The first
legal same-sex marriages performed in Ontario
were of
Kevin Bourassa to Joe Varnell, and Elaine Vautour to Anne Vautour,
by Rev. Brent Hawkes on January
14, 2001.The legality of the marriages was questioned and they were
not registered until after June 10, 2003, when the
Court of Appeal for Ontario in
Halpern
v. Canada upheld a
lower court ruling which declared that defining marriage in heterosexual-only terms violated the Canadian
Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.
The first legal same-sex marriage registered in Ontario was that of
Paula Barrero and Blanca Mejias, married September 29, 2001 and
registered the same year. The Office of the Registrar General
apparently did not recognize the names as both being women and
issued a marriage certificate.
All of these marriages were authorized by calling the
banns in the spouses' churches. The first civil
marriage license issued to a
same-sex couple was to
Michael Stark and
Michael Leshner, who had the usual waiting period waived and
completed the formalities of marriage just hours after the court
ruling, on June 10, 2003.
Background: Superior Court ruling
On July 12, 2002, in a 3-0 decision of the
Ontario Superior Court,
same-sex couples won the right to marry in the case of
Halpern
et al. v. Canada. The Court ruled that limiting
marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the equality provisions
of the Charter of Rights, giving the federal government a two-year
stay of judgment in which to pass legislation implementing same-sex
marriage; otherwise, same-sex marriage would come into force
automatically.
There was a decision in 1993 by the same divisional Court in
Layland v. Ontario, which ruled that same-sex
couples did not have the capacity to marry each other. However,
that decision was non-binding as it was the same Court taking up
the issue in 2002. One of the judges in the most recent case wrote
"with respect, the decisions to which I have referred assumed,
without analysis, that the inability of persons of the same sex to
marry was a question of capacity. The decisions are not binding on
this court and, with respect, I do not find them persuasive."
Court of Appeal ruling
In 2003, the couples in
Halpern appealed the decision,
requesting that the decision take effect immediately instead of
after a delay. On June 10, 2003, the
Court of Appeal for Ontario
confirmed that current Canadian law on marriage violated the
equality provisions in
Section
Fifteen of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in being
restricted to heterosexual couples. The appeals court struck down
the stay of judgment given in the 2002 ruling, thereby causing the
judgment to come into effect immediately.
Although
marriage is a federal law, the court only had
jurisdiction to implement the ruling
within Ontario. The
province thus became the first jurisdiction in North America to
recognize same-sex marriage.
Consequently, the city government of Toronto
announced
that the city clerk would begin issuing marriage licences to
same-sex couples. The next day, the
Attorney General of Ontario
announced that his government would comply with the ruling.
The court also ruled that two couples who had previously attempted
to marry using an ancient common-law procedure called reading the
banns would be considered legally
married.
Provincial Legislation
On February 24, 2005 a bill was passed in the provincial
legislature which performed 'housekeeping' on various Ontario laws,
to bring their wording into line with the court ruling. As well,
the bill ensures that no religious institution or clergy will be
forced to perform a ceremony against their beliefs. There is no
such provision for civil officials.
Divorce
On September 13, 2004, the Ontario Court of Appeal declared the
Divorce Act also unconstitutional for excluding same-sex marriages.
It ordered same-sex marriages read into that act, permitting the
plaintiffs, a lesbian couple, to
divorce.
[84847]
See also
References
- signed by Rev. Brent Hawkes
- Certificate of marriage, issued June 11, 2003.
External links
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