Timbre of a TimeFree Mind

"The registrar came out and said, 'This is a joke, right?' " Mr. Vogel, 57, said yesterday with a chuckle.

Three decades later, Mr. Vogel and others who challenged Manitoba's marriage laws are enjoying a last laugh. A court decision yesterday made Manitoba the fifth jurisdiction in Canada to allow same-sex marriages, and marked the first time the federal government made no attempt to block or delay such a ruling.

Mr. Justice Douglas Yard of the Court of Queen's Bench noted that at least 12 other judges have already decided that forbidding gays to marry would be unconstitutional and he endorsed that view.

"The traditional definition of marriage is no longer constitutionally valid in view of the provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms," Judge Yard said. Courts in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Yukon have issued similar decisions, and another challenge is under way in Nova Scotia.

The Manitoba court fell silent for a moment after Judge Yard gave his ruling. "Then afterward, everybody was kissing and hugging everybody else," said Patricia Lane, a lawyer for the three couples who opposed the law.

Later yesterday morning, some of Ms. Lane's clients visited the provincial Vital Statistics Agency and asked for marriage licences. They got a much warmer reception than Mr. Vogel received in 1974, said Laura Fouhse, 35, who plans to marry Jordan Cantwell, 37, in a church ceremony this weekend. They walked up to a counter and a smiling clerk handed them some forms to fill out. "Somebody had crossed out 'groom' and 'bride' and written 'party,' so they were probably expecting us," Ms. Fouhse said. "The woman behind the counter seemed very pleased."

Mr. Vogel said he and his partner were also happy about the decision, but for them it's a purely symbolic victory. They won't bother to make a return trip to the vital statistics office and get an official marriage licence, he said, because they already won earlier decisions giving them the same benefits as heterosexual common-law couples, which in Manitoba are equivalent to those of married spouses.

But the long fight was worthwhile, Mr. Vogel added. He and Mr. North were fresh out of university when they first decided to marry, inspired by a handful of U.S. activists who tried to do the same thing. Their clergyman was so nervous about the marriage that he drove into the countryside to mail the paperwork, hoping that the postal delay would give him enough time to perform the ceremony before anybody could stop him.

The ceremony happened without any problem, but a judge rejected the couple's attempt to make the marriage official. Advocates of same-sex marriage say the fight isn't over, however. They expect to launch challenges in all remaining provinces, and their biggest test comes on Oct. 6 when the Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to hear a reference about same-sex marriage submitted by the federal government. Ottawa asked the country's highest court to consider draft legislation that would change the definition of marriage in federal law.

posted by jikido  # 1:33 PM