Press Release

July 8, 2003

Same-Sex Marriage Now Legal in B.C.!

B.C. Court of Appeal Orders Province to Issue Marriage Licenses to Same-Sex Couples—Effective Immediately

July 8, 2003: Today, the B.C. Court of Appeal ordered the province of British Columbia to immediately begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. As a result, British Columbia is now the second province in Canada to recognize the legal right of same-sex couples to marry.

On May 1, 2003, the B.C. Court of Appeal had unanimously held that it is unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the equal right to marry. It extended the common-law definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, but suspended the effective date of that order until July 12, 2004. With the recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the subsequent acceptance of marriage for same-sex couples by the federal government, the Court ruled today that there was no longer any reason for this suspension.

Ontario has been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples since the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered it to do so on June 10, 2003. Since then, hundreds of same-sex couples, including couples from B.C., other provinces, and around the world, have been married in Ontario, including Egale’s President, Lisa Lachance, and her wife Heather Gass, who live in Ottawa. “Up till now, same-sex couples in BC wanting to marry either had to wait a year or travel to Ontario to get married at great personal expense. That’s just not fair. No-one should have to travel to a different province or territory to get married, and all Canadians are entitled to expect that their marriages will be equally recognized across the country.”

Robin Roberts and Diana Denny, one of the litigant couples in B.C., had this to say: “We’re thrilled! By joining Ontario in permitting equal marriage for same-sex couples, BC fortifies Canada’s message of inclusion and equality rights to the world.” Lloyd Thornhill and Robert Peacock, who have been together for 34 years, said “this has been a long and difficult journey. We will cherish this day as long as we live.”

“There is no excuse for other provinces and territories to deny same-sex couples marriage licenses, now that the federal common-law has changed to permit same-sex couples to marry,” stated Gilles Marchildon, Egale’s Executive Director. “Federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has urged the other provinces and territories to act now and start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. If other provinces refuse to act, same-sex couples will simply cross provincial borders, and get married in B.C. or Ontario. If you're married anywhere in Canada, you're married everywhere in Canada.”

The request to lift the suspension in B.C. was made by the BC Partners, three couples denied marriage licenses in the province, who are represented by Prof. Kathleen Lahey, and by Egale Canada and five couples whose applications for marriage licenses had also been refused. They are represented by Joe Arvay of Arvay Finlay and Cynthia Petersen of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell.

B.C. Court of Appeal Decision Media Contact List (*Bilingual)

*Elizabeth Barbeau 604-253-3348 ebarbeau@intergate.ca
Dawn Barbeau dawnbarbeau@hotmail.com

Tanya Chambers 604-215-1427 tlc_87@hotmail.com
Melinda Roy mroy99@hotmail.com

Peter Cook 604-714-0092 petercook@shaw.com
Murray Warren

Robin Roberts 250-477-2751 robin-diana@shaw.com
Diana Denny

Jane Hamilton 604-435-9585 jane@janeeatonhamilton.com
Joy Masuhara masuhara@shaw.ca

Tess Healy 250-962-2639 theresa_healy@telus.net
Wendy Young wyoung@setbc.org

David Shortt cell: 604-723-4102 dave@e-apparent.com
Shane McCloskey 604-608-1681

Lloyd Thornhill 604-687-8326 bobaloo@shaw.ca
Bob Peacock

Counsel & General contacts:

For Egale:
*Cynthia Petersen, counsel, 416-979-6440 cynthiapetersen@sympatico.ca
Joe Arvay, counsel, 250-388-6868 jarvay@arvayfinlay.com
*John Fisher, 613-291-5187 john@egale.ca
Laurie Arron, Chair, Equal Marriage Committee, 416-839-7178 laurie@egale.ca
*Gilles Marchildon, Executive Director, 613-230-1043 gilles@egale.ca

For B.C. Partners:
Kathy Lahey 613-545-0828 kal2@qsilver.queensu.ca

for Coalition of Canadian Liberal Rabbis for Same-Sex Marriage:
names removed by request

Media Coordinator:
Craig Maynard 604 790-8751 cmaynard@shaw.ca

Egale Canada ©2011

Canada's LGBT human rights organization: advancing equality, diversity, education, and justice.