The Family Research Council expresses outrage at Canadian judges for honoring that nation’s constitution and expanding the pool of marriage candidates.
FRC claims that marriage is only 5,000 years old and asserts that it is “the (only) foundational institution of civilization.” FRC avoids discussing what other conservatives have found to be the actual threats to marriage across America’s Bible Belt. And FRC blasts “unelected judges” for defending constitutional rights that have appropriately been immune to majority whims and rages.
The protest against “unelected” judges is puzzling, since public opinion polls in Canada find high support for gay marriage.
From the Toronto Globe & Mail, June 12, 2003:
2, 939 respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with gays and lesbians being allowed to marry:
| Province | Agree | Disagree |
| Newfoundland | 56% | 36% |
| PEI | 54% | 39% |
| Nova Scotia | 62% | 35% |
| New Brunswick | 52% | 41% |
| Quebec | 58% | 36% |
| Ontario | 52% | 44% |
| Manitoba | 58% | 38% |
| Saskatchewan | 40% | 52% |
| Alberta | 44% | 53% |
| British Columbia | 57% | 39% |
Note: The missing percentages are the undecided
SOURCE: Centre for Research and Information on Canada
It is clear from the statistics that FRC would not want marriage in Canada to be defined by the courts OR the people. It wants marriage to be defined by… the U.S. religious right.
FRC concludes:
The very foundation of our civilization is
being dismantled. Unless the American people rise up to
defend this indispensable institution, we could lose
marriage in a very short time.
In these two sentences, one finds:
- the false and inherently contradictory notion that gay proponents of marriage are anti-marriage;
- apocalyptic cries about the fall of civilization, and
- a call to “rise up.”
This adds up, in the minds of some readers, as a call to commit end-times violence on behalf of a fundamentalist monopoly on marriage. FRC does nothing to discourage this interpretation.