Canada's First Legally Married Gay Couple Denied Entry Into USA
 

Now we're imposing US morals on Canada? That's not right at all.


Canadian Gay Couple Denied U.S. Entry

SUMMARY: Canada's first legally married couple were refused entry into the United States by a border official who wouldn't accept their family customs clearance form.

Canada's first legally married couple were refused entry into the United States by a border official who wouldn't accept their family customs clearance form.

Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell of Toronto were traveling to Georgia to speak at a conference sponsored by the Gill Foundation.

According to the couple, they abandoned their trip at Toronto's Pearson International Airport when the customs official insisted they fill out separate forms.

After complaining to a supervisor, the men were told that they wouldn't be allowed into the United States as a family because the country does not recognize same-sex couples.

"We had to make a difficult decision," Bourassa said. "We could have filled out separate forms. We felt that would have been an affront to our dignity, so we went back home."

David Thompson, a spokesman for Marriage Equality New York, wasn't surprised by the incident. "Unfortunately, what Kevin and Joe experienced is typical of what American couples go through all the time," he said. "The law and the policy of the country is that gay couples are legal strangers to one another. We aren't even allowed to stand together going through immigration.

"Couples who marry in Canada, and then demand recognition of their marriage in the United States, help the marriage fight here by focusing attention on the fundamental injustice of current U.S law," he added.

Bourassa, an advocate for same-sex marriages, and Varnell, a banking manager, were married in 2001.

Same-sex marriage is legal in the provinces of British Columbia and Ontario. The Canadian national government has drafted legislation that redefines marriage as a union between two persons, but it won't be introduced to Parliament until the Supreme Court of Canada finishes reviewing the proposed legislation's constitutionality.

The customs incident comes on the heels the Canadian Parliament's narrow defeat earlier this week of a motion defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Doug Elliot, the couple's lawyer, said he spoke to Canada's foreign minister about the incident.

Elliot also indicated that he was investigating whether any legal action on behalf of his clients is warranted.

"We can't force the United States to change its laws on same-sex marriage," the lawyer said. "But we can insist that Canadians be treated with respect and that Canadian law regarding family recognition be respected."

Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, said that, as wrong as the incident was, "many Canadian and American couples have traveled between the two countries without incident. The solution, of course, is to end discrimination on both sides of the border."

dam, send the fags to mexico i dont want to pay tax dollars for them,

o wait we still have BC.

until same-sex marriages are legal here I see nothing the border agent did was wrong.

Sounds like these guys wanted to make a big deal out of it though or they'd have filed seperately and went in.

why the fuck not .. it's our country .. so if some pedifile from another country wants to come here and fuck 12 year old girls we should let him ? Because it's ok in his country ?

That is a morality issue though. We should not impose our morals on tourists from Canada. I don't think that's right or fair to do.

What harm are they doing? Two people love each other and we deny them entry into this country because of that??? Fuck that is just not right, whether they are a man and a woman, or a woman and a woman, or a man and a man.

that's far from a similar example.

You can't compare a pedo to a gay person in all fairness.

That's absurd.

Well said. And by the way, I disagree with one thing in your original post - I dont think they are imposing U.S. morals, since Im a U.S. citizen and I have NO problem with it whatsoever. Id say they were imposing Christian morals...its pretty sad if ya ask me

yes, the funny thing would be to see the couple accepted at muslim nations.

Crossing any border is a privilege... not a right.

lol ... i agree on this specific case but that's not how the constitution is made . Anyways

plain stupid!

I really hope one day we realize John Lennon's dream and have no more fucking walls and borders. All they do is cause problems.

We're all mutts anyway.

:1orglaugh

Well im some cultures it's ok to marry a 11 year old girl .. should we accept them into our country as a couple? Fuck No .. Im not saying Gay people are in the same category as child molestors .. but it's the same type of deal. Who decieds what we should and shouldnt accept from other countries
If it isn't legal by our laws we shoudn't have to accept it. Im not saying I agree with the laws.
Alls im saying is what they did was not wrong.

Do you have any input or you should gonna sit back and call people stupid ?

Well the Republicans are going to blow whatever gay vote they had out the window with this move.

I used to think Bush would be a slam dunk in the next election, now I think he's just going to get slammed out.

I don't think bush has a chance next election .. and where the hell our the weapons of mass destruction we were looking for?

Just wait and see. He'll probably find both Osama and Saddam 4-6 months before elections, and then you'll leve Iraq. He'll be the hero, and the stupid sheeps will vote for him again :glugglug

lol probably^^ wouldnt suprise me.

I absolutely loathe that song.

:Graucho

Although I am not American, I agree. :thumbsup

It is your country and you can impose whatever morals you want on visitors. Just because they marry donkeys in India (which actually does happen) does that mean should allow a woman and her donkey to move to the US? Or should you have the right to say 'hey take your degenerate culture back to whatever shit hole you came from'?

