Court says Canada can redefine marriage

Canada's Supreme Court said Thursday the government can redefine marriage to include same-sex couples.\nHowever, the court added that religious officials cannot be forced to perform unions against their beliefs, and the legislation to allow gay marriage still must pass with a majority of the House of Commons.\nPrime Minister Paul Martin said after the court's ruling that because judges in six Canadian provinces and one of its territories already are allowing gay marriages, it should be approved throughout the country. He said his government would introduce a bill shortly after the Christmas holidays.\nHe noted that members of Parliament would be free to vote their conscience, but his Cabinet ministers would have to support the government's bill.\n"For many Canadians and many Parliamentarians, this is a difficult issue involving personal and religious convictions, and it represents a very significant change to a long-standing institution," Martin said.\nCanada would join Belgium and the Netherlands in allowing gay marriage if the government rules it legal nationwide.\nThe court's decision brings to the final stage s a long, bitter fight about whether gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry in Canada. Public opinion is evenly divided on the matter, and advocates for both sides are preparing for the final phase of the battle.\n"This is a victory for Canadian values," said Alexander Munter of Canadians for Equal Marriage.\nIn the United States, a majority of Americans oppose gay marriage, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll taken in November, shortly after constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage were approved in 11 states.\nMalcolm Lazin, executive director of the gay-rights group Equality Forum in Philadelphia, said the Supreme Court's decision would help those seeking same-sex marriages in the United States.\n"I think the important thing is that Canada's really leading the way, they really have become a role model for all of North America," he said in an interview with CBC television news.\nTo pass in the House of Commons, the legislation needs the approval of about 44 of the 95 Liberal backbench members of Parliament to obtain a 155-vote majority in the 308-seat House.\nOne top Liberal predicted the legislation should pass easily after its introduction, likely early next year. The legislation already has the support of the 38-member Liberal cabinet and virtually all the 54 Bloc Quebecois and 19 New Democrat MPs.\n"I do personally have a problem with redefining marriage, and I'm sure some of my colleagues do as well," said Roy Cullen of the Liberal Party.\nGordon Young, pastor of the First Assembly of God Church in St. John's, Newfoundland, was highly disappointed by the ruling.\n"It's a sad day for our country," Young told CBC television news. "God is in the DNA of this nation. We believe that changing the definition of marriage is changing the divine institution that God put in place for the order of our society"