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Historic Decision Changes the Legal Definition of Marriage Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto Hails Victories Metropolitan Community Churches
 Toronto, Canada -- In a court decision based on a challenge by Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, Canada has become the latest nation to affirm equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians.
An Ontario appeals court today unanimously set aside the heterosexual-only definition of marriage and ordered the Toronto city clerk to immediately issue marriage licenses to several gay couples who had applied for them. "The existing common law definition of marriage violates the couple's equality rights on the basis of sexual orientation under (constitutional law)," read the 61-page decision. The court ruling ordered the legal definition of marriage be changed to "the voluntary union for life of two persons to the exclusion of all others" and ruled that any delay in implementation would be a denial of constitutional rights. Friday's court challenge was brought by two Toronto couples - Anne and Elaine Vautour and Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell -- who had sued the government of Ontario for not accepting their marriages as legally valid. Both couples wed during a joint service at Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto in January 2001. They had used an old Canadian law of reading banns -- formally asking the congregation if anyone objected to the couple's marriage for three consecutive Sundays -- in order to get city-issued marriage licenses. But when the couples tried to have their unions registered with the province, the minister of consumer affairs refused. "Today, I salute the Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes and the members of MCC Toronto who challenged the Canadian law and won this victory," said Rev. Troy D. Perry, human rights activist and Founder and Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches. "Dr. Hawkes has a long and distinguished record on behalf of social justice and human rights. History will long honor him, along with Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, as the driving force behind this landmark decision," Perry added. For more than three decades, the predominantly gay Metropolitan Community Churches have worked to achieve equality under the marriage laws for gays and lesbians. Each year, MCC churches in 22 countries perform more than 6000 same-sex weddings. "These same-sex weddings are blessed in the sight of God but not recognized by the civil authorities in most countries around the world," Perry noted "One of the great desires of my life is to be legally wed to my partner of 18 years, Phillip Ray De Blieck, before I die," Perry said "We intend to fly to Canada in the near future to be legally married under Canadian law -- then we will return to the United States to carry on the fight for justice and equality in the U.S." The marriage ceremony will be performed by Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes at a date to be announced later. According to Perry, "Today I encourage gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people around the globe to take heart in this decision. In my own country, I am renewing my call for GLBT couples to continue public demonstrations every Valentine's Day by applying for marriage licenses at marriage bureaus, city halls, and court houses across the United States." |