Canada Day

It’s really quite traditional for me to post something about the wonderful country I live in on Canada day, but with the limited computer stuff I’ve got going on since the unfortunate demise of my laptop (we have a plan. All will be well) I’ve sort of got limited ability to make a post work today.  I’d like to invite you then to re-read (or read for the first time, if you’re new here) the posts from the last seven years.  (Wow. I’ve been blogging a long time.)

2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

For this year, since Canada’s Birthday coincides with Pride week here in Toronto (and because if I play my cards right, I can get the "if you love your country you hate mine" people and the "I’m not reading you anymore because you think that gay people should have the same rights as I do" people to all leave comments at once and get it done.)  I leave you with something that makes me very proud to be Canadian. It’s a quote from then Prime Minister Paul Martin’s speech in 2005 about the Same-Sex marriage bill.   If you have time, do read it all.  It’s a remarkable argument for freedom, human rights and the way Canadians do things.

I urge those who would oppose the bill to consider that the core of the issue before us today is whether the rights of all Canadians are to be respected. I believe they must be: justice demands it, fairness demands it and the Canada we love demands it…

There are times when we as parliamentarians can feel the gaze of history upon us. They felt in the days of Pearson and they felt in the days of Trudeau. We, the 308 men and women elected to represent one of the most inclusive, just and respectful countries on the face of this earth, feel it today.

There are few nations whose citizens cannot look to Canada and see their own reflection. For generations, men, women and families from the four corners of the globe have made the decision to choose Canada as their home. Many have come here seeking freedom of thought, religion and belief, seeking the freedom simply to be.

The people of Canada have worked hard to build a country that opens its doors to include all, regardless of their differences; a country that respects all, regardless of their differences; and a country that demands equality for all, regardless of their differences.

If we do not step forward, then we will step back. If we do not protect a right, then we deny it. Together as a nation, together as Canadians, let us step forward.

325 thoughts on “Canada Day

  1. Canada Day, Pride Week, and the Cambridges’ visit–y’all are mighty busy up there!

  2. Well said – both of you. Happy Canada Day! Good luck to Team Knit on their bike ride.

  3. Happy Canada Day! I love crossing the border into a country in which I am legally married, it makes it hard to come back home sometimes.

  4. Ohhhhh….. I can see the Pajama People cracking their knuckles and sliding up to keyboards now.
    Peace.Knit.Love (or shut up!)

  5. Happy Canada Day! Joyeuese Fête du Canada! You really do live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world with the nicest people.

  6. Happy Canada Day Steph! Living in the US now I get the grand pleasure of celebrating both holidays this weekend, and I love them both. Hope you get nothing but love-on comments this weekend!

  7. Wonderful words from your former Prime Minister. If all the world thought this way it would be a much more peaceful place! Happy Cananda day and Pride day.

  8. Happy Canada Day and offering some love from your southerly neighbors on Cape Cod in Massachusetts to try to balance any potential crap you get!
    If believing all humans should be proud of where they come from and/or live and have the same rights makes me wrong, I don’t want to be right!!!!

  9. Happy Canada Day! Being stuck in the States, I’m at work today, but the first thing I did this morning was come looking for your commemorative post.

  10. Thanks for putting it into perspective! To think – I was grumpy because my Canada Day is shaping up to being rainy and cold. Thanks for reminding me that I’ve got a lot to be grateful for that a little rain ain’t gonna spoil!

  11. Today my British boss wished us a “Happy Insurrection Day”. My coworker (Indian) and I both laughed at that, having shrugged off the yoke of Empire long before. Still, though, if you’re going to have a Queen, you folks have made the best of it in the biggest way possible – you have all the universal healthcare and reasonable behavior of the UK while still getting to live on the glorious soil of North America: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!

  12. Wow! Now that’s a speech.
    I love my country, but I also love your Canada Day posts.

  13. Even though today is rainy and cold in Vancouver (big surprise), I am happy to live here, because last week I witnessed a wedding photo shoot of two men, and I have honestly never seen anyone look happier.
    I love my country.

  14. For the record:
    I love your country almost as much as I love mine (proud to say I can sing both anthems and often do at hockey games).
    I will continue to read your blog BECAUSE you are in favor of gay rights and declare the same here.
    Happy Canada Day.
    -TreeCityKnitter

  15. Happy Canada Day to you.
    A lovely piece you’ve shared. I hope someday our country will take the same step forward towards equality, one of the major tenants we seem to hold to, but do not ultimately practice.

  16. Happy Canada Day! Hopefully soon, we in the US will be able to say all people are treated equally.

  17. Hope you’re having as lovely a Canada Day as we are having here in Kingston, ON. We were living in Washington, DC at the time of Paul Martin’s speech, so missed it. Thanks for reminding me why we returned here.

  18. I love your Canada Day posts! I think I’ve learned more about your country from these posts than I ever learned in public school here. That quote is wonderful, too!
    Happy Canada Day!!

  19. Happy Canada Day Stephanie! It is a cold one here in BC. I was talking to a knitting friend this morning and she was wearing some handknit wool socks. Hopefully you have weather more appropriate to the holiday back in Ontario.

  20. I love your Canada Day posts. Thank you from the bottom of my ex-pat heart.
    (Just think…had you worked in something about a vegetarian celebration meal, you could have got the nasty carnivore comments out of the way too…)

  21. Happy Canada Day! I am glad so you are our neighbor to the North. If y’all had a longer growing season I’d probably join you!

  22. Happy Canada Day, Steph! Celebrate!
    I’m happy and lucky to live right next door (relatively speaking) to your great nation, and very, very happy that my daughter is able to study in Montreal. I’m also very happy that some Canadian ethics just rubbed off on us here in NYS.

  23. Happy Canada Day! I am pleased to have you all as neighbors. Clearly you were a good influence on our governor and state legislature in connection with their legalization of the right to marry for all people.
    I just finished your post from yesterday. Today will be better, no doubt because of the beer and chocolate.

  24. WHAT!?!?!?! You Canadians legalized same-sex marriage and the sky didn’t fall? God didn’t blast your capital city off the face of the earth?
    Every teenager in Canada didn’t turn gay? Judges who perform same-sex marriage ceremonies aren’t struck blind?
    As you can guess from the sarcastic tone of the paragraph above, I believe in the legal right of all people, regardless of sexual orientation, to enter into the marriage contract with a person they think they know, but will shortly find out they don’t know at all, because of which they will worry that they’ve made a mistake (and sometimes discover they did) At least, I’ve been told that’s what happens when non-gay people marry. Never having been married myself, I cannot speak from personal experience. But I fervently believe everyone should have the legal right to give it a go if they’re brave enough.
    And to anyone, Stephanie, who dares to berate you for supporting same-sex marriage because marriage is a holy nad unchanging institution – STUDY SOME HISTORY, FOR PETE’S SAKE, YOU IDIOT!
    There! I’ve yelled, and now I feel better. Happy Canada Day.

  25. Happy Canada Day! I’m glad you’re our neighbor to the north. You have a beautiful country! Oh, and thank you for letting us borrow some of your sons for the hockey season and even keep a few for a bit longer. I’m from Pittsburgh, we have the great fortune of borrowing some of your finest!

  26. Happy Canada Day!Glad to hear about the computer plan in the works.

  27. Happy Canada Day!
    I really love reading your posts about your great nation. I hope you have a chance to enjoy the holidays and to recharge after your horrible ugly yesterday.

  28. Ignore the haters – no matter what it is they are hating today. Life is too short to put up with their self-important nonsense.
    Happy Canada Day Steph!

  29. Happy Canada Day, happy Pride Week and thank you for being exactly who you are. As a person who is “straight but not narrow” I salute you and wish my country (USA) could be half as civilized and in tune with justice for all and peace on earth as Canada. Keep on being Canadian with all the pride you can have – you deserve it.

  30. Enjoy Canada Day!! I’m in London UK and there’s a massive number of Canuks celebrating in Trafalgar Square tonight.

  31. On the subject of same sex marriage, I currently live in DC, where it’s been legal for a while, I grew up in Massachusetts, where it’s been legal for longer and I’m super proud of New York, where it just got passed.
    Having just gotten married myself, although not as a same sex couple, I can’t imagine denying anyone that day of happiness, and the lifetime of love that comes with it.
    Happy Canada Day!

  32. What are you saying? You dont think gays need to pray the gay away? I am shocked! Shocked, I say! 🙂
    Happy Canada Day! We had Pride in Portland a couple of weeks ago. For some reason, Portland Pride, always falls on Fathers Day weekend. I’m grateful to live in a city that is as gay friendly as Portland is. I only wish others in the state felt that way when Oregonians decided to enshrine marriage inequality in our state constitution back in 2004.

  33. Whee!!! Happy Canada Day everyone! It”s a beautiful day here in Ottawa, and I am spending it the best way I know how – knitting socks! I wanted to say Happy July 4th to our lovely neighbours to the south as well. May everyone have a lovely holiday weekend full of joy and knitting!

