ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — It’s a time capsule that reveals a contentious time in the province’s history, but one that hasn’t faded into irrelevancy, given that a human rights case still swirls around the province’s legalization of same-sex marriage and what some saw at the time as a draconian take on the rights of marriage commissioners.
About 300 pages of documents — many repetitive — were recently made public under access to information legislation on the subject of the transitioning of marriage commissioners to performing same-sex marriages in 2004-05.
Meanwhile, as reported last week, a human rights case stemming from those first days of the province granting same-sex couples the right to marry is still making its way through the province’s justice system even though the person who launched the complaint has since died.
But a journey through the letters written to the government of the day — which, before it drafted a letter to existing marriage commissioners, sought advice from other provinces on how they were dealing with refusals to marry same-sex couples — portrays some deep-rooted resentment for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community’s triumph on the federal and provincial front on the issue.
At one time there were concerns about how dangerous some of the backlash might become.
“I received a voice message from someone on the west coast (no name provided) saying that the Lord who made heaven and earth want to know why mayors who refuse to marry homosexual couples must resign and may not marry ‘normal’ couples. Quoting biblical passages and the like. Warning of disasters taking place in the world and why, etc.,” wrote one government official in January 2005 while questioning whether they should alert security.
In December 2004, the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court allowed same-sex marriages in this province and the Vital Statistics Division sent a memorandum to all marriage licence issuers and marriage commissioners in the province that included the position that if those officials were unwilling to perform their required duties respecting civil marriages for same-sex couples, the commissioners would be required to resign.
Signatures of many of the people who wrote to the government in a fury have now been redacted under modern-day information vetting, as have the names of towns whose mayors blasted the government and refused to perform the ceremonies.
“‘Anything goes’ is not tolerance. It’s wrong,” wrote one irate letter writer.
“Our province has a deep rooted and long-established Christian heritage. These latest moves by the government takes us a long way from that heritage.
“We can be a tolerant people and indeed we are, but we don’t have to attempt to disguise immorality under its banner and force it to become acceptable.”
Form letters
The responses from the government were form letters thanking people for their opinions, but advising that this province did not intend to introduce specific legislation with respect to dissenting personal opinions regarding marriage.
“It is my personal, moral and religious convictions that marriage is between man and woman for the well-being of the family. For me to perform same-sex marriages would be in direct conflict with long-standing beliefs and convictions,” said one disapproving mayor, upset about the demand that he resign if he “did not toe the line.”
“It is clear to see how even the effect of the increase of divorce rate and the number of single-parent homes that children are at a loss and don't have the family foundation that they once had. How can they make such a huge decision to change family structure so drastically and not realize the impact it’ll have on every child whether or not they are raised by a gay or lesbian couple or not,” said a January 2005 letter to then premier Danny Williams.
“You do need to stand in the way of same-sex unions because these unions are abnormal.
… You’re the premier, you need to take a very strong stand on this very important matter and state in a very strong manner that marriage is a sacrament instituted by God between a man and a woman,” said another.
One person said they dropped in their seat as they watched the same-sex marriage ruling on the TV news.
“What a lousy world we’re living in to have happening,” stated the letter to federal officials.
A letter from December 2004 insinuated that the gay and lesbian community had influenced decisions through high places of authority, and the letter writer referred to a 2003 letter they wrote to a Newfoundland and Labrador MP in which homosexual males were blamed for the AIDS crisis.
“I have concerns that the issue is politically motivated and driven by other forces, such as financial within the homosexual community. Pornography, adverse publicity and media attention appear to be other factors,” said the writer.
Most of the letters were written in January and February 2005.
Rights violated
Others spoke of the rights of male-female married couples being violated, and Williams was asked why he was fighting for the economy, but not for the family.
“Danny … I know you are busy with the Atlantic Accord … but a more important issue is coming very near and should have been addressed long ago by the provincial government.
“The same-sex marriage issue is very important to our very existence. We know men and women were to propagate the earth and marriage is between a male and female. … A much higher issue is that this will open up if passed is the legislation of incest/polygamy and all that … the Bible tells us is sin. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for that same-sex thing. So, we are smacking God in the face by openly and soon legally committing sin,” said an email to Williams.
The email, though more concerned about same-sex marriage, ended with a p.s. from the person telling Williams to go for it with the Atlantic Accord.
Social destruction
It wasn’t the only letter to draw strange lines between same-sex unions and the promotion of pornography, as one die-hard warned of a destruction of “our good and social communities” over the issue of allowing the marriages.
Another person opined to the province about people having to witness homosexual behaviour in public and in schools, or that textbooks might be changed to reflect alternative families. They also warned that hotels would go out of business.
“Does this mean that if a few homosexual couples are hugging and kissing in a restaurant or swimming pool that my company operates as part of a resort or hotel, and most of the other patrons leave because they detest this activity, that I will not have any recourse to prevent these negative impacts to our businesses and the loss of employment to hundreds of people?” the letter writer asked.
Another mayor suggested that forcing them to resign would cause the province to lose tourism dollars from heterosexual couples wanting to return to the province to get married.
Others suggested that same-sex couples couldn’t possibly raise children in a normal fashion, and that same-sex marriages were destined to fail.
“I have spent a great deal of time with many homosexuals and I can befriend them as easily as a heterosexual,” said a teacher and community leader who spoke of a relative whose same-sex union lasted only a few months.
“It makes my blood run cold as it seems that we are now beginning to regress rather than progress in many ways as we change our mores and even legislation to accede to minority pressures although it is fully recognized and acknowledge that the will of the majority would not endorse the actions,” said one of the marriage commissioners handing in their resignation.
Twitter: @BarbSweetTweets
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