THE LAMBDA CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

Let us discuss our international neighbours......the United States, Canada and Mexico. Oh, and France too. Yes, France exists in North America. There are two small islands retained by France in 1763, when Quebec, or more properly, Canada was ceded to Britain. The islands of SS. Pierre et Miquelon are located off the coast of Canada.

In 1946, France was fearful of the Canadian Citizenship Act, and the annexation of Newfoundland. The French Republic then declared many of its former colonies in the Caribbean, and the North American islands as Overseas Departments of France. France is divided into departments in Europe and elsewhere around the globe. SS. Pierre et Miquelon is where my maternal grandmother was born. She took the boat to Quebec and met a young physician in 1889, and married him a year later.

The United States is mentioned first. That nation has the largest and most important first world role. GLBT rights are regional and minimal. State recognition of civil marriage is hampered by a law called Defence of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition of legal state-sanctioned marriages. The Don't Ask Don't Tell law, codified in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, forbids open military service by "homosexual persons" who self-identify as such, or who are discovered and disclosed as such by a third party. Without a doubt, the United States is the least supportive first world nation for GLBT persons worldwide.

The French Overseas Department of SS Pierre et Miquelon follow French law and registered domestic partnerships are recognised as valid throughout France.

The United States of Mexico does not recognise any marital or other rights federally. There are localities and states where a modicum of rights are enjoyed. This reality is true throughout the Latin American nations, despite the fact that Mother Spain enjoys full Marriage Equality since 2005.

Canada, on the other hand, provides the model for both Lambda constitutional law and uniform codes of military justice. Lambda is a constitutional monarchical democracy. Unlike the " Mother of all Parliaments", our Constitution is a written one.....or is being written by the Citizens at this time. We will plagiarise or mimic the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.....itself taken from the U.S. Bill of Rights, which most GLBT Americans consider to be archaic and in diessitude. That is legal language for old and neglected.

So, in building our nation state - the Dominion of Lambda - we will declare September 6 yearly as Lambda Day. Happy Lambda day, my fellow virtual citizens.....and your Certificate of Citizenship will be open until a date certain when Naturalisation will be required.

We will, as mentioned, keep the conversation open about other foreign nations and their GLBT issues. We do not live in a totally virtual world, now do we?