CANADIAN SSM IN COURT: From the Globe and Mail

The Charter of Rights equality guarantee must not become a rampaging monster that destroys one social institution after another, lawyers for Alberta and several religious groups told the Supreme Court of Canada yesterday.

The definition of marriage as a union of man and woman, rooted in procreation, is beyond the reach of the Charter and only a full-scale constitutional amendment can change it, they said.

"We would lack humility if we think that as a society, we have learned enough in the course of 20 years of Charter jurisprudence to displace in one fell swoop the wisdom accumulated since time immemorial and sweep into the dustbin the core of the historically accepted definition of marriage," said Robert Leurer, a lawyer for the Alberta government. ...

"The state interest in marriage is a simple and compelling one that is time-honoured: the integration of the sexes in a way that children are born and raised," argued William Sammon, a lawyer representing Catholic bishops. "It's not rocket science. The state interest is in producing the next generation."

However, Mr. Justice Ian Binnie noted that with so many pressures on society and organized religions these days, it seems unlikely that allowing gays to marry "would bring the whole thing crashing down. ...

Meanwhile, gay-marriage advocates argued that thousands of gay couples have married in recent months without causing the slightest social breakdown. ...

Joanna Radbord, a lawyer for several gay couples, said newly married couples have discovered for the first time what heterosexuals take for granted: the feeling of being included in a momentous community ritual..

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posted by Eve at 9:09 PM VOTE

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