Same-sex marriage ruled legal in Yukon
CTV.ca News Staff from the Web, July 14, 2004
CANADA, Yukon Territory -- Gay couples in the Yukon wanting to marry can now do so legally.
A Yukon Supreme Court judge has changed the territory's definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.
"The (old) common law definition of marriage is unconstitutional," declared Yukon Supreme Court Justice Peter McIntyre to a packed hearing room Wednesday.
McIntyre changed the common law definition of marriage to mean the voluntary union for life of two persons to the exclusion of all others.
Previously, Yukon's common law limited marriage to a union between a man and a woman.
The decision follows similar court rulings in Quebec, Ontario and B.C. Courts in those provinces have already ruled that the traditional definition of marriage violates the Charter of Rights.
The federal attorney general had asked the Yukon court to delay its decision until the Supreme Court of Canada hears arguments on same-sex marriage in October.
McIntyre, however, said "a legally unacceptable result would be perpetuated in the Yukon" if he delayed the decision.
Stephen Dunbar and Rob Edge plan to be the territory's first gay couple to wed.
They will exchange vows Saturday at a Whitehorse United Church.
"We're very, very happy with the outcome," said Edge.
"Hopefully, someday nobody will question why same-sex couples want to marry -- they'll know it's for the same reasons as everyone else."
The couple pushed the court's decision by taking their case to the Yukon Human Rights Commission in June, after being refused a wedding licence in January by the territorial Vital Statistics office.
Justice McIntyre also made the unusual move of ordering the territorial and federal governments to split the costs of the couple's two lawyers.
Egale, the national gay and lesbian advocacy group, welcomed the ruling.
"This ruling sends a message that governments across the country must now accept the Charter right of same-sex couples to marry in a civil ceremony," said Egale's director of advocacy Laurie Arron.
"There is one law for the whole country, and that law includes same-sex couples," he said.
But Focus on the Family, a conservative family rights advocacy group, said the ruling represented judicial activism.
"Canada's Supreme Court is scheduled to hear all the arguments on this issue and elected members of Parliament will debate it soon," said the group's Derek Rogusky in a news release.
"There was no need for an unelected Yukon Territory judge to ignore this process.
"The people of the Yukon and their elected representatives should be the ones to decide whether or not to alter their understanding of marriage."
Prime Minister Paul Martin has promised to follow the Supreme Court's direction on the issue, suggesting he will introduce a bill legalizing such unions if it becomes appropriate.
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