Roger Thibault, the second half of Canada’s first same-sex couple to marry, died Friday evening at the age of 77, as Pride is celebrated this weekend.
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Her husband, Theo Wouters, made the announcement Saturday in an email to relatives. The septuagenarian suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
The couple married in a legal civil union on July 18, 2002 in Montreal. “When we walked into the lobby of the courthouse, all the offices were empty. Everyone was on the balcony watching what was going on,” Theo Wouters told Global News on their 20th wedding anniversary in 2022. “It was amazing.”
Their union became official at the federal level on July 20, 2005, almost three years later.
“Deeply saddened to learn of the death of #RogerThibault via a message from Theo last night. I can only be saddened by this news. While we are in full festivities as part of Fierté Montreal / Montreal Pride. “It’s important to remember that people like Roger and Theo marked the history of the #LGBTQ community in Quebec by being the first same-sex couple to legally unite in North America, thus sharing the same rights and obligations as other couples,” wrote Patrick Desmarais, president of the Fondation Emergence on Facebook Saturday. His organization Fighting against homophobia and transphobia.
Other individuals and groups took to social media to express their condolences.
“It was a great honor for us to work with Roger Thibault, along with her husband Theo Wouters, in their fight against hate crimes and homophobic harassment in Pointe-Claire. […] Roger, thank you for your courage, your convictions, and your inspiring fight for the right to love freely, for equality, and for dignity,” the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) posted.
Both were made honorary citizens of the City of Montreal in May 2023. The mayor, Valerie Plante, underlined in a post on Facebook, “These men are examples of perseverance, resilience and love. Through their marriage, they helped make Montreal a more open and inclusive city.
