This is an essay for my upcoming book entitled John Selig Outspoken (The Book). The essay is called “Today Was the Day from Hell.” On January 12th 2012 a newspaper article in Canada’s Globe and Mail Newspaper indicating that same-sex marriages in Canada, like Rodolfo’s and mine where the couple lived in a country or state that wouldn’t perform or recognized same-sex marriages would be invalidated in Canada and treated as if the never occurred. I was in a state of panic all day until I received a joint press release from several LGBT and mainstream organizations including Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders and Freedom to Marry assuring same-sex couples married in Canada that our marriages were not in jeopardy and not likely to be. I decided to send an email to family, friends, activists, executive directors of LGBT organizations, elected officials and media friends (over 250 people). and I posted it on my Facebook page for more than 2,000 friends to read The purpose of the letter was to share my feelings of frustration and panic. As many of the people receiving the email were straight I wanted them to understand the challenges that gay people face over issues that straight people take for granted. I decided to turn the email into an essay for my upcoming book.
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Despite legal about-face, Harper has ‘no intention of reopening gay marriage
Yesterday’s Globe and Mail article alerting me a potential problem
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Dan Savage’s blog post in The Stranger detailing yesterday’s situation with updates as they occurred throughout the day
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Today’s Globe and Mail explaining how the situation had resolved