 |
Ban on Same-Sex Marriage |
|
By Rex Wockner International News Report
The British Columbia Supreme Court ruled October 3 that
Canada's ban on same-sex marriage is discriminatory
but permissible.
"The objective of limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is sufficiently important to warrant infringing the rights of the petitioners," Justice Ian Pitfield ruled. "The gain to society from the preservation of the deep-rooted and fundamental legal institution of opposite-sex marriage outweighs the detrimental effect of the law on the petitioners." The 16 plaintiffs and their lawyers were taken aback. "Our clients knew when they started that this would be a case that would go on for five years," lawyer Barbara Findlay told the Canadian Press wire service. Findlay does not capitalize her name. "But the anguish of being told that we recognize that you're being discriminated against but that discrimination is acceptable, is very difficult to describe." "It is disheartening," plaintiff Shane McCloskey told the National Post. "In our minds it was a pretty simple case. One of the main things that we were arguing was that by not being allowed to get married it was discrimination. The ironic part of the judgment is that the judge agreed with us, but said that is justifiable. That is really hard to take. None of us think that discrimination is justifiable in any circumstance." The plaintiffs will appeal to the B.C. Court of Appeal and, if necessary, to the Supreme Court of Canada. "This is just the beginning," said plaintiff Robin Roberts. The ruling did have a silver lining, the plaintiffs said, in that it marked the first time a Canadian court admitted the ban on same-sex marriage is indeed discriminatory. "I am very encouraged," said plaintiff Tess Healy. "The court has made a groundbreaking decision in finding that it is contrary to the charter to exclude us from marriage. ... We believe that we are right, and we are in this case for the long haul." The court relied on Section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to hold that it is discriminatory yet legally acceptable to exclude gays and lesbians from marriage. Section 1 permits breaches of the charter when the breach is justifiable. |
