Hi All,
With all the positive changes the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgendered ("LGBT") community has brought forward on the understanding of human rights in the area of marriage I am personally concerned that the Children's Law Reform Act of Ontario may be in fact biased against this community of parents.
I am looking to explore if the Children's Law Reform Act of Ontario ("CLRA") Section 20: Father and mother entitled to custody is gender biased towards hetrosexual men and women.
Or, is it just outdated wording that needs an update?
Children's Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.12
In the index it explicitly states that custody entitlement is to a father and mother. It really is not "gender neutral" as it should be written in my personal opinion but, they do provide in Section 1: Rules of Parentage a definition of Kindred relationships (1.(3)):
Furthermore Section 2.(1) Rule of construction states:
So, this appears to be the exception to the gender biased wording in the CLRA to leverage and define that people of different sexual orientations can be parents.
But, then again in section 4.(1) Paternity and maternity declarations there is a re-statement of potential gender bias:
This section (and subsequently the subsections that follow are all gender biased. One would think that this legislation would have gotten a refresh when the Province made gay, lesbian and transgender marriage legal.
Section 20: Father and mother entitled to custody is also very gender biased as well:
One would hope that in a modern society where the LGBT community is protected under the Human Rights Act/Codes of the Province that this antiquated wording that defines a parent (or even references that a parent) has to be a man to be a father and a woman to be a mother would have been updated.
A child can have many parents. That parent could be gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered, heterosexual, etc... It is disappointing to me that the CLRA still has wording such as this.
Hopefully legislators are going to update this legislation to insure it respects the fact that we live in a modern society in which LGBT have equal rights as heterosexuals.
Good Luck!
Tayken
With all the positive changes the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgendered ("LGBT") community has brought forward on the understanding of human rights in the area of marriage I am personally concerned that the Children's Law Reform Act of Ontario may be in fact biased against this community of parents.
I am looking to explore if the Children's Law Reform Act of Ontario ("CLRA") Section 20: Father and mother entitled to custody is gender biased towards hetrosexual men and women.
Or, is it just outdated wording that needs an update?
Children's Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.12
Originally posted by CLRA Index Heading
Originally posted by CLRA
Originally posted by CLRA
But, then again in section 4.(1) Paternity and maternity declarations there is a re-statement of potential gender bias:
Originally posted by CLRA
Section 20: Father and mother entitled to custody is also very gender biased as well:
Originally posted by CLRA
A child can have many parents. That parent could be gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered, heterosexual, etc... It is disappointing to me that the CLRA still has wording such as this.
Hopefully legislators are going to update this legislation to insure it respects the fact that we live in a modern society in which LGBT have equal rights as heterosexuals.
Good Luck!
Tayken
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