  34. Much to celebrate. Quietly lead and with luck, others will follow the admirable example. Joy to all.

  35. In honor of your great country, my daughter (age 22) and 7 friends are setting out tomorrow on a road trip from Chicago to Toronto, Montreal, and Niagara Falls. I know she will be treated well by the good people of Canada, and I feel that she’s safer there than in Chicago. O Canada!

  36. Kate K’s message made me laugh out loud. However, yours made me happy for everyone who lives in a rationally run country. Your speach reminds me why I believe that people should be able to marry, regardless of sexual orientation, religion or weirdness. Yaay Canada!

  37. It eludes me how anyone can think anything our beloved Yarn Harlot says is not a pearl of wisdom and kindness. You just don’t have it in you. I am proud to say NY has seen the light and passed a same sex marriage bill. Happy Canada Day!

  38. Happy Canada Day! My first one as a non-visitor! Not a citizen yet, but I’m still thrilled to be here.

  39. Happy Canada Day to you! Happy Independence Day to us! Two grand countries that we can all be proud of!

  40. Happy Canada Day! Happy Pride Week! I don’t acre if the is a border between us, I’m happy to join you in celebrating equality for all.

  41. I assure you that since that fateful day declaring Equal Marriage a right for all, neither the Judges nor any of us clergy who conduct such ceremonies have been smitten in any way except by sheer joy, holy humility and overwhelming grace. Happy Canada Day! Knit on!

  42. Happy Canada Day! I wish I could speak of the same pride in my home country and state, but alas, we have some catching up to do.

  43. I love to read your Canada Day posts. I makes me proud to be your neighbor to the south. Happy Canada Steph! I hope you get your computer issues sorted out soon, for your sake.

  44. Always love your Canada Day posts. I saw first hand several years ago how Canada Day is celebrated (in Winnepeg). It was a delight.
    To all the LGBT community and families, Prime Minister Paul Martin’s speech said it extremely well. Celebrate.

  45. Ain’t it wunnerful being an earthling! Good things are coming….in addition to Sock Summit.

  46. I love you Steph, but please stop belittling people who oppose same sex “marriage”. I don’t oppose same sex “unions” but when these people try to redefine the meaning of a word … yeah, I got a problem with that.
    Kind of like when people tell you you’re crocheting, when you’re really knitting. 🙂

  47. Happy Canada day! I was looking forward to another great list of canada’s history, but this is one great reason instead. I would be proud to hear that speech out of my elected representatives mouth. Hope the computer is fixed soon!

  48. Happy Canada Day, and thanks for posting Paul Martin’s comments. I’ve been living inThe US since 1995 and I still don’t get why so many people here don’t get it. When has being inclusive ever hurt anyone?

  49. Happy Canada Day, and not just because Canada makes freedom to marry a real freedom. Happy Canada Day because Canada is “a country that opens its doors to include all, regardless of their differences; a country that respects all, regardless of their differences; and a country that demands equality for all, regardless of their differences”.
    My country has a long way to go.

  50. Rock on Stephanie! Happy Canada Day! And yay for Pride! I’m glad that I live somewhere where people of all kinds can celebrate who they are and enter into a loving relationship and know that we know they are in a committed marriage.

  51. That was a great speech. Thanks so much for posting it. Happy Canada Day!

  52. Let me add my best wishes, too, for a Happy Canada Da. One state at a time, perhaps the US will come into the 21st century, and join Canada in more generally open and affirming laws!

  53. “If we do not step forward, then we will step back. If we do not protect a right, then we deny it. Together as a nation, together as Canadians, let us step forward.” This. So very much, this.

  54. Happy Freedom Weekend from a neighbor to the south! There is nothing wrong with being proud of your country’s accomplishments and I hope no one is mean enough to take you to task for being patriotic and enthusiastic about where you live.

  55. Happy Canada Day!
    I’m American, but I lovelovelove your Canada Day posts. I look forward to rereading them. 😀 And then celebrating my own Independence Day on Monday! Have a great holiday weekend!

  56. No country is perfect, but I love that Canada makes a serious effort to be the best it can. I wish the US would try half as hard.

  57. Happy Canada Day!
    I’m very proud of your country, in the way it takes care of its citizens! We could learn a lot.

  58. Happy Canada Day from a very happy and proud New Yorker. And I will be visiting your fine country briefly next week, to pick up my Watson wheel!

  59. Happy Canada Day Stephanie! (From an American who can love both countries and believes in equal rights for all.)

  60. Yes, it gets those nutters out of the way in one fell swoop, but it also makes the people who love what you write only leave on comment too! Happy Canada Day! Good luck with the computer.

  61. Reading the “if you love your country you hate mine” people and the “I’m not reading you anymore because you think that gay people should have the same rights as I do” comments on your blog are my favorite parts of Canada Day and Pride week!

  62. Happy Canada Day to You! Happy 4th of July to US! And poop on the party poopers. Hope to read your tribute to Canada next year because I quite enjoy reading them. Good luck with the badly behaved computers.

  63. I’m NY born and a proud mother-in-law to a lovely Canadian girl. It makes me so happy that we can celebrate both countries on the same glorious extended weekend. As to your words on same sex marriage, “Hear, Hear!”

  64. You always make Canada Day a treat for this American! Thank you so much for today’s post. As usual, beautifully written. Stay Calm and Knit On!

  65. I loved Kate K.’s comment.
    If the US goes down the crapper, will you sponsor my husband and I to immigrate to Canada? We’re originally from Michigan, which is nearly a first cousin, and we’re (well, I) are more than willing to figure out meters and grams. :o)

  66. Happy Canada Day/ Happy Pride Weekend!
    Man that was a super crappy day from hell yesterday! 🙁
    I hope the planets have realigned and things improve from here.
    Thanks for taking the time to place all your Canada Day posts in one spot. I love re-reading them. Makes me glad my parents chose to move here 33 years ago!

  67. Excellent! I salute my Canadian neighbors and hope the US is not far behind in it’s decision to recognize the rights of all its citizens.

  68. Paul Martin made an argument that makes me proud to be Canadian. Today is a good day to remember that.

  69. Happy Canada Day from a patriotic US citizen. And thank you for posting that speech. Its good to remind all people that until everyone is treated equally under the law, no one is truly free.

  70. Happy Canada Day! I like Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s statement “government has no business in the bedrooms of the nation”

  71. As an ex-pat, I had been going thru withdrawal and decided to stock up a few days ago during a trip to Montreal so I could celebrate Canada Day here in NY surrounded with tons of Crispy Crunch, Coffee Crisp, and Cherry Blossom.

  72. Happy Canada Day!!! and Happy Pride Week!! Hopefully the US will catch up and soon….if that other party wins the next election, I may be moving north….

  73. What a deeply moving speech.
    Happy Canada Day to you, my friend.
    And, once again, I submit my annual appeal for political asylum in Canada because, apparently, I am a Danger to the American Way due to the fact that I believe that essential health care for citizens should be a national responsibility, that freedom is measured by the distance between church and state, that individual sexual behavior and reproductive choices are NOT the government’s business, that everyone has the right to a clean and healthy environment, that war is deeply misguided, that animals should be treated decently, and that homosexual individuals should be able to join their lives in LEGAL marriage, because marriage recognized by a government is a legal contract between individuals and, as a legal contract, marriage has nothing whatsoever to do with the prohibitions put forth by anyone’s so-called “holy book.”
    “O, Canada someday I’ll live in thee.”
    How grand it must be to live in a country

  74. Happy Canada Day! I grew up on the Vermont side of the Canadian border, only 90 min from downtown Montreal. I can only echo the sentiments posted by Dez (above). If any of the Republican crazies manage to get elected in the next US elections, I’m moving across the border.
    Eat, drink, knit, and celebrate!

  75. Happy Canada Day to my northern friends!
    I was so pleased to see just the one scolding comment (or have you been weeding?!). The ‘1st’ definition of marriage in most dictionaries indeed refers to “a social institution under which a man and woman” etc. However, no institution is static, nor should it be. Read the rest of the definitions- none refer to gender. Embrace evolution: constant and never-ending improvement! My own guiding principle is empathy. If one is truly empathetic, one would never deny a fellow human the right to joyfully join with the mate of their choosing in a formalized union. These national holidays are the perfect time to celebrate equal rights for all!

  76. It’s refreshing to see that decent & intelligent politicians exist. It gives me hope on this side of our common border. Happy Canada Day.

  77. Your neighbors to the south (at least some of us) thank you for setting a good example. I’m hopeful that some day, my partner and I will be able to at last be legally equal to our neighbors, in our own communities, in our own state (Oregon), in our country (the USA), and in the whole world. Won’t that be something to celebrate for all of us?!

  78. I wish I were Canadian today…tears of joy that our neighbor to the North chose to do what is Right!

  79. Ah, I to would like to be Canadian. I would much rather use your spelling of such things as colour and theatre. I would love to live in a community of such open minded and beautiful people as can be found in Canada.
    Happy Canada!
    I will be one you before I croak. Promise! 🙂

  80. I am hoping for the day when civility and fairness are the norm everywhere. Hoping.
    Happy Canada Day!

  81. It’s this sort of thing that makes me aspire to be Canadian. I seriously dream of moving my family to Toronto (a city I adore and have been to 30+ times) or even somewhere in Saskatchewan. I’m a bit of a Canadaphile. Canada is just so cool, and has the BEST sitcoms anywhere (Kids in the Hall, Trailer Park Boys, the list goes on!). Happy Canada Day!!

