When does the party start?

I’m a little confused. I need someone to tell me which day is the anniversary date of same-sex marriage in Canada.

Is it the day that Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell won their court challenge in Ontario, becoming the first legally married same-sex couple in North America? Is it Jun 28 of this year, when the House of Commons passed bill C-38? Is it Jul 20, the day the bill received Royal Assent finally and formally becoming the law of the land?

How can a guy be expected to celebrate the anniversary of an important event if he doesn’t even know which day to mark in his calendar? More importantly, how can a community celebrate it together as a significant milestone in the evolution of our equality rights if there is no clear date? It is a significant milestone. Isn’t it?

I know I’m not the only one confused over the official date. First we claimed to have beaten Spain to the altar, making Canada the third country in the world to have legalized same-sex marriage, then we were reported as following Spain. Now we’re number four.

This confusion is difficult to plan around. That must be why there has been no major hoopla in queer communities around the country, no spontaneous dancing in the streets, no showers of rice or confetti.

Maybe the battle for same-sex marriage was just so drawn out and so regionalized that by the time recognition actually occurred for real-for everyone-queers were just plain ol’ pooped. We had nothing more to give.

Maybe the flat response to same-sex marriage is due to how split the community is on the issue. It’s certainly no secret that the fight for gay marriage spurred quite a bit of tension within queer communities. This certainly was not a fight that drew us together against a common enemy.

Still, can’t we all just celebrate together for a while? Can’t those of us who don’t want to get married be really, really happy for those of us who do? If we can’t come together to celebrate important battles won, how will we come together in a strong and unified way to win future battles?

In case nobody else noticed, while we were fighting amongst ourselves, the other side was organizing.

Celebrating is a great way to rub this victory in their faces. And it’s a great way to strengthen community. So let’s choose a date and celebrate it. Just name the day. Let it be the day when queers come together to celebrate a major, history-making victory.