Rights activists celebrated Friday as a panel of senior judges ordered the government of Ontario, the country's most populous province, to register gay and lesbian marriages.

It was the first decision of its kind in Canada and is expected to set a precedent throughout the country.

"We're no longer second-class citizens in this country and the time has come for change," said Joe Varnell, one of the people who sued for the right to marry another man. "My relationship is validated and nobody can say we're not a real family anymore."

In a unanimous ruling, the panel of three judges of the Ontario Superior Court, which has jurisdiction over 10 million people, said prohibiting gay couples from marrying violates the Canadian constitution's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

While the court does not have jurisdiction beyond Ontario, the ruling, and the fact that it was unanimous, likely will be taken into account in similar actions across the country.

Canada already recognises some rights to same-sex benefits, but has stopped short of recognising gay and lesbian marriages. Many same-sex couples in Eastern Canada have traveled to the US state of Vermont for their wedding rites, as this is the closest jurisdiction recognising them.

"Certainly it is an historic decision and it is unprecedented," said Roslyn Levine, counsel to federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon. "It means marriage is no longer limited to one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others."

Government sued

Friday's ruling dealt with two Toronto couples — gay men and lesbian women — who sued the government of Ontario for not accepting their marriages as legally valid.

Both couples wed during a joint service at a Toronto church in January 2001. They had used the old Christian tradition of formally asking the congregation if anyone objected to the couple's marriage for three consecutive Sundays in order to get city-issued marriage licenses.

Rev David Hawkes of the Metropolitan Community Church, who married the couples, said the Christian tradition allows couples to be considered married if no one opposes their marriage when the minister announces it in church services on three separate Sundays.

The wedding attracted media from across the country and from the United States.

When the couples tried to have their unions registered with the provincial government, authorities argued that federal law stipulates a marriage must be between a man and a woman.

The case went to trial last November. Cases of eight other couples are still before the courts in Ontario but likely will be settled by this decision.

"We've finally come to the point in this country where all families are going to be treated equal," Varnell said. "The courts heard us. They have finally made it clear that this country can't continue to discriminate."

The court has given the federal government, which has jurisdiction over family law and the definition of marriage, two years to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. Judge Heather Smith acknowledged that Parliament needs time to redefine "marriage" in applicable legislation.

To hear arguments

Early next year, the British Columbia Court of Appeal will hear arguments regarding the legality of registering same-sex marriages. A judge in Montreal, Quebec, also is to rule on a similar case.

Before the court decision, Ontario Consumer Affairs Minister Robert Runciman, whose department is responsible for registering marriages in the province, said federal law specifically defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

"To be told we're not worthy, by the state, to be able to marry is a slap in the face to gays and lesbians," said John Fisher, president of Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere and a plaintiff in the British Columbia cases. "It tells us that we're second-class citizens."

Likely, at least one of the pending cases will end up in the Supreme Court of Canada.

Derek Rogusky, head of the Vancouver, British Columbia-based group Focus on the Family, said monogamous heterosexual marriage provides benefits to society, and to children.

"I think we've indicated pretty clearly, without getting into the details of any specific case, that same-sex marriages will not be recognised by the provincial government and as such will not qualify for registration," he said. — IPS