by Diane Robertson
Do you remember when gay marriage debates were happening all over and those who did not want it to become legalized would receive the question: How can my marriage affect yours?
Since that time, married couples could probably come up with a specific answer or two. However, in the Canadian city of Toronto, couples can now give a very definite answer. The city government passed a law, bill 89, that gives social services permission to remove a child from the home of his or her parents if the parents disagree with the child’s confessed gender identity or sexual orientation.
Some have even speculated that because of the vagueness of the law, social services could be called into the homes of Christians simply if they teach their children their religious views on sexuality.
Now that would very seriously affect one’s marriage and family in devastating ways. It’s awful to think about children being torn from the bosoms of their loving parents because the government is anti-religion and more specifically anti-Christian.
Additionally, Bill 89 will keep Christian couples from adopting and fostering.
Leaving no questions about the intent of the bill, Minister of Child and Family Services, Michael Coteau, stated that if parents question their children’s self-identification as part of LGTBQ, then he would consider it abuse and grounds for social services to absolve parental custody.
“I would consider that a form of abuse when a child identifies one way and a caregiver is saying no, you need to do this different,” he said, “If it’s abuse, and if it’s within the definition, a child can be removed from that environment and placed into protection where the abuse stops,” Coteau declared.
Bill 89 changes the previous child protection law. It continues to regard a child in need of protection under the law if that child is deemed to be suffering or “at risk of suffering” mental or emotional harm and the parents do not provide “treatment or access to treatment.” For treatment, Bill 89 adds “including the provision of prevention services, early intervention services and community support services.” Removing the decision making for mental and physical health care for children from parents.
The former law protected religion and didn’t include sexual orientation and gender identity. It also said the Children’s Aid Society should take the “least disruptive course of action.” Bill 89 will not bother about taking the least disruptive action.
This law and those who wrote the law designed it to target Christian families and families of other religions who teach traditional family roles and sexuality.
And the horrifying truth is that bill 89 passed 63 to 23. If that isn’t a way gay marriage will affect Christian marriages then I don’t know what does.