During the 1980s and 1990s, most Canadian provinces amended their human rights acts to extend antidiscrimination protection to gay men and lesbians, and on 9 May 1996, after ten years of unkept promises, the Canadian Human Rights Act was also amended. Courts have now ruled that section 15 of the Charter includes a guarantee of equality on the basis of sexual orientation. Gay men and lesbians are increasingly invoking the assistance of the courts to counter legal discrimination, and have obtained some significant victories for gay and lesbian rights, particularly in the context of equal relationship recognition. Until very recently, it was illegal under the Criminal Code to have sex with someone of the same sex. Even today, a number of problems remain with the criminal law and the way in which it is applied to gay sexual activity.
Hate crimes directed at gay men and lesbians continue to be widespread.
Recommendations Section 159 of the Criminal Code should be revised. In particular, there should be a uniform age of consent for anal and vaginal intercourse. Police education programs must address discriminatory attitudes that lead to the unequal application of criminal laws. Censorship Gay and lesbian materials have been systematically censored as a result of the way in which Canada's customs and obscenity laws have been applied. For many years, Canada Customs has actively suppressed information about the risks of transmission associated with anal sex, as a direct result of homophobia and discomfort about matters of a sexual, particularly homosexual, nature.