  82. I almost never comment but I just had to take the time today to say thank you! (and that this kinda makes me want to be Canadian.) Happy Canada Day!

  83. Happy Canada Day to you! LOVE your post, but more importantly, I hope today is a better day for you then yesterday was. Cheers!

  84. I am proud to live in a country that not only lets same-sex couples marry but also allows them to be married on a military base by a military chaplain.
    Whatever I might think of the institution of marriage or the institution of the military does not change the fact that there is no good reason to allow some people access to those institutions and not others.

  85. Fifty years ago my grandparents had to decide whether to emigrate to Australia or Canada. They chose Aus. I think we got a better deal on the climate, but maybe are lagging behind on the LGBT rights. One day we’ll catch up and I hope it’s soon. Meanwhile, happy Canada Day to the country I nearly belonged to, and happy Pride Day too.

  86. Happy Canada Day! Any country whose laws are for equal rights of all and whose leaders speak so eloquently has great reasons to celebrate itself.
    As an American, I grew up hearing we are the best country in the world. All too often, I have to remind myself that other countries are ahead of us in many areas, especially those of civil and human rights. While I celebrate our states who have legalized marriage not based on the fears of some but on the love of those who want to commit to each other, I live in California. Our court is still trying to decide if Proposition 8 is legal–one that limits the rights of some so that others can feel secure. I don’t understand. How can it be legal to make some citizens less than others?
    I am happy my new neighbors were able to marry during the short time gay marriage was legal here. They are wonderful women who work in different jobs to make life better for those in crisis, and they should have the right to commit themselves to each other publically and legally. Fortunately, their timing was good, and they took the opportunity to marry.
    Thanks for letting me vent.

  87. Happy Canada Day! It seems really absurd, and also sad, that you would receive hate mail for simply expressing some national pride. So I hope that this year is an exception and you receive only positive comments today!

  88. Happy Canada day and happy pride! I will never understand how people can believe that it is acceptable to deny someone equal status under the law. Gay, straight, bi, trans doesn’t matter, we are all human.

  89. Hppay Canada Day! Anyone who has negative things to say about Canada has probably never visited Anyone I know who’s spent even a few days in Canada loves it. And I just don’t get the whole anti-gay marriage thing. How on earth can it be anything but good for people who love each other to commit to a future together esp if they have children (says a woman who has lived with her partner for almost 25 years without benefit of marriage & not missed it a whit!) Both attitudes indicate a meaness of spirit that turns my stomach (people who are against the Dream Act also).

  90. Happy Canada Day! I still think that when the 1st and the 4th of July wrap the weekend like they do this year both countries should get a 4 day weekend.

  91. I feel badly that, after whinging about the lack of a Canada Day post, I went out and missed it’s arrival by 131 comments! Happy Canada Day to you, and well done, getting all the negative comments taken care of for the year at once.
    I hope you had a lovely day!

  92. Happy Canada day.
    The marriage issue isn’t about equality, it’s about living in alignment with the will of our God and creator. I respect your right to deny God and/or to choose to be homosexual. Persecution has never been acceptable, but that does not mean that a homosexual lifestyle is not a sin.
    I find it ironic that the LGBT community chose the rainbow as their symbol. The rainbow is a reminder of God’s promise not to destroy the world because of evil. The LGBT folks hide their sins behind the only promise that keeps God from flooding the earth again.
    You are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine.

  93. Bravo Canada! I’m not one to comment but reading posts like this give me hope for humanity. It is nice to know my northern neighbors know that we are all equal and are committed to treating each and everyone of us as such.
    Happy Canada day to you!

  94. I don’t usually comment because there are always loads of comments and I figure I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t been said.
    Only, today I kind of do.
    ’cause, I’ve been reading this blog since I started knitting as a confused college sophomore. I didn’t know what the hell was up with me, except that I was different. It turns out I was gay. I didn’t manage to come out until four years after that, but I have, and it’s lovely.
    Basically, I can’t tell you what it means to me to see affirmation and support coming not just from the places I expect it (I read a lot of lesbian blogs, ’cause that’s what you do on the Internet), but from all the corners where there are reasonable, compassionate people.
    So, thanks.

  95. Happy Canada Day to all our northern neighbors. I like to think I’m partly Canadian, since my grandmother Deffenbaugh’s family line is connected in some distant way to John Diefenbaker. The closest I ever got to him was when he and his wife attended a play at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival at the same time I did. It was Coriolanus, staged in Victorian dress – no idea why.

  96. I am with you on equality for everyone. Much as I love the US, I am disgusted by the narrow-mindedness of many when it comes to gay rights. IMO, no one is free until all are. Happy Canada Day!

  97. I’m going to crochet a gay Canadadian out of Red Heart and refer to it as a Knitgaydian. Then I’m going to frown at it for being being gay and Canadian and acrylic and vote on it’s various rights for it’s own eternal good. And to save my marriage. And my country. From the gays and the Canadians. And acrylic.
    I’m pretty sure it’s in the bible. Acrylicus 18:22, if I’m not mistaken.
    Happy Canada Day!!!

  98. Can I get a YAY Canada! I guess the grass is always greener on the “other side” of the border…more free-thinkers, more yarn stores, better beer…man I gotta get to Canada!

  99. Hey Stephanie, happy Canada Day and thank you for your brave and patriotic words. Only a few people intruding into your living room and feeling comfortable enough to declare their opposition so far…

  100. This speech sent shivers of pride… and humility for all we strive, sometimes (mostly)imperfectly to be and to do. I would rather live here than anywhere else and am glad to call myself a Canadian.

  101. You make me proud to be a neighbor of Canada. If only it weren’t the land of semi-perpetual winter (yes, I know parts of BC are temperate, but still).
    I do love the promise of the US and so many of its people, but I can also wish without compromising my beliefs that that our potential lived up to the example set by other nations like yours.
    Hoist a yummy Canadian beer for me (something better than Moosehead, please) and Happy Canada Day, Stephanie!

  102. This just makes me weep. Please pray for us and all those we love here in the US. Happy Canada Day, my dear.
    xo

  103. …aaaaand this would be why everyone likes Canada way better than the U.S. Happy Canada day, dear Steph. Many thanks to you and all Canadians for inhabiting the USA’s hat. Such a warm, woollen hat you are. (Did you see what I did there?)

  104. Happy Canada Day and Happy Pride Week!!! Your pride in both are part of what I love about you and your blog. Thank you!

  105. Stephanie,
    I was wondering if you’d put up one of your great, annual Canada Day posts and you didn’t disappoint! 🙂 Thanks for always finding some wonderful quotes to inspire us all.
    Happy Canada Day from an American fan of yours,
    Suzanne
    Knit on!

  106. Happy Canada Day and thank you for your beautiful post.
    It always saddens me especially when people use their religion to justify their hatred. As a young lesbian who is not and can not be (without being disowned) out to her family, I am reminded again and again just how much hate is held as doctrine by the people who have taught them their religion.
    Thank goodness for the beauty and grace of Canada, you Steph, and the many others out there like you.
    Happy Holiday weekend!

  107. Happy Canada Day – shall we all raises our glasses to not just the land of the free, but to the land free of small-minded, intolerant … people. Oh how I wish many citizens of my country would learn from their neighbor to the north.

  108. Happy Canada Day!
    I just have a modest proposal that the ‘gummint’ should not issue anything BUT civil union licenses, for any couple. Then, the government’s business is only things like property, welfare of children, custody, etc., in the event of dissolution of said civil unions. (business, that’s business)
    This is completely logical, because if marriage is “holy” it is NOT the business of the government at all, but a spiritual matter between you and your minister, rabbi, priest, preacher, or whatever you call the faith leader of your choice. (So it would depend upon a couple’s faith who can or can’t get married where…)
    There are many countries where civil ceremonies are required and separate from religious ceremonies. AND, some of these countries are mostly Roman Catholic.
    Go figure…

  109. Well said!!! Canada is a great country, as is the USA. We’re just behind on some things….. but it is really good to be neighbors! Just wish it wasn’t so cold up there….

  110. Wow… read the whole thing. My urge to move north is getting stronger. If only we could bring the grandbebes with us.

  111. Happy Canada Day, Stephanie!
    Thank you for being someone I can point to as a representative of what we stand for around here.

  112. Happy Canada Day and Happy 4th of July (early) from the right-leaning, southern, conservative USA. You are such an entertaining writer – I really enjoy your family and knitting topics so much. The political jabs and “we’re so fab and you’re so drab” seem rather immature, but, hey, it’s your blog and I keep reading it, so that certainly says something!

  113. Happy happy Canada Day to your whole family. I love this post and Canada is so fab and what a wonderful statement by a thoughtful Canadian wish more people here would take the same stand.I think love is too wonderful not to let everyone participate.

