by Rex Wockner
The highest court in the Canadian province of Quebec, following in the footsteps of the highest courts in Ontario and British Columbia, legalized full same-sex marriage March 19.
The court said prohibiting gays and lesbian from marrying violates the nation's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
'This is a great day for Quebec and a great day for Canada,' said Bob Gallagher, national coordinator for Canadians for Equal Marriage. 'Now same-sex couples can marry in provinces that represent over 70 percent of Canada's population.'
Unlike in British Columbia and Ontario, where couples, including foreigners, can buy a license and marry the same day, Quebec requires a 20-day waiting period between the acquisition of a license and the wedding itself—for residents and foreigners alike.
Thus, the first weddings are expected to take place on, or sometime after, April 7. The first couple expected to marry is Michael Hendricks and René LeBoeuf, who were the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the decision.
However, the 20-day delay can be waived if arrangements are made in advance with the individual who will conduct the marriage, said a spokesman for Egale, Canada's national GLBT lobbying organization.
'The floodgates seem to be open and it looks like Canada is going to become the first North American country that has equal marriage and this is wonderful,' Hendricks told reporters.
'We're ecstatic,' said Egale Executive Director Gilles Marchildon. 'Three-fourths of Canadians now have access to full equality because that's the combined population of Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.
'We would like our federal elected representatives to support this [with federal legislation opening up marriage],' Marchildon said. 'Hopefully, the other provinces will start issuing licenses now, as well, instead of waiting for federal legislation. There is nothing standing in the way of that.'
The federal government has said it supports last summer's rulings that legalized same-sex marriage in Ontario and British Columbia and will introduce legislation to open up marriage nationwide, but it has yet to act except for sending four procedural questions to the Canadian Supreme Court.
The fourth question, which was added on Feb. 20, had the effect of delaying the Supreme Court's consideration of the matter until this coming October. No action is expected in Parliament until the court answers the questions.
According to a telephone information line at the Montreal Courthouse's Division of Civil Marriages and Unions: 'If you wish to hold a marriage or a civil union you must complete an application form and return it to our office with the required documents. You will then be invited to an interview in the following weeks and be asked to select a marriage or union date. The fees are $253.06 (US$190) ... There is a mandatory delay of 20 days between this interview and the marriage or union date.'
Quebec has offered same-sex civil unions, which extend all the provincial rights of marriage, since 2002.