Over our nation's first century, Canada's attitude toward gays and lesbians was moronic enough to make hydrogen seem sparse.
A great writer once opined that the two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.
Less than 50 years ago, the Supreme Court of Canada sent a "dangerous sex offender" to prison for being gay. Not gay and violent, or gay and resisting arrest - just gay. He served six years.
Thanks to the leadership of people like Pierre Trudeau and Tommy Douglas, Canada's criminal code eventually matured. About 10 years after homosexuality was declared legal, gay immigrants were no longer classified inadmissible.
But while our nation's laws slowly stretched toward reason, our houses of worship often proved obstinate, bound by a rich tradition that is sometimes the enemy of evolution.
In an otherwise tumultuous world, churches often provide a fortress of kindness and meditation.
Every time a Catholic high school forbade a gay student from bringing his boyfriend to
a dance, another barrier was erected, barring a believer from both sanctuary and sanity.
Cagily weighing human rights against practical politics, both Jean Chretien and Paul Martin were careful not to force any obligation on churches while promoting gay marriage. It turns out they probably had the right idea.
Later this summer, a gayfriendly mosque is set to open its doors in Halifax.
It's just one house of worship at one end of the country, but in a war-ravaged world, that mosque is a fine symbol for what Canada can be.
