Homosexuality and the Anglican Church of Canada Diocese of Toronto elected with Kevin Robertson, for the first time, an openly gay and partnered person to be a bishop. 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
History of the Catholic Church and homosexuality differing constituencies in Catholicism. In 1980, the Association of Priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago honored the Chicago branch of Dignity as the organization of the year. With the publication in 1987 of "On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons," which instructed bishops not to provide facilities for organizations that did not uphold official Catholic teaching on homosexuality, Catholic bishops in Atlanta, Buffalo, Brooklyn, Pensacola and Vancouver immediately excluded Dignity chapters, and "within a few months the organization was unwelcome on church property anywhere." In 1981, New Ways Ministry held its first national symposium on homosexuality and the Catholic Church,