  114. Proud to be a Canadian!
    Happy Canada Day and Happy Pride week! What a great reminder that we are blessed to live in the country we do.

  115. Happy Canada Day!! And Happy Pride Week also!!
    Good way to get all the haters to strike at once. One of the things I like most about you is your ability to say what you want to, and not care what others think. I personally think way to much about what others think.
    June’s socks look great by the way. Good things do take time.

  116. I hope the US soon has the courage to pass a national bill legalizing gay marriage…It’s the only moral choice a civilized country can make.
    Thank for your clear and rational thoughts.

  117. Phew. A Canada Day post. All’s right with the world. And inspirational, thank you.
    Bad days go down in history. Computers can recover.

  118. As always, wonderful words of inspiration and fierce life-force love on Canada Day. Thank you,

  119. I find it so disturbing that people who love their country for its freedoms can also wish to deny those freedoms to someone else. Happy Holiday of Patriotism to all Yarn Harlot readers, regardless of nationality, or sexuality.

  120. It would seem that you can’t find any of those close minded people on your blog today (I admit I didn’t read all the comments). I’m glad they are going to other blogs and leaving this one alone!
    Much love and happy Canada Day!

  121. Happy Canada Day! 😀
    Hey Steph – I realise this is probably a completely mental question given the fact that you’re so busy with Sock Summit and a billion other things (love and hugs to that all mellowing out very soon!) but are you participating in the Tour de Fleece this year? 😀

  122. Happy Canada Day! Happy Pride!
    I love Scotland and England, California, and Australia (places I’ve lived), and I have a bit of a crush on Canada, France, Germany and Sweden (places I’d like to try living).
    I guess that makes me an International Harlot?

  123. Steph, as always thank you for a wonderfully written Canada Post. You always make me so proud to live in this great country.
    Knit on sistah!

  124. Canada has the best Flag-turned marketing icon in the red maple leaf. And O Canada is an awesome national anthem: not too long, good tune that makes you cry, words that are easy to remember, and non-military message.
    Sometimes I wish the border was kept at the Columbia River so I would get to sing that song!
    Happy Canada Day

  125. As the mother of a gay man who recently got married here in Canada, I say YAY to your post! Hope you get good fireworks where you live!

  126. (Belated) happy Canada Day…and HAPPY PRIDE! I hope that one day our Prime Minister sees things the way that yours does…..That way my missus might make an honest woman out of me! 😉

  127. Does Canada respect Deaf people’s right to access to sign-Language? In many countries in Europe and America sign-language is not recognised as an official language and has no legal protection. As a result many deaf people get forced to spend years learning to speak, missing out on a whole education of knowledge and life experience, spending their school years in a cupboard with a speech therapist fulfilling the obsession that deaf people somehow learn to look like they can hear. When actually sign language is a perfectly formed, gramatically mature language.
    We know about the rights of black people, women and gay people. No one seems to be hearing about this cultural genocide that’s happening over here in Europe at least.
    What does canada do about sign-language. there is a lot of suffering in this area.

  128. I hear you, I am a great believer in equal rights (and equal duties) I love Kate K’s take on consequences of marriage, equal rights there too! I hope Canada day was wonderfull. Btw “all four corners of the earth”? I learned the earth was round. Food for thought, lol. Love your blogs, always.

  129. Happy Canada Day and Pride Day! Thanks for including the link to Paul Martin’s speech. This is the first time I’ve read it and I thought it’s just terrific. It’s beautifully written and well thought out. In New York we finally have passed the bill to allow same sex marriages. I’m so happy for all the people who now have the same legal protections as my family, and who are now finally being recognized as a family. As usual, thanks for the great Canada Day post!

  130. I just wanted to say thank you for your Canada posts. They are among my favourites on this blog – I love hearing about the little details that makes Canada different.

  131. Happy Canada Day, Steph! Thanks so much for being a vocal supporter of equality. Hopefully the USA will have caught up with your country by the time I’m ready to settle down. For now, I’d just settle for having a girlfriend who loves hand knit scarves.

  132. Happy Canada Day (a bit belated)! How much do you bet that those two groups of whiners are actually mostly the same d@#n group? As a New York Stater, I’m delighted we now share Marriage Equality in common – in addition to so much else (including our beautiful border).

  133. Beautiful quote, brilliant post as always, even when you’ve got so much going on! Hope you had a great Canada Day and computers are cooperating again!

  134. Happy Canada Day! I am practicing “Oh Canada” in English and French. Am getting Rosetta stone so I can relearn the French I used to know. Am getting everything ready because when I retire I am moving to Canada.
    Thanks for being a great neighbor. Enjoy the day.

  135. As always, I love reading your Canada posts, and I dearly wish that the U.S. government would take a few lessons from you guys up north… Clearly allowing universal health care and marriage rights for all won’t bring society crashing down. If it weren’t for my loathing for temperatures below 40F I would be up there with you!

  136. Happy Canada Day and I find it quite lovely that around 99.5% of the comments here support human rights and EQUALITY!!! Your neighbors to the south are coming around and in due time we’ll get there.
    I live in Massachusetts and last fall I became an ordained minister online simply so that I could perform my best friend’s marriage ceremony for him and his fiance Pierre. Who is…. CANADIAN!! HA!

  137. MMMMMmmm, that was a good one. My aunt and her partner went to Canada a few years ago and got married. They live in NY and will finally have their marriage recognized (at least partly) here in the states. I love the part in that excerpt about the “Canada we love”.

  138. Happy Canada Day. Thanks for another year of honor, respect, kindness, humor, and thought. Cheers to you and your country.

  139. Happy Canada Day! Hope the weekend’s going well for you and that the Bad End to June is well and truly forgotten!

  140. Why do people keep saying that “gay marriage” is changing the meaning of the word???
    Marriage used to mean one man and many women (like, you know, the Bible)… Some cultures have different groupings of men and women in their marriages. People use the word marriage to mean a union of many things….”the marriage of chocolate and peanut butter makes a delicious candy”
    No one has any ground to stand on, when claiming that marriage only means one thing.

  141. Happy Canada day! Be proud! It makes me very sad that it often feels like it is becoming gauche to show national pride down here in the states. As it is, I have not yet visited your lovely country, but I hope to get the chance soon.
    As to the question of equal rights in marriage, I feel the need to defend what I think is a minority to which I belong. Personally, I think it is completely ridiculous that any state or nation should deny homosexuals the right to marry. The issue is just being used as an excuse to discriminate, and is just as illegitimate as the excuses of the past. That said, I love my God, and it makes me sad that everyone can’t know Him like I do. But I find belief in God to be just as illegitimate an excuse for treating homosexuals any less like human beings who deserve our love and respect than heterosexuals.
    So I will continue to pray that the rest of my beloved nation will soon take that step forward and quit being childish. I suspect however that the second part of that prayer may have me waiting a long time to see. I’m proud to be a United States citizen, but our politicians can be so very embarrasing!

  142. Excellent. Hopefully in the near future I will get the opportunity to live in Canada. If the stars allign, my husband will get the job in Edmonton and off we will go to experience Canada.

  143. Damn, I know you’re busy but I was really hoping for a comment on our atrocious mayor Sweaty Bob and how his recent refusal to participate in Canada Day or Pride reflects of our city. I know, nothing to do with knitting, but chances are Sweaty Bob is anti-knitting as well as anti-everything else decent. Happy Canada Day!

  144. Happy Canada Day for yesterday! Your British friends love you, look the Queen sent her grandson and his wife over for the party and everything!

  145. Love your Canada Day posts. We are truly so lucky. Sorry you’re a crazy magnet. I read your post to my husband, and he liked that the parliamentarians felt the ‘gays’ of the future. Ha!

  146. Just wanted to let you know you provided a special humanitarian service to one of your fellow Canadians. I’m a hospice RN in New Mexico, USA, and it just so happens that one of my patients last night shared that he was from Montreal. Because of your patriotic public service announcement, I was able to wish a dying man a Happy Canada Day and talk intelligently about some Canadiana….he was so surprised that his American nurse knew about Canada Day, and I think it made his night.
    I’ve been lurking for years, but glad I could share this with you.
    BTW…good luck with your computer & Sock Summit…
    Cheers!

  147. I’m always glad these days when people have pride.
    There is so much going wrong in the world we should join forces against the dark side. Does that statement date me? Happy Canada Day!

  148. Go sj – civil unions for all and to all a good (and private) night!
    I might be willing to get divorced from my beloved husband – legally – in order to change it to a civil union with all the same rights. Government has no business in my bedroom or anyone else’s. Civil unions could be useful to grandparents raising grandchildren, siblings who choose to live together for life or simply friends. Why should the government care if you are in love or intend to reproduce? Marriage? A matter for me, my SO, my God(dess) and maybe my clergy-person.
    I write this from Kentucky, where – to my great disappointment – an Unfair Marriage Amendment was added to the state constitution just before we moved here. As my husband says, we have to stay here to be part of the change.
    Happy Insurrection Days!
    (As an Indian-American I like that!)
    Kerridwen Mangala

  149. Makes me proud to live near Ontario, and to speak the language. It’s a very civilized country. Happy Canada Day, to all our good friends up north.

