November 3, 1989 - Visitation Rights

Canadian court allows gay inmates family-visitation rights. Timothy Veysey, an inmate at the Warkworth Institution in Ontario, wanted his partner, Leslie Beau, to participate in the facility’s private family visiting program. The only drawback was, the program’s aim was to prepare inmates for a successful return to their community by supporting their family relationships – and Veysey’s and Beau’s gay relationship was not regarded as “family.” So Veysey went to court claiming that his rights had been violated. Although protections under the Charter of Rights did not explicitly include sexual orientation (as it did gender, race, religion and others), he argued that he should receive the same protections. On November 3, 1989, Justice Dube of the Federal Court of Canada agreed with Veysey and ordered the Correctional Service of Canada to revisit its decision. The judge rejected the argument that harm would come to Veysey if inmates found out about the visits. Less than seven months later, the Federal Court of Appeal concurred.

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