Happy Canada Day! Here Are Some of Our Favorite Gay Canucks

Editor's note: We first published this post last year, but in honor of Canada Day, we're highlighting it once again!

July 1st is Canada Day, and we thought we'd take a moment to honor our friends to the north. Canada has always seemed like a friendlier version of the U.S., and is far ahead of us when it comes to marriage-equality. Plus they've given us such fabulous pop culture treasures as SCTV, The Kids In The Hall, Degrassi, Bumper Stumpers, You Can't Do That On Television and Ryan Reynolds.

Most importantly, they taught as that no one, no one! can take away our right to fight and to never surrender.

Canada can also be proud of their contributions to gay visibility, and we're spotlighting some of those men here. This is just a smattering of the out Canadians we admire, and feel free to add your own favorites.

BTW, we haven't forgotten about Canadian lesbian icons k.d. Lang and Tegan & Sara, but this list is just about dudes.

Luke Macfarlane

Well, duh. When someone mentions "out Canadian actor" odds are that most of you automatically think of Luke. Not only is he always the most interesting part of Brothers & Sisters, but he's been in the top five of the AfterElton Hot 100 for the last three years.

Daniel Allen Cox

How many people can lay claim to being both a former Jehovah Witness and adult film star? Hmm, come to think of it ... probably quite a few. But only Montreal native Daniel Allen Cox is both of those things and a bestselling writer.

Shuck, his 2008 semi-autobiographical debut novel about a NYC hustler was on the Lambda Literary Award shortlist, and his upcoming novel Krakow Melt has already received raves from the likes of Michael Musto. And how we can not love someone who writes a novella combining gay Jehovah Witnesses and ... Smurf tattoos.