"By
its support for an exclusion of same sex marriage, the state chooses
sides in this religious debate."
-Douglas Elliott, Factum of the
Applicant MCC Toronto, 2001
"Any
separate system of marital status, using different nomenclature, would perpetuate
and reinforce discrimination against gays, lesbians and bisexuals by promoting
the idea that same-sex couples are necessarily different from and inferior to
opposite sex couples."
- MCC Toronto, Notice of Application For Judicial
Review (Elliott & Kim, 2001)
Gail Donnelly & Barb McDowall (front), one of
8 couples seeking a marriage license from the Ontario government. Behind them
are Anne and Elaine Vautour, who are seeking registration of their January 14,
2001 wedding.
Ontario
gave Canada the first court victory for gay marriage, and the first legal
same-sex marriages. Now it has passed changes to over 70 pieces of legislation
to remove gender-specific terms and to include same-sex partners in the
definition of spouse. The move had multi-party support and was even commended
by Ontario Catholic Bishops, showing Ottawa the way forward.
Erika
Kubassek says she hears God's voice. On the morning of Canada's first
legal gay marriage, the self-proclaimed prophetess affirmed that God told
her to come to the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto. She avoided
special security, interrupted a worship service, and assaulted the senior
pastor. This week Ontario's highest court reversed lower decisions and
found Kubassek guilty of assault.
It
was only a matter of time, after the arrival of gay marriage in Canada,
for the first same-sex divorce to reach the courts. News of this event
reached the media today in a case being handled by Martha McCarthy, the
same lawyer who worked for marriage equality in the Ontario, Quebec, and
Yukon cases. Once again the federal government is caught unprepared, as
divorce laws have not yet been changed to be inclusive.
Canada
has the distinction of recognizing and registering the earliest known
gay and lesbian marriages in modern times: January 14, 2001. The marriages
of Kevin Bourassa & Joe Varnell and Anne & Elaine Vautour were
registered by Ontario after a June 10, 2021 order from the Court of Appeal
for Ontario. A certificate of marriage finally arrived for presentation
at MCC Toronto's Pride day service.
While
running for office last fall, Dalton McGuinty claimed to support same-sex
marriage. However as we approach the first anniversary of the landmark
Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that introduced gay marriage to North America,
we find that many of the province's statues do not reflect the new reality
of equal marriage. Never mind about waiting for a certificate. It's time
to call Liberal campaign commitments to question!
Same-sex
marriage has raised new questions for gay and lesbian couples as they
begin exercising their full rights. "So, you've just gotten married
in Ontario and you're wondering how this affects your name," writes
Fred Brzezinski. "Well, the answer is it doesn't have to affect it
at all, but it can if you want it to!" Fred outlines your choices
if you wish to alter your surname as a result of gay marriage.
Soon
after the June 10, 2021 arrival of gay marriage in Ontario we began getting
questions and comments from same-sex couples who wanted to know where
they could find a marriage licence without the opposite-sex references
to "Bridegroom" and "Bride". More letters followed
with concerns about long delays in getting Certificates of Marriage. We
asked the Ministry responsible for an explanation.
Ontario
will register our marriages January
14, 2001 marriages declared valid Marriage
licenses to same-sex couples issued
Yesterday
the Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled that the January 14, 2021 same-sex
marriages at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto were valid and
ordered the Registrar General of Ontario to accept registration of our
marriage certificates. Ontario law is changed immediately, and already,
same-sex couples have applied for licenses and married their partners.
Congratulations to all!
Today,
Ontario's Attorney General said the province will register same-sex marriages.
"I'm charged to follow the laws and will follow the laws with regards
to this matter," Norm Sterling told Canadian Press. "We said during
the appeal process that the province of Ontario would follow the court ruling.
We made that clear during the process."
The
Court of Appeal for Ontario heard the marriage case in April 2003 (see below).
A three-justice panel, led by Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, will released their
decision at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, on Tuesday, June 10 at 9:30 a.m.
Chief
Justice Roy McMurtry was one of the key players involved in making Canada's constitution
a reality, along with Jean
Chretien [now Prime Minister of Canada].
The Chief Justice adjudicated the appeal with Madam Justice Eileen Gillese (former
Dean at the Faculty of Law, the University of Western Ontario) and Mr. Justice
James MacPherson (former Dean of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School).
