Northern Enlightenment: Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage in Canada

Abstract

Social workers have an ethical and professional responsibility to promote social justice and equality for oppressed groups, including sexual minorities. Advocating for the legal recognition of same-sex marriage is one way to enact this responsibility. The legal recognition of same-sex marriage is a significant accomplishment toward equality for gay and lesbian Canadians—one in which the social work profession played a role by presenting a legislative brief to policymakers. Although legislative advocacy is cited as a social policy change tool, the literature gives little attention to it, especially in regard to equality and social justice for LGBT people. This statement, subsequently adopted by the Canadian Association of Social Workers, is presented here to help social service workers better understand the significance of legal recognition of same-sex marriage, particularly as a minority rights issue. It is also presented as an example of a legislative advocacy tool. To inform policy change efforts elsewhere, we conclude by offering our reflections on the statement and lessons learned.

KEYWORDS:

• same-sex marriage
• gay men and lesbians
• social work
• legislative advocacy
• human rights
• social justice

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to the two anonymous reviewers who provided comments on an earlier version of this article, as well as to Michael Sullivan, Editor, Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, for his final review.