  150. WOW WOW WOW, That is very powerful and compelling. This is the first time I’d ever read it and I’m so impressed and in awe of this man’s thinking. Thank you for posting it.

  151. I just want to say that I respect Stephanie and her voice to say what she wants on her OWN blog. But it is a little upsetting to hear that us who opppoose same-sex marriage are instantly branded as hateful people who just HATE all gay people for the fun of it. The bottom line is you either belive in the Bible or you don’t. God’s Word is very clear on the issue of being gay and having strange relations. IT IS AN ABOMINATION AND A SIN and God hates it. That does not mean He hates the person(s)He loves everyone, He just hates the sin( which goes for all sin no one as sinned greater than anyone else it is all sin) As Christians we are called to love these people but to show them God, and what His Book says about what they are doing. As for the United States, no one can deny that the US was founded on strong Christian beliefs, it is in the history books. But people all over say to God Bless America but then our government goes and legalizes same sex marriage.
    Steph I love your blog and I love to knit, I hope you and everyone who commented will find the truth one day. I’ve never been to Canada but it does look very beautiful, SO Happy Canada Day, and Please God continue to Bless the USA!

  152. happy belated canada day ! i live in ny state which has finally gone the right way and granted marriage rights to all my lgbt friends ! happy to be border neighbors with a country that gets it right in so many ways. canadians rock !

  153. Happy Canada Day!! And freedom of religion means ALL religion, so yeah to to marriage for ALL in LOVE!

  154. Campaign crazy season is starting in the USA. Already have Michele Bachmann and her husband in the news going on about gays being barbarians. It’s only going to get weirder from here. I do my best to vote in progressives, but it doesn’t seem to be doing much good. I only wish I were Canadian. Health care for all and gay people are treated with legal equality, what a civilized country you have.

  155. Just read post above from Em. What I don’t understand is why people can’t believe in their interpretation of biblical teachings and just not have an abortion, or not have gay sex or what ever else they believe? Why do they have try to force others think their way is the only right way? I happen to have my own interpretation of biblical teachings. God tells me to mind my own business and not judge others least I be judged.

  156. Good for you. My state just enacted civil unions, which everyone was opposed to, right and left. We originally had high hopes of getting gay marriage passed but the state senate head refused. Hence the compromise. So supporters of gay marriage are upset (and also because the bill allows a religiously-affiliated hospital to ignore the wishes of the next of kin and go instead to the blood family! We have a fair number of Catholic hospitals in this small state.) and the opponents of gay rights are upset as well because they see this as the first step toward full recognition.
    And I hope it will be. Happy Canada Day to you.

  157. Where did you all find that Paul Martin? What an amazing leader!, I live in a fairly insular world and forget the frenzy that exists around “protecting” marriage. I laughed at your prediction regarding people’s responses in opposition to same sex marriage but sure enough, there they were, several quite sanctimonious. Just goes to show, all kinds of people knit…
    ps. I’d consider moving north for many reasons but, about the weather…..

  158. Can I help it if I thought that having Canada Day/Pride Week in the same week makes it an even more AWESOME PARTY?!?
    That was my thought. There are so many things about Canada I love, and those are two of them.

  159. As I’ve always said, when there’s too much love in the world, then we can start limiting who can get married. In the meantime, let people who are in love, express that love. There isn’t too much love in the world, yet.
    I used to live in Northern Maine (11 miles south of the border) and we were surrounded on three sides by Canada. The schools were bilingual: English and French. It was cool. Beautiful place you’ve got there, Canada (even though yes, I do love America more than anywhere, but that’s as it should be).
    Happy Canada Day to the Canadians!
    Happy Independence Day to the Americans!

  160. Happy Canada Day. I’m proud to be one of your many readers. Way to go, Stephanie!

  161. Happy Belated Canada Day! I loved your lists in the past years and found this year’s quoate truly inspiring. Living in the deep South of the US, we don’t get too much in the way of speeches that advocate equality for all or tolerance. It seems that the list of reasons to find work in Canada increases every year. 1.Really, what could be more basic to any civilization than making it possible for everyone to have access to health care? Is there a biblical argument opposing that? 2. My 5 year old daughter asked me today why my girlfriend and I are not married. I had to explain that in the state of Alabama, the state would not consider two women or two men married. I said that in some states your could be married, but if you moved to another state they would not recognize this. She didn’t seem to understand how this was possible. I think she has a valid point. A good friend of mine from northern Mississippi(who was raised Southern Baptist, is married and straight)puts it like this “If you live with a person and choose to put up with all of that, you should have the same rights and benefits”. 3. Knitting 4. Separation of church and state. 5. Poutine (this could really go anywhere on the list) 6. Canadian Comedy 7. Canadian Music
    Thank you.

  162. We are all never going to agree on everything, but we are all created in the image of a God who loves us all.

  163. Another brilliant post, Stephanie, which cannot be improved.
    From an embarrassed, sad, disappointed Californian, where equal marriage rights for all were taken away by a scared, not-very-bright, prejudiced consittuency of religious zealots, who apparently are still trying to figure out what Jesus meant when he said, “What ye do to the least of my brethren…..”.
    We’re working to fix it. *Sigh* The state that used to lead the way is now being shown the way by others….. Go NY!!! Go MA!!!! Go Iowa!!!! We’re on our way.

  164. It is my hope that here in the US as my generation starts to take over the government from the older generation (in about 10 years) everyone will have already come around to the idea that all people deserve equal rights. Kudos to our lovely northern neighbors for having already recognized this! Happy Canada Day!!

  165. Hoping you have had a lovely Canada Day. Your yearly posts are very uplifting and I always enjoy them.
    IF I was willing to becomen involved in the filth that is politics (give me dog poop on my sandals any day), then I would fight to eliminate the rights of all clergy to perform legal marriages. That should be the job of the State as it is a legal document. Should people who believe in sacraments (I do) choose to have their unions/marriages blessed/sanctified by their clergy, if the clergy agrees to do so, they should then do that.
    The US spouts lies when we are told that our government is founded on separation of church and state. It is so very obvious that it is NOT.

  166. First, I want to thank you. In the last week, I have read that I am a “barbarian who needs to be disciplined” since I am a lesbian. It is so refreshing to be reminded that there are many people who out there who consider me to be an equal to them. I was able to be legally married to my very lovely partner of 7 years in just the last month, and am so happy to find support for our union. So, again, thank you.
    And for the others who suggest that I malign them or categorize them in any way due to their religious beliefs, do know that is not the case. But I do stand by one of the more significant constructs on which this country was built (since those who did so were leaving their home countries due to religious persecution), which is the separation of church and state. I do not suggest or, in fact, want to change your right to practice and believe what you will. However, you also do not have the right to GOVERN how I live my life.
    Happy Canada Day!

  167. my heart swells with pride at those words. and while i realize we may not always achieve the lofty goal of which mr martin speaks, we do at least acknowledge that that is what we aim for.

  168. Thank you for your courage, Stephanie. I am not a gay person, but I am so proud of that my country protects the rights & the humanity of gay persons & that it has taken a brave, leadership position on this issue. I live in Paul Martin’s riding & had voted to elect him, so this speech reverberates in a special way with me. Canada is not perfect, but gosh, isn’t it just great?

  169. To Sheila, I completly agree! Why are certain people’s beliefs pushed on to everyone. I don’t belive in gay marriage, you do. If in fact we are a godless country who’s to say which of us is right. If the Bible’s teaching are not honored what would we weigh our beliefs against. We would weigh it against our own discernment of right and wrong, and since we differ it would go on and on! If gay activists want to push gay marriage into EVERYONES face those who oppose can push just as hard back. But then we’re called legalistic, zealous, haters. I thought you were for freedom for everyone?

  170. I love Canada always have…Wishing we in the US could relearn some of the civility of our northern neighbor. Against gay marriage, abortion, divorce, or drinking red wine with fish…then don’t do it. If God has an issue with it he/she will take it up with those who do those “sinful” things at the pearly gates. Since none of us know what God really thinks be kind to each other. Every year the “Canada Post” makes me feel closer to my Mom, who was Canadian (and proud of it), and has since passed away. Thanks Steph

  171. We moved to the US just days before this Canada Day – feels weird to be away. I love Canada!
    I am British as well as Canadian and rather wish there was a Britain Day too.

  172. I wish that your tolerance extended as well to followers of Jesus Christ, conservatives and those who are pro-life. I find liberals like you to be extremely intolerant of anyone with whom they do not agree.

  173. Char, couldn’t agree with you more!
    Everyone should be free to live life as they think best. How other people choose to live their life in no way affects mine. My neighbors gay marriage in no way harms or interferes with my heterosexual life. I love democracy, gives me the freedom to cast a vote and leaves the moral judging of people up to God.
    Thank you Steph for your annual post that brings this subject up for people to comment on. Happy Canada Day! and Gay Pride week!

  174. I was SO glad to see your twitter picture of bottomless……….I was a little worried for a minute! Happy Canada Day and I am proud this week to live in NY! I love my husband and wish for everyone the same kind of love, no matter who they chose. Love and let be.