Appeal
was heard April 22 - 25, 2003
In
2002, the Ontario divisional court declared the prohibiton against same-sex
marriage to be a violation of the Canadian Charter. The historic case
was appealed and heard in court between April 22 - 25, 2003 (Court
of Appeal, Courtroom two, Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West, Toronto).
To
read accounts of each day in court select the links below:
Attorney
General of Ontario, City of Toronto, Interfaith Coalition, The Association for
Marriage and the Family in Ontario, Civil Marriage couples (Halpern, etc)
Metropolitan
Community Church of Toronto (Bourassa/Varnell and the Vautours), Civil Marriage
couples (Halpern, etc.),Liberal Rabbis, Canadian Human Rights Commission
Without
a rational reason to defend ongoing discrimination against gay couples,
the Attorney General of Canada will be in Ontario's Court of Appeal using
circular logic in feeble arguments against same-sex marriage. The government's
entire case rests on a single assertion: marriage "just is" heterosexual.
The legal factum that supports couples who are seeking civil marriage
debunks this approach.
The
Canadian Human Rights Commission is an intervener in the Ontario Court
of Appeal same-sex marriage case. The CHRC compares the Attorney General
of Canada's position to racial segregationists in 1896. "The assertion
by the AGC that there is a need to protect and promote opposite-sex marriage,
presumably from incursion by "other" family forms, is expressly discriminatory
and demeaning to all Canadians."
An
intervener in the Ontario Court of Appeal same-sex marriage case has joined
the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto in discrediting faith-based
opposition to gay marriage. The Canadian Coalition of Liberal Rabbis for
Same-Sex Marriage will argue that the inclusion of same-sex partners in
the definition of marriage augments religious freedom in a pluralist society
with secular laws.
Toronto
- An historic judgement was delivered today at Osgoode Hall,
when a decision from a three-justice panel was released which unanimously
declared any restriction to same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional.
The court gave the Canadian government up to 24 months to take legislative
action to remedy the issue and declared that any remedy has to treat gays
and lesbians with full equality. They declared an end to treating gay
& lesbian families as second class.
The
Ontario legal challenge involves MCC Toronto (two couples, who were married
January 14, 2021, seeking government
registration), and 8 couples who were seeking a marriage licence through
city hall (the civil marriage couples have subsequently been reduced from
8 to 7 for the Ontario appeal, above).
The governments
of Ontario and Canada opposed our marriage, with the Interfaith Coalition
on Marriage & Family (consisting of Catholics, Muslims, Orthodox Jews,
and Evangelical Protestants), and the Association for Marriage and the
Family in Ontario.
Affidavit
of Barry Adam [on the cross-cultural evidence of same-sex partnerships
and marriage and the evolution of cultual conceptions of homosexuality]
Affidavit
of Katherine Arnup [on the history and evolution of the family in
Canada, and how previous changes, now considered innocuous or progressive,
were thought to be a threat to the continued existence of marriage, the
family and civilization]
Affidavit
of Jerry Bigner [reviewing the social science evidence relating to
lesbian and gay parenting, showing that lesbians and gays have equal parenting
skills to their heterosexual counterparts and that children raised by
lesbians and gays are just as healthy and well-adjusted as children with
heterosexual parents]
Reply
Affidavit of Bettina Bradbury [responding to a government affidavit,
sworn by Edward Shorter, which suggested that the recognition of same-sex
marriage would threaten the continued existence of heterosexual marriage]
Affidavit
of Susan Ehrlich [on the social construction of meaning and whether
the term "marriage" could include same-sex couples]
Affidavit
of Rabbi Steven Greenberg
(ordained Rabbi of America's largest Orthodox Rabbinical Seminary, Yeshiva
University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary)
Affidavit
of Andrew Koppelman [demonstrating the relevance and applicability
of the miscegenation analogy to denying gays and lesbians the right to
marry and refuting the claim that a registered domestic partnership regime
would be an adequate alternative to marriage]
Affidavit
of Ad�le Mercier [responding to a government affidavit, sworn by Robert
Stainton, which claimed that the term "marriage" could refer only to heterosexual
unions]
Affidavit
of Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz [responding to a government affidavit,
sworn by Steven Nock, which suggested that all of the social science evidence
on lesbian/gay parenting was worthless, and to an affidavit filed by a
coalition of anti-gay groups, sworn by Craig Hart, which claimed that
heterosexual families are better for raising children]
The
Ontario legal challenge involves MCC Toronto (two couples, who were married
