Homosexual couples in Ontario to get licenses

TORONTO -- Nearly two dozen homosexual couples applied for marriage licenses Wednesday, taking advantage of a court ruling that led to Canada's first legal same-sex wedding the day before.

City spokesman Brad Ross said 18 of the couples were from Toronto and the rest from southern Ontario.

Two Canadian men were married Tuesday a few hours after an Ontario appeals court ruled Canada's ban on homosexual marriage was unconstitutional.

The Ontario attorney general said Wednesday the province would respect the court ruling, meaning marriages that follow it would be registered.

"I'm charged to follow the laws and will follow the laws with regards to this matter," Norm Sterling said.

The appeals panel declared Canada's legal definition of marriage invalid and ordered Toronto's city clerk to issue marriage licenses to the homosexual couples involved in the case.

Canadian law defines marriage as a union of man and woman. Tuesday's ruling changed it in Ontario to a union between two people.

If the federal government refrains from filing an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Ontario ruling becomes the law of the land. Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said Wednesday he needs time to study the Tuesday ruling before deciding whether to appeal.

A Parliament committee is studying the matter, and opinion polls indicate a slight majority of Canadians favor legalizing same-sex marriages. Some Cabinet ministers said it was time to change the marriage definition to reflect modern social mores, but divisions emerged among members of Parliament of the governing Liberal Party.

"We're taking an institution that's 5,000 years old -- it's underpinned society for millennia and has been the chief way by which men relate to women, women relate to men, and children relate to their parents -- and we're just deconstructing it," said John McKay, who represents a Toronto district.

Nick Discepola, from a Montreal-area district, invoked a phrase from former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in supporting same-sex marriages.

"What people do in their own bedrooms is their own business," he said.

Conservative political parties, however, called on the Liberal Party government to appeal, and Alberta Premier Ralph Klein said he would fight any effort to force his province to allow same-sex marriages.

In the United States, homosexual marriage lacks full legal recognition in all 50 states. Vermont recognizes civil unions that give homosexual couples the full benefits and responsibilities of marriage but are separate from legal marriage.