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Posted by Kindgo (Member # 2) on :

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Tuesday, July 16, 2002 – Page A12

The issue of gay marriage is one step closer to the Supreme Court of Canada, where it should be acknowledged as a perfectly reasonable direction for the law to take.

The common law, an accumulation of past laws and judicial decisions, defines marriage as the "lawful and voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others." Three judges of the Ontario Superior Court ruled last week that this exclusion of same-sex couples is an unjustifiable violation of the Charter of Rights, whose guarantee of equal protection has been read by previous courts to include sexual orientation.

Similar cases are before the courts in Quebec and British Columbia. A judge of the B.C. Supreme Court said last year that he wasn't about to change the common law, and that Parliament had no jurisdiction to do so -- a ruling with which we disagreed at the time, and which should be reviewed, along with other verdicts on same-sex marriage, by the highest court.

Allowing gay couples to marry would upset tradition, no question, but in a good cause. Society has already extended to same-sex couples many of the rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples, including adoption, spousal support, pension entitlements and medical decision-making. Adding marriage to that list would acknowledge society's interest in encouraging loving couples to sign a legal contract reflecting their vows of permanence.

The B.C. judge argued that the main purpose of marriage "is to provide a societal structure for the procreation of children in order to perpetuate Canadian society." None of that would be upset if gays were allowed to marry. Men and women would continue to marry each other and have children, many of them would continue to marry and not have children, and many would have children without getting married. The big change is that loving gay couples in committed relationships would have the same chance to accept the solemn obligations of the marriage contract. Chalk it up as a victory for stability.