  175. Wow. Ya know Stephanie, ya kinda set the tone with the comment playing your cards right… You must have been tired, cause I can’t think you would have made that snarky comment otherwise. Looking forward to a new day. Please take care of yourself.

  176. I look forward to your Canada Day post every year to remind me of the pride I have in my Canadian heritage. Good job – again.

  177. Questions/discussions on gay issues & freedoms. Homosexuality is a sin. Country and freedom are blessings. Could a church member actually experience homosexual feelings or temptation? The answer is yes. All are flawed and human. Our society loves to debate whether an inclination toward homosexuality is due to hereditary or environmental factors, but this is utterly beside the point. The devil, the world, and our inherited sinful nature assault each one of us in different ways. One believer struggles with gambling, another with alcohol, another with a quick temper, another with indifference toward those in need, etc. The fact that a person experiences temptation in one form and not in another does not put him or her out of the kingdom of God.
    Is it possible for a church member to stumble and fall into the sin of homosexuality? The answer again is yes. Scripture does not classify sinful actions into “sins that believers commit” and “sins that only unbelievers commit.” The fact that someone sinned sexually with a person of the same gender does not, all by itself, mean that the person isn’t a believer, any more than would an act of heterosexual immorality, drunkenness, reckless driving, or cheating on one’s taxes.
    Can a person remain a practicing homosexual in defiance of God’s Word and also be a believing member of the church? The answer is no. Believers agree that what God calls “sin” is sin. They turn from their sin, receive God’s forgiveness, and battle against the sin in their lives with the help of God’s Holy Spirit.
    1 Corinthians 6:9,10 are perhaps the key passages on this subject in Scripture. First, note that it includes homosexuality in a catalogue of other sins, with no indication that it is any worse (or any less bad) than greed, slander, or cheating someone. Then, speaking to Christians, Paul says, “That is what some of you were” (1 Corinthians 6:11). The past tense is significant.
    Countries, government… In the long-run, who is in control? What really matters? Time to wise up, people. Time is running out. If you are not in the Word, you can’t have an informed opinion of things related to the Word. Get closer to God. There is no hate there. Don’t be so easily swayed!

  178. Hoo Whee. I thought you were joking when you wrote about the comments, as I didn’t think a group of knitters would get so high/mighty/zealoty, so I took a moment to scroll through.
    Some real gems, there. Now I’m feeling all squirmy and even a lil’ enraged.
    Time for bed, clearly.

  179. I have always loved your Canada posts and this is a great one too. It always makes me want to be there and luckily I will get to visit the Archipelago in a few weeks.
    I find it sad that some folks seem to think that they are entitled to act so hateful to gays and lesbians. They are entitled to follow their religious beliefs, but they have no right to force it on anyone else. I’m looking forward to the day when my gay and lesbian friends are free to marry and hoping Prop 8 or Prop Hate as we call it finally gets throught the courts and is thrown out. Until then I’m thankful that my former home state of NY has approve same sex marriage.

  180. Happy Canada Day to you and all my neighbors to the north. I have long loved your country as well as my own. On behalf of my god-children, that love both their mothers and are cared for as well if not better than most – my husband and I thank Mr. Martin for reminding us that all people should be treated with dignity, respect and equality.
    As a woman that only has rights of citizenry because others that came before me stood up for my rights, I cannot stand by while any other human being is treated with less dignity and respect – I will stand and help to fight for the rights of all to love and marry the person of their choosing.

  181. I have to share the fact of this post with my pol blog reading spouse who thinks knitting blogs are all puffy soft yarny things.

  182. A belated Happy Canada Day to ALL Canadians, with thanks for being good neighbors. Like any neighbors, we may not agree all the time, but we respect your right to do as you wish in your own yard. And you’re welcome to borrow a cup of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” whenever you need it.

  183. Steph, are you trying to start your own debate board? If so, sign me up! 🙂
    People find themselves on the wrong side of history all the time. I think this is one of those times. We have a habit of taking two steps forward and one step back, but we do make progress.
    Remember, there was a time when women voting was going to destroy the family. And people of differing pigment using the same water fountain was the downfall of society as we knew it. Hooray for that, I say.
    Meanwhile, it must be terrifying to think that you’re just one wedding present away from doing the backstroke in a lake of fire.

  184. Who can object to a commitment between two (or more for that matter) people who love each other? Probably someone who’s own heart is frosty, bitter seed of hate. Eeewww. There are lots of things I like about Canada (we share a birthday). Thank you for adding to the list.
    Happy Canada Day! (Late, but I’ve been busy.)

  185. Three cheers for Canada! If I could kidnap my husband, sister and grandchildren, I’d move there in a heart-beat! And I might join my mother (91) who is planning on moving there if our government gets much worse (how can it get ‘much’??). I am proud to know such fair-minded neighbors .. only wish MY country had them! I love the USA but jeesh, it’s getting hard to hold my head up!

  186. I live on a little sheep farm in Bellingham WA, just south of Vancouver. So very happy to have you all as neighbors. You have a wonderful country & much to be proud of. Happy Belated Canada Day.

  187. em: re your comment about gays pushing gay marriage in everyone’s faces and why you can’t push back? you CAN! anytime you want to go out and demonstrate for equal rights for straight people, you should go for it!! oh – wait. you already HAVE those rights …

  188. i hate to join any debate, but the demographic of your blog-readers would be incorrect if i didn’t add my voice to the voices of those who don’t love that canada is such a tolerant country.
    it’s impossible for our country to respect the religions and practices of all people, when one way of life contradicts another. of course i’ll be labelled a “hater” for writing this, but i question credibility of anyone who throws that accusation around.

  189. Happy Belated Canada Day and Independence Day (tomorrow) from the Old Country.
    Interesting set of blogs.
    Sad that the somewhat negative comments are all about God and Sin and how anyone who isn’t anti-gay wil burn in hell.
    Chill out and knit; all that angst will bugger up your tension.

  190. Funny that no-one is allowed to disagree with you without being labelled a ‘hater’.

  191. In my apartment building, I have the world’s greatest next door neighbors. In my country, I believe I d tooo! Happy Canada Day!

  192. I am very proud of you and the stand that you take. I know that you would not know me if you saw me. I am one of your many fans. One of the thousands of lives that you touch. I am very glad that you are here. You make us all better humans.

  193. Hear, hear. I like how succinctly you got to the heart of the matter. Everything you said about Canadians also apply to those of us living here in the U.S. We must respect the rights of everyone and we must put it into writing to remind us to do so.

  194. To those of you cowardly enough to use the bible in order to justify your own hatred and intolerance, why is it that you consistently pick and choose which parts of the bible you should follow? The bible says it’s an equal sin to wear fabric made of mixed fibers. Why aren’t you protesting the right of citizens to use a poly/cotton blend in their wardrobe? What about mixing different types of wool?
    Don’t be a hypocrite. If you’re going to use an outdated book that preaches intolerance, cruelty, violence and hatred to try and add some sort of sense to your nonsensical ideals, at least have the plums to follow ALL of it. It’s the word of your god right? Why follow some parts and not others?
    If you insist on forcing your bible down everyone’s throats, this makes you a bigot who thinks you’re better than everybody else. Live and let live. Don’t expect people to “respect” your opinion, when your opinion is that some people don’t deserve the same rights as you.

  195. When I “Marry” , yes “Marry!” my partner Ron. My God will bless our “Union” and we will celebrate our Honeymoon in Niagara Falls, Canada. We will celebrate with all the other Honeymooners because we are in Love and want to live all our days and Eternity together. I can knit while im crossing the border from the great NY state where I live!

  196. Congratulations Christopher and Ron! As a fellow resident of the state I’m so glad NYS has finally figured out the right thing to do. Hope you have a wonderful wedding and Honeymoon in Niagara Fall, Canada. Happy knitting!

  197. I’m behing in reading this weekend, so just caught up. I live in the US, but love your Canada Day posts and look forward to them every year. This one ranks as one of my very favorites. (And double ditto what Dez at 7/1 6:23p said – nicely put.) Down here, New York’s on board, I can only hope the rest of our country follows suit and soon.
    And for those who wonder why it should legally be “marriage” and not just a “union” – I suggest reading Committed: A Love Story by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s a fascinating look at the institution itself. Having been married to my husband for almost 22 years, it just simply burns me that not everyone has that right.

  198. The biggest human right I’m concerned with right now is the right to food and water. Too many men, women and children are dying in third-world countries thanks to rising food prices, corrupt governments…I feel blessed to live in the U.S.A. and all human beings can live without fear of starvation.

  199. O Canada! I will be so pleased to be cruising your lovely Gulf Islands next week. Alwaya a pleasure to visit our beautiful islands to the north. Ganges on the 16th!

  200. Thanks for the reminder about that very powerful, eloquent and compelling speech.
    Cheers

  201. Happy Belated Canada Day.
    I just read the comments. I was wondering, as a mother, if it’s possible to take all this energy defending/prosecuting gay marriage (as my friend Tony and his partner Karl can defend themselves) and focus it on protecting our children from grown adults out to harm them. That would be the best Canada Day ever – to celebrate the freedoms of the smallest and youngest of Canadians from the victimization of people who should know better than to target them for any number of atrocities.

