Canada’s Pride celebration in June and the 2SLGBTQ+ community are the most eventful times of the year. The month of June celebrates explicitly the process of the LGBTQ+ community’s overcoming their equality challenges successfully.
Initially, these Pride celebrations in June took effect in the form of fighting against discrimination. According to Women and Gender Equity Canada, the initial Vancouver and Ottawa protests occurred in 1971.
Additionally, the Pride events started taking place in many cities in Canada, including Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Saskatoon.
Canada’s Pride celebration in June and the 2SLGBTQ+ community
Presently, Canada wholeheartedly celebrates the existence of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in the month of June in a variety of ways.
The best way in which they celebrate this community is by flying rainbow flags, often in homes, businesses, schools, and City Halls.
Interestingly, Toronto marks the Pride month of June with one of its core celebrations in the form of the world’s largest Pride Parade. In 2023, this Pride Parade will occur on June 25, demonstrating over 100 groups marching together. Besides this, various cities across Canada will conduct numerous concerts, parties, discussions, and parades. These kinds of events also receive immense support from the federal government. For instance, the government invested nearly $1.5 million to help Pride organizations. Moreover, Canada’s Pride events possess the right amount of funding for the planned events. Most recently, Canada also received recognition for being the world’s safest travel destination for 2SLGBTQ+ community immigrants. This tag solely exists because of its worldwide distinction of being tolerant and secure.
The Canadian Human Rights Act denies anyone the right to discriminate against another individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Furthermore, this can’t be the grounds for rejecting an applicant for immigration.
2SLGBTQ+ community immigrants in Canada
All immigrants who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ in Canada are accorded the same rights and liberties as those who are heterosexual or cisgender and possess comparable visas or permits. A same-sex pair is eligible to marry, adopt a child, and sponsor a same-sex partner or spouse for family-class immigration. Couples have the same legal rights and privileges as spouses or partners of the same sex.
Immigrants who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ frequently qualify for immigration to Canada. According to Statistics Canada, as of 2018, nearly half of bisexual and heterosexual immigrants (49.6%) and nearly all homosexual or lesbian immigrants (55.0%) who were immigrants aged 25 to 64 had at least a bachelor’s degree. Compared to people of the same sexual orientation who were born in Canada, this percentage is higher.
The same study also discovered that more gay or lesbian and bisexual people (6.3 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively) than heterosexual people (three percent) spoke both of Canada’s official languages, English and French, most frequently at home.
Arriving in Canada as 2SLGBTQ+
Anyone who identifies as 2SLGBTQ+ must follow the same immigration procedures as everyone else.
You won’t be asked about your sexual orientation or gender identity when you apply to move to Canada, according to IRCC. Additionally, you will be asked to indicate your gender when you apply to immigrate by writing “F” for female, “M” for male, or “X” for another gender.
You can apply to have the information on your permanent resident card, work or study visas, or citizenship certificate changed if your gender identity changes or differs from what is stated on your application to IRCC. However, the information on your application must match the information on your passport. You might be unable to alter this document information in your home country to reflect your identity. However, there is no need for supplementary paperwork.
The history of the Canadian rights of the 2SLGBTQ+ community
In Canada, 2SLGBTQ+ rights have had a turbulent past, particularly regarding immigration. The Immigration Act was changed in 1953 to make it illegal for “homosexuals” to immigrate to Canada.
In 1969, Canada decriminalized homosexuality when then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau said that the “state had no space in the bedrooms of the nation. However, it wasn’t until 1978 that immigrants who identified as “homosexual” gained approval for entry into Canada.
Adoptions between same-sex partners became permitted in Ontario in 1995, and other provinces soon followed. The Canadian Human Rights Act witnessed alterations the following year to include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground for discrimination. According to a 1999 Supreme Court decision, same-sex couples in Ontario should obtain the same advantages as married or common-law partners.
The court ruled it as unconstitutional to define a spouse as a companion of the opposite sex.
In Canada, same-sex unions are now authorized as of 2005. After Belgium (2003) and the Netherlands (2000), this was the third nation across the globe to take this action.
Following the passage of Bill C-279 in 2013, Canadians who identify as transgender or transsexual now have additional human rights protections. The Canadian Human Rights Act now includes gender identity and gender expression as grounds for protection against discrimination.
