LGBTQ rights in Canada

LGBTQ rights in Canada
StatusLegal since 1969;[1]
Equal age of consent since 2019.[2]
Conversion therapy illegal under federal law since 2022.[3][4]
Gender identityChange of name and legal sex available in every province and territory, under different rules, and without sex reassignment surgery
MilitaryLGBTQ people allowed to serve openly since 1992
Discrimination protectionsSexual orientation beginning provincially in 1977; federally since 1996; gender identity or expression federally since 2017
Family rights
Recognition of relationshipsSame-sex marriage legal nationwide since 2005
AdoptionEqual adoption rights for same-sex couples in all provinces and territories since 2011
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Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights are some of the most extensive in the world.[5][6][7] Same-sex sexual activity, in private between consenting adults, was decriminalized in Canada on June 27, 1969, when the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69 (also known as Bill C-150) was brought into force upon royal assent.[1] In a landmark decision in 1995, Egan v Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada held that sexual orientation is constitutionally protected under the equality clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[8] In 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world, and the first in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage.[9] In 2022, Canada was the third country in the world, and the first in North America, to fully ban conversion therapy nationwide for both minors and adults.

Canada was referred to as the most gay-friendly country in the world, when it was ranked first (indicating least dangerous) in Asher & Lyric's LGBTQ+ Danger Index in 2023.[5] It was also ranked first in the Gay Travel Index chart in 2024,[10] and ninth in the Equaldex Equality Index in 2024.[7] The country's largest cities feature their own gay areas and communities, such as Toronto's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood, Montreal's Gay Village commercial district, Vancouver's Davie Village and Ottawa's Bank Street Gay Village.[11] Every summer, Canada's LGBT community celebrates gay pride in all major cities, with many political figures from the federal, provincial and municipal scenes.

In recent decades, Canada went through some major legal shifts in support of LGBT rights (e.g. decriminalization, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, gay marriage, homoparentality, blood donations, transgender rights and outlawing of conversion therapies). The 2020 Pew Research showed that 85% of Canada's general population (92% among Canadians aged between 18 and 29) had favoured social acceptance of homosexuality, up from 80% in 2013.[12][13] Likewise, polls in June 2013 had shown an increase in the Canadian population's point of view, with a vast majority of Canadians giving their blessing to same-sex marriage, which was made available to all throughout Canada in 2005. The polls had also revealed that 70% of Canada's population had agreed that "same-sex couples should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples do," and that 76% had also agreed that "same-sex couples are just as likely as other parents to successfully raise children".[14] By 2020, 91.8% of those surveyed in a poll commissioned by the Privy Council Office said they would be "comfortable" if a next-door neighbour was gay, lesbian or bisexual and that 87.6% said they would be "comfortable" if a neighbour was a transgender person.[15]

  1. ^ a b "Rights of LGBTI persons". Government of Canada. October 23, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  2. ^ An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, SC 2019, c. 2
  3. ^ https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-4/royal-assent An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy)
  4. ^ https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/page-43.html#h-1336410 Criminal Code, sections 320.101 through 320.104
  5. ^ a b "The 203 Worst (& Safest) Countries for LGBTQ+ Travel in 2023". Asher & Lyric. June 5, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  6. ^ "Canada". IGLTA. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "LGBT Equality Index: The Most LGBT-Friendly Countries in the World". Equaldex. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  8. ^ Egan v. Canada, [1995] 2 SCR 513 at 528.
  9. ^ Margrit Eichler, "Same-Sex Marriage in Canada", Canadian Encyclopedia, September 21, 2016 (updated by Anne-Marie Pedersen and Andrew McIntosh, January 14, 2021).
  10. ^ "SPARTACUS Gay Travel Index 2024". Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  11. ^ "Ottawa introduces first 'Gay Village'". CBC News. November 8, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "The Global Divide on Homosexuality Persists". Pew Research Center. June 25, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  13. ^ "Pew Research Center, The Global Divide on Homosexuality, Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries (June 4, 2013)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 18, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  14. ^ "Ipsos, Same-Sex Marriage Citizens in 16 Countries Assess Their Views on Same-Sex Marriage for a Total Global Perspective, 2013". www.west-info.eu. Archived from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  15. ^ Akin, David (December 28, 2019). "Federal government asked Canadians if they're 'comfortable' with LGBT people". Global News. Retrieved April 9, 2021.