You can argue that gay marriage is 'different' but it isn't. It may be different to you because you sell gay content or something (not saying you actually do), but if the general consensus is that gay marriage is wrong, than in my opinion it's perfectly fine to turn refuse them entry.

And by the way, if they were allowed into your country it would actually be Canadians imposing Canadian morals in the US.

:2 cents:

i agree.

couldnt agree more if you think pedos compare to gays you should see a doctor oh and mail me when your son comes home with a guy id like to know your reaction :)

ps glad im in holland were gay marriage is legal and gays are accepted as humans not as some kind of disease

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Odin88
[B]

It is your country and you can impose whatever morals you want on visitors. Just because they marry donkeys in India (which actually does happen) does that mean should allow a woman and her donkey to move to the US? Or should you have the right to say 'hey take your degenerate culture back to whatever shit hole you came from'?


maybe you should get your facts straight they married two donkeys no a women and a donkey :)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2998872.stm

http://news.com.au/common/story_page...E13762,00.html

9yo girl marries dog
From correspondents in New Delhi


A NINE-year-old girl was married off to a dog in the presence of more than 100 people in eastern India under a tribal custom to protect the child from evil, a report said today.

... ...

Homosexuality is the Hula Hoop of today.

Eventually the fad will pass, at least until the next unnatural abomination comes along..

thats an aussie news site :P

sorry to say but homosexuality in mother nature exists as well its not unnatural...

its a perversion

we don't really go in for arranged marriages either but when is the last time you heard of a married couple being refused a tourist visa to the States because that is how they came to be a couple?

What about this is so hard for people to get their heads around?

It's really not that complicated.

If you want to enter a country fill out your forms as required by the countries government.

Good. Very good. :2 cents:
Goddamn homos

this is all a publicity stunt, fill out seperate forms and you can enter the country. But these stubborn fags just could not do that could they????
Im so fucking sick of the fags, feminists, and every other minority group bitching and demanding equal treatment for whatever reason, while the rest of the hard working "normal" people get pushed around cause we just go about our business without demanding recognition for being straight.
If the U.S. customs official did not accept them as married, then tough luck. Deal with it, and find a way around it like the rest of society does when they are faced with a roadblock in life.
You know things are so fucking bad when at a University in Ottawa the word "woman" has been legaly changed so the word "man" is taken out.... Its spelled "womyien" or somethign fucked up like that...
:321GFY

Too bad gays can't have kids

:1orglaugh

WELL SAID!
:thumbsup

Huh?!? Sounds more like two gay boys from Canada got all pissy when they tried to argue with a bureaucrat asking them to fill out some forms, turned around all a'flutter and VOLUNTARILY went back home in a huff.

No, wait! That's not what it sounds like at all:

"Mary Joe, I'm bored silly waiting for parliment to approve all this and we're not getting <B><I>any</I></B> attention at all in the meantime. Let's go to america and stir some shit up at the border!"

after you take away all those there really aren't that many 'normal' people left. Oh and who says 'fags', feminsts and minorities aren't hard working?

Amen!

Bottom line is they probably wouldn't have had a problem if they would have just filled out separate forms and not make a stink!

Gay drama queens looking for more attention. I guess they didn't get enough at their friggin' gay pride parade.

You fucking retard!

First of all, I think gay marriages should be legal n the U.S. But, as of now they are not legal, so the dumbasses should have just filled out the proper paperwork if they really wanted to come here. Pot is legal now in Canada, isn't it??? But, you can't bring it on the plane with ya to the U.S.!

I don't think it is about "marriage" as much as about recognition of commitment. etc.

People can distort the vows of marriage as they see fit, but the fact is that the social convention has to fit some precise legal definition in each country.

Two men (married in Canada) does not fit the legal definition of marriage for the U.S.A.

I don't see what there is to argue about the specific case mentioned.

If you don't pass the requirements for entry to a country...you do not get into that country.

If you are not muslim, you are going to have a hell of a time getting a Visa to Saudi. Try it.

In terms of the U.S. law (maybe other countries as well), perhaps they need to rethink the implications of both the social, political and religious implications of the institution of marriage.

If two guys can marry each other, why should some backwoods kuntry hick be forbidden from marrying his sister?

What should the legal defenition be?

It's not simple when we begin breaking down those long-standing pseudo religious qualifications that have come to guide the law.

Want to open the flood gates?
It isn't as simple as you think.


:1orglaugh

Some really interesting points made here on both sides of this issue.

We have enough homos here already.

it's really simple... when going to another country, you abide by the laws of that country... if you can't hang and respect their laws, don't go.

heres a good idea, make all the homos live in canada if they like them so much

They weren't denied entry.

They could have filled out the seperate forms and gotten in.

That would be financially benefecial...

Gay couples have a much higher disposable income. Also the government wouldn't have to pay child allocations unless they adopt ( which is less likely than so called straight couple ).


But on the main topic, I don't see in which way letting two guys in as "married" is more of a menace than as " single" ...

Just shows where your country is heading to...