[RACooper]

Liberal Party officially endorses gay marriage as protest heats up
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...erals_same_sex

Liberal Party officially endorses gay marriage as protest heats up

44 minutes ago


SUE BAILEY AND JOAN BRYDEN

OTTAWA (CP) - The Liberal Party of Canada overwhelmingly endorsed same-sex marriage Saturday in keeping with the minority Liberal government's bid to legalize gay weddings.

Similar resolutions have been voted down in the past.

But times have changed, said one delegate after another. Those who stood up in defence of traditional marriage were clearly in the minority. A delegate who yelled: "What's next, pedophilia?" was jeered by the crowd.

The endorsement came as anti-gay marriage forces launched an attack Saturday on political targets that could well backfire.

An aggressive video and ad campaign accuses several cabinet ministers of lying about their resolve to defend traditional marriage.

The attack by the Defend Marriage Coalition of religious and pro-family groups was swiftly used by high-profile Liberals as a platform to defend and promote their move to legalize gay weddings.

Those singled out include Immigration Minister Joe Volpe, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and Natural Resources Minister John Efford.

All three used the resulting media attention Saturday at the Liberal policy convention to advance the government's position.

Volpe thanked the Defend Marriage Coalition for giving him a chance to outline in repeated interviews how he helped craft legislation that respects equality rights while not forcing churches to perform weddings against their beliefs.