A Really Great Day

The Ontario Appeal Court has ruled, as have courts in British Columbia and Quebec, that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is unconstitutional. Previously, the British Columbia ruling had given the federal government until 2004 to change the laws to permit same-sex marriages. The Ontario ruling has gone slightly further.

Canada has gay marriage right now.

The City of Toronto has said it will begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples today. This day. Tuesday. Which is to say the day which it, in point of fact, happens, as it were, to be. Now.

The federal government has until 30 June to appeal the ruling, but it's entirely likely that it won't. None of the Liberal leadership candidates, not even Paul Martin, would appeal it.. And--get this!--a majority of Canadians, ordinary, workaday Canadians, actually support gay marriage.

It really restores your faith in humanity.

Homosexual men and women are being treated with the same dignity and respect accorded to everyone else in the eyes of the law. I think this is a wonderfully important step forwards; finally, gay people--gay Canadians at least--will be told that their relationships matter as much as anyone else's, that they can live ordinary lives and do the sort of ordinary life-y things people like doing, like falling in love, getting married, having kids, getting a dog, buying a house, getting tax breaks, and getting old, fat, and satisfied together. Being gay alone does not and should not define a person; it should not stigmatise a person, and cut them off from following whichever path they wish. Are all gays going to immediately settle down and join their local Parent-Teacher Associations? Gosh, no. But now they'll have the chance.

The message is this: being gay doesn't make one a freak; it doesn't make one less able to love; and it doesn't exile you from the mainstream of society. At last.

Some quotes from the Toronto Star:

"The existing common-law definition of marriage violates the couple's equality rights on the basis of sexual orientation under (the charter)," the 61-page written ruling said.

The court also declared the current definition invalid and demanded the law be changed. It ordered the clerk of the City of Toronto to issue marriage licences to the same-sex couples involved in the case. City Hall said in a release after the ruling it would begin issuing marriage licences today to all who meet the requirements, "including same-sex couples."

...

Heritage Minister Sheila Copps and federal leadership candidate said Ottawa should accept the ruling and not appeal it to the Supreme Court of Canada.

"You can't have a half equality," she said in Ottawa. "You can't say: `Well, you're equal, but.'

"When you're speaking about equality you're talking about allowing people to exercise all rights under the law including all rights that are available to all others."

Essentially the same story from the Globe and Mail:

Ontario's Appeal Court decision joins court rulings in British Columbia and Quebec that also back same-sex unions.

However, it differs in that it calls for the new definition to take place immediately, allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry now.

It also effectively forces Ontario to recognize the January 2001 marriage of Joe Varnell and Kevin Bourassa, who were wed in a Toronto church ceremony using an ancient Christian tradition that allowed them to avoid having to get city-issued marriage licences.

Theirs would be the first same-sex marriage in Canada.

...

Also celebrating Tuesday were Joyce Barnett and Alison Kemper, who picked up their marriage licence with Mr. Stark and Mr. Leshner and planned to wed in July 2004.

Their two children were ecstatic.

"I knew that nobody could say I didn't have a family," said Robbie, 11, who was born to Alison. "Canada has finally figured out it's unfair to deny this to anybody."

More from the CBC:

Holding their licence, Michael Leshner and Michael Stark, one of the couples involved in the court case, said they are getting married within hours.

"Today is the death of homophobia in the courtroom as we've known it," said Leshner, an Ontario Crown attorney.

"Absolute faith in Canadian values" helped him through the long court battle, said Leshner, who encouraged other countries to follow Ontario's lead.

"When we get married, we will have lit a match that hopefully illuminates the world," he said.

I am a happy man.

Posted by aloysius at June 10, 2003 01:24 PM |