Openly gay Toronto city councilor Kyle Rae and his partner of nine years, Mark Reid, got married at a downtown art gallery June 20.
The province of Ontario’s highest court legalized full marriage for same-sex couples July 10 in a decision that took effect immediately. A week later, the federal government said it agreed with the decision and will open up marriage nationwide within a few months. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien accepted the court’s determination that banning same-sex marriage violates Canada’s constitution, which prohibits any discrimination that cannot be ‘demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.’
Ontario has no residency requirement for marriage and there have been many Americans among the scores of same-sex couples who have gotten hitched since June 10. One can purchase a marriage license and marry the same day.
‘I’m hoping more Americans come up here and get married and erode the [U.S. Congress’] Defense of Marriage Act,’ Rae told the Washington Post. ‘I think as more and more Americans come up to get married, states will have a difficult time not recognizing a sovereign state’s marriage license.’
The only other nations that let same-sex couples marry under the ordinary marriage laws are Belgium and The Netherlands. A dozen other nations have comprehensive domestic-partnership laws that grant registered same-sex couples most or all of the rights of marriage.