  202. Thank you for posting this. Yours is the only blog I look for everyday. Not only for the your great wit and wonderful knitting, but for the insights into Canadian life I gain.

  203. I just moved to Canada last month and have spent my first Canada Day here–I’m looking forward to many to come! (btw: how can Canadians be so cool and then elect Ford to me mayor of TO? does not compute.)

  204. @ MB…”rising food prices, corrupt governments…I feel blessed to live in the U.S.A. and all human beings can live without fear of starvation.”
    Do a little more research about the U.S.’s food subsidy and “aid” policies and about school food programs. There are hungry and malnourished kids in the U.S., and we help create food insecurity elsewhere by dumping our agricultural excess in poor countries, competing with local farmers. The U.S. isn’t without its own corruption.
    We should all look critically at our governments, in how they treat all people at home and abroad. It’s the only way we can improve!
    Yay pride week!

  205. Well I really don’t know what else to say that hasn’t already been said. I’m only 17, a week a way from leaving for bootcamp for the United States Navy. Despite everything, I am honored to serve my country.
    The botom line is if you don’t belive in the Bible, then you have no reason to think that gay marriage is wrong. Period. Quite frankly if our founding fathers wanted gay marriage to be legal they would have put it in the constitution, or there would have been an amendment soon after when people saw that it wasn’t legal and became outraged. Fact is, that didn’t happen, back then people would have been outraged if the idea of it being legal was even thought of. Its only been in the last couple of decades that people have wanted equal rights. It tells you something about the way our thinking has gone.
    If you don’t like gay marriage being illegal in most of the United States of America, then go live in Canada. And quit harping about how you are embarrassed of the United States, which despite most peoples thinking, is the greatest place in the world. Just go ask the people living in Haiti, or Uganda if they would like to move here.
    One more thing, I am not a hater, although I have never personnally known a gay person, or at least I didn’t know if I did. I don’t hate them nor do I think they are disgusting. I think there sin is disgusting, just as is mine. I can only fall on my knees and thank Jesus Christ for dying for me so that I can be with him forever. And I would pray that everyine would find HIM.
    “Every way of man is right in his own eyes; but the Lod pondereth the hearts” Proverbs 21:2

  206. Happy Canada Day and Happy Independence Day! May we all prosper and live in peace.

  207. Clearly some people have no knowledge about their own histories or religions. Gay people are everywhere. You have met us. We have always been here. I have MANY gay friends that have served in the military- mostly the Navy.
    Happy Fourth of July United States!

  208. To my knowledge I’ve never met a gay person, and I know theyve been around forever but there has been a sudden explosion of wanting equal rights. Were there gay protests in 1900 or even in the fifties, I don’t think so, its just been in the last 40-50 years.

  209. As a person who chooses (because I have this freedom as well) to believe that homosexuality is wrong, it makes me want to punch people who call gays barbarians, perverts, or disgusting. One very good, lovely friend of mine is gay, and I love her and choose not to ram my opinion down her throat. She is first and foremost a person. I am on the fence about whether or not government should regulate marriage at all. It’s not only gays that don’t have the ability to marry in the US; my boyfriend’s not a US citizen and we’re not allowed to just get married any time we want either. Which is a crying shame. I reserve my right to respectfully disagree that two women or two men getting married is right, but I’m certainly not going to call names or hate them if they do.
    Kudos to a country that at least recognizes that people should be treated like people, not hated and called names. We need to grow up and find a place where we can hold our own beliefs, share those beliefs in a respectful manner, and not get called narrow, or barbarians.

  210. I don’t believe in Gay Marriage. I believe in Marriage. Period. If teh ghays wants to get married, well, all right by me! Let me know where you are registered.
    Twenty-something years ago, when I was younger and thinner and had more hair, Reform Rabbis in North America were getting together to vote on whether or not teh ghays should be allowed to serve as Rabbis or Cantors. Our congregation held a meeting to provide our Rabbi with counsel. At this meeting there were some horrible words springing from the mouths of people I cared a great deal about — words like “abomination” and “evil inclination”.
    Then an old man I had never seen before stood. He rolled up his sleeve and he showed us the tattoo on his arm. And he said “I want you to see my credentials for speaking to you today. I lived in time when I thought love was dead. The sun had disappeared, tolerance was gone, G-d was dead. Well, somehow, love survived. And I don’t care if men love each other, or women love each other, I’m going to side with love every time. If they want to be Rabbis? They will have my support. If they want to marry on the bimmah, under a chuppah? I will dance at their weddings. G-d only survives as long as love and tolerance survive.”
    I cried there. I have cried every time I have thought about it over the last twenty-some years. I am crying now, as I type. I never saw the man again, and I never learned his name. But as G-d is my witness, I will always come down on the side of love and tolerance. And G-d survives.

  211. Believe in God or not, know that we all are blessed by Him… Know He loves us all. I have no hate for gay people (Well spoken, Em. Thank you now for your service to my country and me in the future. God bless you.) God loves gay people. Truth! Again, He hates the sin, not the sinner. He has all the “escape routes” already there for us.. All the answers we need. Just like Em said, Jesus is the answer to it all. We’re all sinners. We have to live in this world together. The old man with the tattoo summed it up quite nicely, didn’t he? We might think Love is dead, but we all have to work together with God’s help to keep love from disappearing. Jesus is the best example for all of us.
    On another happy note. The US and Canada have FAR MORE things in common than we have opposing. I’m all for good neighbors…. and more knitting!

  212. On the US Independence Day, I’m proud of my heritage as my ancestors immigrated from Nova Scotia to Wisconsin in the 1880s. Go Cananda!
    And thank you Stephanie for speaking out for GBLT rights – I’m totally with you. And gay people are not sinners. God wouldn’t have made so many if s/he didn’t love everyone just the way we are.
    Standing on the side of Love!
    Kathy

  213. from my diverse and non-traditional family, thank you for this. and thanks for continuing to include all of us out here in your life and your thoughts. it is appreciated.

  214. Happy Canada Day!
    I loved this post. As a happily married woman of almost 25 years, it bothers me that my gay neighbors can’t marry. Marriage as recognized by the government, is a legal contract with many important rights and privileges. I can’t wait for all of my U.S. to allow gays the right to marry.
    Religious beliefs should have no place in making laws. Separation of church and state is vitally important to true democracy.
    I’m glad that marriage is alive and well in Canada despite allowing gays to marry. The threat that gay marriage will destroy the institution of marriage is an unfounded theory frequently stated by anti-gay groups, which Canada has proven wrong!
    Yea, Canada!

  215. Well, dear Stephanie…you certainly know how to get a rise out of folks early in the morning. >:-)
    Happy, happy Canada Day and best wishes from your occassionally-not-quite-so-progressive-neighbor to the south. We’re a work in progress, you might say. Canada is a fine example of how it was no big whup and the world didn’t end when gay marriage was allowed. Love is love. If you read the Bible and didn’t get that, you missed the whole point.
    That post from the seventeen year old who is going into the Navy….made me burst out laughing. As a former servicemember I can honestly say you’re about to meet a whole bunch of terrific lesbian women and gay men. Hopefully it will pry open that closed mind a little bit.

  216. Em, you could not be more wrong about how long people have wanted to access their rights. It’s what started the USA in 1776, and it never went away. Freedom of (and from) religion, slavery, women’s right to vote, the civil rights movement… Hundreds of years.
    The term “homosexual” was coined in the 1800s – and Hitler put thousands of gays to death in the 40s. There have been gay people as long as there have been people. The fact that the bible mentions it at all means it existed.
    I hope you take the opportunities you will have while in the Navy. It can be a real opportunity to expand your horizons if you let it.
    Aidan, lovely story. Clearly we still have much to learn from the Holocaust.

  217. Darn you and your Canada posts- they always make me want to move up there! Thanks for speaking so eloquently about gay rights (I know it’s a quote, but you have done so before). I hope to see marriage equality (in the USA) in my lifetime and I think every person who speaks up is making a difference.

  218. That is an awesome speech. Thank you for pointing it out! It makes me feel warm to know that there are people out there willing to do the right thing when so many are not.

  219. *sigh* Can I be Canadian? I grew up 60 miles from the border, but it’s a whole other world. Still a good world, but some how some of our people became infected with a bug that makes them utterly irrational.

  220. Ummm…. Em? Well, have you read Article One, Section Two of the US Constitution?
    Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to the respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. (not everyone counts as a full person)
    How about Article One, Section Nine:
    The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. (importation of slaves is okay for another couple of decades)
    Hmm… slavery written into our founding document. That document got updated about four score years later after a little incident known variously as The Civil War, the War of Northern Oppression, etc. As we’ve grown as a society, we’ve learned to see more and more people as full people with real rights.
    This Catholic girl from Michigan is so very proud of a certain Catholic boy in Albany (whose people a century ago was discriminated against because of national origin) that she can hardly contain herself. Progress is good.
    Thank you, Stephanie, for reminding us all that we here in the US are so very lucky to have such a great neighbor to the north.

