IN Toronto magazine

NEWS:

Saskatchewan upholds rights of same-sex couples

The Saskatchewan government has announced that it is unconstitutional for marriage commissioners to deny same-sex couples from marrying and, indeed, to do so “would have genuinely harmful impacts.”

The decision was announced after the province asked the Appeal Court to rule on amendments to the Marriage Act, which would have legally allowed government-appointed commissions to discriminate against same-sex couples and refuse their wish to marry under the basis of religion objection.

“This decision is an unequivocal victory for equality rights and for the lesbian, gay and bisexual community,” said Helen Kennedy, Executive Director of Egale Canada, an LGBT rights lobby group. “We are pleased to see that the court has clearly recognized the distinction between civil and religious institutions of marriage.”

The provincial court said the proposed law would be unconstitutional and would lead to discrimination against same-sex couples.

“It would be a significant step backward if, having won the difficult fight for the right to same-sex civil marriages, gay and lesbian couples could be shunned by the very people charged by the province with solemnizing such unions,” stated Justice Richards.

“In our tradition, the apparatus of the state serves everyone equally without providing better, poorer or different services to one individual compared to another by making distinctions on the basis of factors like race, religion or gender.”

The court ruling was unanimous among five justices of Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal.

“This is a very important decision,” said Donna Smith, member of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour’s Solidarity and Pride Committee. “An important precedent has now been set that will help to deter discrimination against same-sex couples that wish to marry.”

Granting commissioners the right to refuse same-sex couples on the basis of religious belief would be unconstitutional, stated the ruling. The “performance of a civil marriage by a marriage commissioner under the Act is not a religious rite or practice. Nor does the requirement to do so limit or restrict religious belief,” stated Justice Smith.

At least one marriage commissioner who was an intervener in the case says he may give up his role over the ruling, reports the Globe and Mail.

Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2005.