage is quite simple.

"To deny it to us feeds into homophobia," she said.

"To say that gays shouldn’t be allowed to get married tells some 15 year old boy down there on the street who’s questioning how he should feel about homosexuals that there’s something wrong with homosexuality, that there’s something wrong with Amy and I’s relationship.

"So when Ethan goes to school that boy might think it’s okay to beat him up because his parents are two women.

"But my question even beyond that is how can anyone justify denying us the same privileges as any other Canadian? I pay taxes."

To ensure her voice was heard during this election Skerritt sent letters to several MPs, including West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast Conservative MP John Reynolds.

"John Reynolds sent me a form letter saying that he disagreed with same-sex marriage… that’s what kind of sparked this for me, and I found his form letter very offensive and I thought it was time that I took a stand and did something.

"For me the bottom line is if the Canadian Alliance, Reform, Conservative Party, or whatever they want to call themselves this week, get in, they’re going to take us back 20 or 30 years.

"And Canada is such a progressive country; we are 20 years ahead of America on this issue."

In his letter to Skerritt and Rein, Reynolds wrote that the Conservative Party, like the Alliance party before it, defines marriage as a "union of a man and a women".

"The official policy of the Canadian Alliance states: ‘The marriage relationship will be defined as endorsed by Parliament (June 1999) as the union of a man and a woman as recognized by the state’," wrote Reynolds in his letter.

"The Canadian Alliance is the only party with an official position in support of the traditional definition of marriage.

"Most Canadians believe that the institution of marriage is an important part of our society.

"The legal definition of marriage as ‘the voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others’ has existed in Canada since Confederation, and the Canadian courts have consistently applied this definition until very recently.

"The decision of three provincial courts – B.C., Ontario, and Quebec – to order Parliament to re-define marriage to include gay and lesbian couples ignored an earlier Supreme Court of Canada decision.

"It also ignored the decision of Parliament just four years earlier."

Ron Gray, the Christian Heritage Party candidate in Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, also opposes same-sex marriage.

"Legalizing same-sex marriage is wrong because this kind of behaviour is addictive," said Gray.

"It’s like alcoholism, if we send a message that it’s okay, some children will experiment with it just because it’s there."

But the other candidates representing the major parties in this riding disagreed with Reynolds’s position.

NDP candidate Nicholas Simons is gay and has attended Whistler’s Altitude week with his partner. Liberal candidate Blair Wilson and Green Party candidate Andrea Goldsmith also said they supported same-sex marriage.

Wilson said the Liberal position comes down to two basic things.

"One of them is that no matter what your sexual orientation is, or your race, we’re all equal before the law, that’s paramount," said Wilson.

"The second thing is that the church and state need to be separated and the government has no place in our churches, our synagogues or our temples.

"It’s up to those individual institutions to decide what those people do and believe."