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NEWS STORY
Bégin delights gays
-He'll push for equality as couples and parents-
ALLISON HANES
Montreal Gazette
Friday, February 22, 2002
Perhaps it was the moment he was moved to tears, but sometime in the last few weeks Justice Minister Paul Bégin became persuaded that if Quebec was to take a step toward recognizing the rights of gays and lesbians, it might as well be a giant step forward.
Yesterday, on the last day of legislature committee hearings on a bill to institute same-sex civil unions, Bégin outlined his recommendations for the final version of the legislation.
If what he recommended comes to pass, Quebec will become what one gay-rights advocate called the second most advanced society in the world, after Holland, for enshrining the equality of gays and lesbians as couples and as parents.
Bégin wants to give same-sex couples full rights as parents - which he said must be done for the sake of their children.
He said he thinks same-sex couples should have equal consideration when applying to adopt.
And he said he wants to extend the proposed civil unions to heterosexual pairs to avoid treating same-sex couples as "separate but equal."
Bégin's remarks lit up the faces of those gathered in the room at the conclusion of the hearings, as it was almost exactly what they have been asking for.
When the draft bill was presented last fall it was a cautious piece of legislation and the gay and lesbian community was lukewarm toward it, mainly because it contained no mention of parental rights.
Bégin - who said at the time he was open to input - admitted yesterday that he was moved by what he heard during the consultations, especially from the children of same-sex couples.
He likened what he intends to do for the children of same-sex parents to what his predecessor Marc-André Bédard did decades ago for illegitimate children.
"No children should ever be ashamed because of their parents," Bégin said. "Love between a couple is the cement that allows children to grow and mature."
"This is something," said Claudine Ouellet, director of the Coalition of Gays and Lesbians of Quebec. She shook her head in astonishment as she stood up to go and hug Bégin. "Another book of history was written today - and a big chunk."
Throughout the gay and lesbian community yesterday there was a sense of joyful incredulity.
"I'm on Cloud Nine. It's a dream," said Nathalie Ricard, a Montreal mother who testified before the committee as an individual yesterday, her lesbian spouse and 13-year-old son at her side.
"This government will go down in history if they do what the minister says he intends to do," said Irène Demczuk, president of the Quebec Coalition for the Recognition of Same-Sex Spouses. "Quebec will be the second most advanced society in the world with its approach to equality."
But there was also caution.
"I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched," said Claude Pierre Côté, a member of the Canadian gay-rights group ÉGALE - Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere.
He couldn't stop smiling, though.
"It's been 25 years - 25 years of fighting for this and now we almost have it," he said, referring to the date Quebec began protecting people in its charter of rights from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Short on Specifics
Bégin was vague, however, on the specifics of how he plans to extend full rights to same-sex parents.
Over and over during the hearings, same-sex couples who have children together told of the difficulties they encounter when one parent is not recognized by law. Only the biological parent can consent to medical care for the child, register the child in school or take the child out of the country on vacation. And if the biological parent should die suddenly, the only other parent the child has known is not guaranteed custody.
Bégin said there are two choices: either allow the non-biological parent to be registered on the child's birth certificate or permit the non-biological parent to adopt the child.
Mona Greenbaum, co-ordinator of the Lesbian Mothers Association of Quebec, said getting around the problem by allowing such adoptions is not good enough.
"It's copping out," she said.
"If it's legal adoption and not legislation, it means the government has done nothing."
Taking the adoption route is expensive and slow, she said. Some parents never get around to it. If tragedy strikes, they are left in the lurch.
But Greenbaum said she is nonetheless in a daze at how open the government has shown itself to be in the last few weeks to the concerns of the gay and lesbian community.
"Who knows, we might get what we want," she said. "But I won't celebrate until I see the piece of paper."
Bégin said he wants to introduce the final version of the bill as soon as the National Assembly resumes sitting in mid-March and have it passed into law by the end of the session in June.
But there was one dark cloud looming yesterday.
Michèle Lamquin-Éthier, one Liberal member of the committee, who all along seemed open to the concerns of the gay and lesbian community, said in her closing statement that the government must proceed with caution.
Lamquin-Éthier even suggested parental rights should be treated as a separate issue from civil unions.
Absent from her side yesterday was Nathalie Rochefort, the other Liberal MNA on the committee, noted for her progressiveness on social issues.
Rochefort could not be reached for comment last night, but Ouellet of the Coalition of Gays and Lesbians of Quebec said her absence was telling.
Ouellet vowed that the Liberals are in for a fight if they fail to fully support the civil union bill - including full parental rights - and could face the loss of the powerful gay and lesbian constituency's vote come the next provincial election.
"We will remember this for a long time to come," she warned. "If the opposition continues in this way they will send a message that they are the ones who don't want all kids to be truly equal under the law."
- Allison Hanes's E-mail address is ahanes@thegazette.southam.ca.
© Copyright 2002 Montreal Gazette
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