Homosexuality and the Anglican Church of Canada Homosexuality and the Anglican Church of Canada In the secular context, Canadian law has undergone a profound change in regards to homosexuality. The last homosexual to be 'sent to prison indefinitely as a "dangerous sex offender" was in 1967. In 1969, the Canadian parliament passed amendments into the Criminal Code decriminalizing homosexuality in Canada. On 20 July 1971, the last homosexual criminally convicted on his sexual orientation was released from prison. On 20 July 2005, the Canadian government legalised same-sex marriage. Currently nine dioceses of the Anglican Church of Canada permit the blessing of same-sex unions: the Vancouver-based Diocese of
Homosexuality in India 377 of the Indian penal code, which defines homosexuality as an unnatural act and thus illegal. At the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, he said, "Section 377 of IPC, which criminalises men who have sex with men, must go." His ministerial portfolio had put him at odds with the Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil and several other ministers in seeking to scrap Section 377. In late 2008, he changed his argument saying he does not want the scrapping of Section 377 but a mere modification of the law treating homosexuality as a criminal offence punishable up to life imprisonment.