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December 22, 2005
Oh, Canada! Oh, Oh, Ohhhhhh, Yeaaaaaahhh Canada!
You know it's going to be a good day anytime you log onto your home news page and see a headline that reads, "Canada Okays Group Sex." I mean, like I wasn't gonna read that story? But as it turns out, it's a story that matters far beyond the titilation factor.
The Canadian Supreme Court heard the case, which centered around obscenity charges against the owner of a Montreal club called "L'Orage" (The Thunderstorm). L'Orage is a private club for swingers; its members meet behind the members-only doors and "swing" -- exchanging sexual partners and engaging in public sex. The club owner was charged with indecency and with running a "bawdy house" -- which is Canadian, apparently, for a brothel -- that represented a threat to Canadian society.
I'll be honest: I've never had group sex. (Maybe for my next birthday. Applicants should e-mail me with photos.) Never really even been something I much considered. But the point in this case isn't about the behavior involved, no matter how unorthodox it may seem. It's about the government's power to dictate to invidiual citizens what they can do of their own volition in the privacy of their own homes or clubs. The club was private; no children were involved, and there was no evidence that anyone was coerced into anything against their will. No, this was just a bunch of consenting adults doing whatever it was that they consented to, in a private setting. And a government having the power to tell me as a citizen what I can or cannot consent to... that impacts me whether I'm into "swinging" or not. Because frankly, what I do -- or what you do, or what your across-the-street neighbors do -- on our own time and in our own homes... well, it may not just be our own business, but it sure as hell isn't the government's business.
The Canadian Supreme Court agreed. "Criminal indecency or obscenity must rest on actual harm or a significant risk of harm to individuals or society. The Crown failed to establish this essential element of the offense. (Its) case must therefore fail," read the decision. And in a statement that I wish some American judges and politicians would read, the Canadian Court continued, "The causal link between images of sexuality and anti-social behavior cannot be assumed. Attitudes in themselves are not crimes, however deviant they may be or disgusting they may appear."
I'd love to have that line to roll out as precedent here in the States the next time some rabid conservatives have a town about to enact an anti-gay rights ordinance. So if supporting the right of individual citizens to consent to whatever they are inclined to privately consent to, without interference from the government, means that I by extension support Canadian group sex, then so be it. Say it loud, say it proud: I'm for Canadian group sex!
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Comments
Canada is all about chicks being topless whenever. Which I have nothing against.
Posted by: thebeav at December 28, 2005 08:13 PM
Topless Canadian chicks rock!
Come to think of it, topless chicks from pretty much anywhere rock.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at December 29, 2005 11:35 AM
