Please copy this page and circulate it as widely as possible.

Newfoundland Gays and Lesbians for Equality
P.O. Box 6221, St. John's
NF A1C 6J9

Mr. Dicks:

Last spring you promised to introduce a bill into the House of Assembly revising the definition of spouse in the province to cover same sex couples. To date your department has done nothing to fulfill this promise. You have not entered discussions with members of the Gay community to ascertain the range of issues the new definition must address nor have you responded to our inquiries on behalf of the gay community.

Currently Newfoundland Statutes and Subordinate Legislation contain 359 references to "spouse" in 69 pieces of legislation and include thirty-one different definitions of spouse in twenty-six pieces of legislation. The definition of spouse is central to much of the law in this province. As long as the government hesitates on this issue same sex couples will not be recognised by the province and associated institutions.

We therefore request that you and your department intensify their efforts to develop a definition of spouse for provincial legislation which will include same-sex couples.

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Please mail completed pages by November 15, 1999 to the address listed above.
See below for additional instructions.

For more information please contact NGALE at
Ph. (709) 753-4297, E-mail: [email protected]

Instructions

Newfoundland Gays and Lesbians for Equality appreciate your support in presenting this petition to your patrons and associates. The struggle of gays., lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered in an on-going process in our province. The amendment of the definition of spouse in our province will advance this struggle and help to solidify the families and communities we are building. It will create more a stable environment for same sex couples to raise children and create fully committed long term relationships. We are asking for a new definition of spouse in provincial legislation because courageous individuals in our communities have already made a commitment to these objectives.

This petition is the logical continuation of the process which began in 1996 when Judge Leo Barry read the term "sexual orientation" into the provincial Human Rights Code. In May of this year Paul Dicks, Minister of Justice promised to revise the provincial statutes to create a definition of spouse which would include same sex couples. To date the province has made no move to fulfill this commitment. This petition asks the Minister to fulfill his promise.

The definition of spouse is an important issue for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities because it defines the access of individuals to specific services and rights usually reserved for heterosexual couples/families. We believe that successful, happy couples and families cannot be defined in terms of the biological ability to achieve "reproduction". We define successful families in terms of the ability of individual to support and love their partner and dependents. We believe this is a healthier and ultimately more productive formula for creating communities which will build a stronger province. By fulfilling their promise and changing the definition of spouse, the province will be recognizing the changing nature of Newfoundland society and the need to ensure that all families have access to the services and rights we use to support them.

In light of this we make the following requests regarding this petition,

1.) Please display this petition prominently in your establishment.

2.) Please distribute copies of this petition to anyone you think might be interested.

3.) If questioned by a patron please ask then to read the text message on the opposite side of this form. We feel this message is self explanatory, however if the individual has more questions please advise them to use the contact information on the form to contact NGALE. We appreciate your support but it is not your responsibility to fight or argue, possibly to the detriment of your own business, on our behalf. We will respond to any serious inquiries and questions.

4.) As copies of this form are completed please forward in the mail then to the address listed on the opposite side of this form. Remember to identify yourself as the name of your establishment when you sent it to us. Unfortunately faxed copies of the petition are not acceptable for submission to the House of Assembly.

5.) We would appreciate it if you would identify each page of your petition with a two letter code and page number placed in the upper left hand corner of the page. The letter code should be the first two numbers of your last name or the name of the establishment presenting the questionnaire.

Example: The fifth page of the petition signed at "Fred's Coffeehouse" would be

FR-5