  221. I declare I’ve ever seen so many panties in a wad!
    Nothing will ever change my mind, being gay is wrong. Agree to Disagree and practice what you preach. Now I am off to my LYS for their big X-mas in July sale, then off to knit night. So everyone just chill and GO KNIT SOMETHING.

  222. I want to say just one more thing. Not all people that disagree that being gay is ok are haters. Not all people have to agree on every single point to be friends. I love this blog, and I’ll continue to read it, even though there are several points on which would disagree with you, because I believe that everybody has to form their own opinions. Forcing somebody to have the opinion I think they should have is wrong. And my getting all up tight and mad over something that somebody that I’ll likely never meet believes is sort of silly (it’s not as if you’re harming anybody by believing it). I just don’t appreciate being lumped with the “I’m never reading your blog again because you think that gays should be allowed to marry” people. After all, the real issue, at heart, is not whether they’re allowed to marry but whether being gay is right or wrong. And whether it’s right or wrong they’re still people, and God still loves them, and I am supposed to love them, too. And I appreciate the tolerance of this blog.
    So I’m sticking around. Nobody else writes knitting like you, and few people clearly display a heart that is in the right place like you do. I’ve read few people that can make me laugh and touch my heart like you. So kudos, and I hope Sock Summit is amazing.

  223. Happy Canada Day! While living in New York State is often a challenge they finally did something right, legalizing gay marriage! I’m so proud and glad that we as a country are finally starting to catch up with the rest of the world.

  224. Not long ago, I saw a film (on that pillar of left winged-ness, Public Television) about the Stonewall Riot of 1971. It included tape excerpts of what were perfectly acceptable mainstream opinions of the day–that gays were mentally ill, perverted, and unfit to associate with decent people. Which reminded me that about the time Anita Bryant was proclaiming the same thing (a city in Florida proposed to make employment discrimination against gays illegal), I walked out of a church service when the (Episcopalian!) minister stated that letting homosexuals teach schoolchildren would be unleashing child molesters. Although that was in the state of Idaho, which is still pretty right wing politically, he would probably wouldn’t have got much argument from anyone in 1977. Today a solid majority of Americans agrees that gays should have the same marriage rights as anyone else. My point is that, over time, people’s views do change. And setting the example–like Canada, Massachusetts, Iowa, and New York–is important. I love America (but it’s complicated, LOL), and I love Canada, too. Happy Canada Day!

  225. My Canadian husband and my American self enjoyed both Canada Day and the 4th of July fairly quietly this year, but we always appreciate an excuse to eat barbeque and patriotic desserts.
    I have a question completely off topic. I’m curious as to why Sarah at 6:59 above thinks she and her non-US citizen boyfriend can’t get married anytime they want. Citizenship is not a requirement of marriage in the US. Most states only require that you and your intended be domiciled in state, be of age and not be too closely related (although the particulars vary state-to-state). So…what’s the issue?

  226. As always, Steph, hats off. Great choice for a post. We have much to be thankful for in our country, and I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d want to live. Low chance of natural disasters, actual seasons, beauty that you just can’t beat, and freedom. Real, honest-to-goodness freedom that makes me so, so proud to be Canadian. 🙂

  227. Go Canada! What a civilised country – I’m just hoping Australia catches up soon, though personally I’d be in favour of civil unions for anyone who wants one and marriage being a personal or religious thing with no legal status.
    In Tasmania you can register a civil union for companionate or carer’s relationships, which I think is a great recognition that there are all sorts of relationships that make the world go round, and which have legal and financial impacts on people. If we all did that we could stop worrying about sex, which after all should be private and personal.
    On the subject of gay marriage, however, I’d like to quote my elderly, devoutly Catholic parents, who have been married for 46 years:
    Dad: I can’t see how legalising gay marriage is going to have any impact on my marriage.
    Mum: Well, I might divorce you and marry [best friend].
    Dad: In that case, I’m all for it.

  228. I figure so long as they are redefining marriage to allow same-sex couples to have the same rights as men-women couples, they should also legalize polygamy/bigamy. Let’s see what kind of opposition that would invoke. That’s my 2 cents.

  229. Good idea! Bring out all the … ok I won’t call names … all in one post, and get it done!
    Happy Canada Day to a pretty grown-up country.

  230. Just to end on a good note:
    To Jennifer at July 4, 2011 12:37 PM
    Umm Did you miss the sense of humour thing? Sometimes we like a good political joke LOL.
    I have to confess I didn’t knit with Canadian yarn on Canada Day. But it was Free Trade.

  231. I feel proud of Canada, and I have only ever visited! Thanks for caring about the rights of people who are not exactly like you. And holding out that loving one place doesn’t mean you hate another. Glad to be on a planet that holds Canada.

  232. To young Em: in all of your whole entire seventeen years, you believe that you have never met a gay person. This could possibly be because gay people tend to look and act just like everyone else on most days, and also that they tend not to wear T-shirts every day proclaiming, “I Am Gay.”
    Thank you for your choice to serve our country, but before you serve it, learn its history from a variety of sources. I’d suggest starting with reading the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights in their entirety, and also pick up a copy of “Democracy in America.” That should be a good start for now.
    The Founders realized that the USA would grow and change over time, and that is why they created amendable, living documents so that our nation could grow and adapt. Homosexuals have been amongst the general population since the dawn of time; and if you are a Bible believer you can document their existence in Biblical times. But homosexuals, over time, got tired of being burned at the stake, shot and beaten to death for being gay, so it hasn’t been until fairly recent decades that gays in the Western world have come out of the closet and demanded equal rights.
    There are still plenty of places in the world where you can be murder, quite legally, just for BEING gay.
    If things should remain unchanged since the Constitution was written, then, by that reasoning, slavery should still be legal. How do you fell about that?
    Learn the history of your nation, sweet child, before you die for it.
    I wish you safety in your chosen career and a broad spectrum of life experiences.
    Regarding a few other comments: those who oppose redefining words should spell “Cheryl” in the standard format and avoid Kreatyve Spellyng of their name, and those who oppose the use of the rainbow by the gay community should be reminded that Christians do not have proprietary rights to the symbol of the rainbow any more than the Republican party has proprietary rights to the American flag.

  233. Amen Dez!! I am now ready to chill out and knit!
    God make Adam and Eve and Adam and Steve and the rest of all the rest of us.

  234. I saw a brief clip of Paul Martin on Strombo’s show yesterday on CBC and I felt like I missed the guy.
    Briefly. Out of nowhere. Not sure where that came from. Nostalgia for a different era I guess.
    Longtime NDPer. Civil Servant. Knitter. Knit that sock Steph! Somethings have to remain constant.

  235. Well, I think I’m speechless. Point 1 : I said I’ve never met a gay person and known about it. I’m not saying that they are not out there, or havent been since the dawn of time, PERSONALLY I’ve never met one, Sheesh!
    Point 2 : Seems like everyone has come to the conclusion that I’m an ignoramus (sp?) blindly, naively, and stupidly fighting for my country, which I rather resent.
    All I meant was that when the constitution was written if the founding fathers wanted gay marriage to be legal, they would have put it in there. OR, there would have been an amendment saying it should be legal, later on. I havent said anything about slavery. Slavery being llegal back then was a sign of the times. The push for gay marriage is a sign of our times.
    And why don’t we ALL go read the Constitution, I’m sure it would do us ALL some good.

  236. That made me tear up! Thank you so much for posting this wonderful quotation. As someone considering moving to your fantastic country, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

  237. We spent a family reunion this year over Canada Day in Brewers Mills …. Complete with a white sheet cake with red maple leaf and napkins printed with Eh? Our Canadian hosts made us feel so welcome. We sang Oh Canada and set off fireworks over the Rideaux Canal. What a lovely time.

  238. Happy Canada Day, northern Neighbors! And Happy Pride Week! Harlot, you inspire me, daring the trolls every year, as well as your inspired posts on feminism, which have been my template for talking to young women who are skittish about “the F word”.

  239. Christ weeps in rage at homophobia. As one American politicians asked, how many gays does God have to create for so-called Christians to stop hating them?

  240. Like another commentor above, Yarn Harlot’s note about gay-bashers and “you hate my country” whiners had me checking out the comments.
    Yeah, Internet trolls are fairly ubiquitous. I swear they go around searching for something they can start an argument about. The thing to remember about trolls is we know they’re wrong and so do they. Arguing with them is pointless. In fact, it’s what they want so don’t feed the trolls.

  241. I FINALLY got around to catching up on blogs since I have been politicizing my hind end off. LOVE your Canada Day posts (as always) and, while I’m sure someone else has mentioned this, you do seem to go through a fair number of computers. I’m guessing it is a job hazard–you being a fab writer and all. My best to you and your country! Cheers!

  242. Happy Canada Day from a neighbor to the south! It makes me wish I had that much pride for my country.

  243. I am so proud to live in a country where gay people can vow their love and commitment with friends and family and have the government recognize their union. Human rights are for everyone. Thanks for posting this Stephanie!

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