Gay Today: World

Pride Around the World

Quebec Equalizes Gays

By Rex Wockner
International Report

Pride Around the World

More than 5,000 people attended the gay-pride march in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 19, reported the BBC. Marchers cheered as they passed the headquarters of the Bank of Scotland which recently pulled out of a business deal with U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson after he denounced Scotland as a "dark land [where] you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are."

In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 3000 people turned out for the pride parade June 19. Once again, Mayor Bill Smith refused to attend and declined to proclaim pride week, local newspapers reported.

More than 5,000 people joined in Lille, France's fourth pride parade June 20. Organizers said the turnout "pulverized" last year's record attendance of 2,000.

Quebec Equalizes Gays

Quebec's National Assembly unanimously passed a law June 10 that gives gay and lesbian couples the same rights as common-law heterosexual couples.

Law 32 alters 39 provincial laws and regulations to recognize same-sex pairs in areas such as taxes, workplace standards, car insurance, pension benefits, retirement plans and social assistance.

"With the passage of Bill 32, Quebec has become the first province in Canada to remove all discriminatory distinctions between same-sex couples and opposite-sex common-law couples," said Carmen Paquette, spokesperson for the national lobby group Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere.

Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Canada's Supreme Court : Same-Sex Couples Are Equal

Pride Parades Multiply & Grow Worldwide from Berlin to Chicago

400 March in Tijuana, Mexico

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"The passage of this bill marks another giant leap forward in the struggle for equality."