Same-sex marriage in Prince Edward Island has been legal since July 20, 2005. The

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

began the process of updating its laws to recognize

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

after the passage of the ''

Civil Marriage Act The ''Civil Marriage Act'' is a federal statute legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada. At the time it became law, same-sex marriage had already been legalized by court decisions in all Canadian jurisdictions except Alberta, Prince Edward ...

'' in the House of Commons of Canada.

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

had been one of only four provinces and territories, with

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

and

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

, where same-sex marriage had not already been legalized by court challenges prior to the passage of the law.

Background

On December 10, 2004, Premier Pat Binns said that his government would wait for federal legislation to resolve the issue. It is unclear how Binns would have reacted if a provincial court had found the heterosexual definition of

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

in violation of the '' Charter'' rights of gays and lesbians. A spokeswoman for a local

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

group said in June 2005 that the province should legalize same-sex marriage "right away", noting that the island often lacked behind the rest of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

on the issue of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , ...

, "It's also sad to think in a province that could actually lead, on this particular issue, that they choose to stand by and wait for the federal government to make the decision. Thereby not having anyone in government make the commitment to these human rights issues."

Civil Marriage Act

After the House of Commons of Canada passed the ''

'' in June 2005, provincial Attorney General

Mildred Dover Mildred Alice Dover (born 12 April 1941) is a former educator and Canadian politician, who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1996 to 2007. A native of Fanningbrook, Prince Edward Island, she represented the ...

announced that the province would bring provincial legislation in line with the law, "We have said all along that we would comply if the federal government passed same-sex legislation. They have the power to define marriage. We're looking at the possibility of bringing in an omnibus bill that would say something to the effect of wherever the word spouse appears in our legislation, it includes same-sex and heterosexual marriages." The Act passed through the Canadian Senate on July 19 and received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

the next day on July 20, 2005, extending same-sex marriage rights across all of Canada. However, Ms. Dover announced that

marriage licence A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdicti ...

s would not be issued to same-sex couples until the province's laws were updated. This was different from how the process had worked in other provinces; in those where courts called for same-sex marriage, and in

after the ''Civil Marriage Act'' was passed. On July 22, Prince Edward Island was the only remaining province in the country where same-sex couples could not marry in practice. Dover said, "We'll do it as quickly as we can. We didn't prepare beforehand because, if we had prepared and changed all the wording, then people would say 'Why did you do that when it hadn't passed?'" Complaints immediately arose charging that the delay imposed by the province was illegal and violated the legal rights of same-sex couples. In response to these complaints, the province reversed its position. The first same-sex couple to wed on Prince Edward Island were Dr. Chris Zarow and Constance Majeau on August 20, 2005 in Vernon Bridge, as reported by the ''

Charlottetown Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a daily newspaper published six days a week in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The paper was originally launched in the 1870s as ''The Presbyterian and Evangelical Protestant Union'', owned by Presbyterian mi ...

''. Reverend Barry King officiated at the ceremony. He said: "Today we celebrate the beginning of a journey for Connie and Chris. This journey is filled with joy because it's filled with love. Connie and Chris chose this path because they love each other."

Provincial legislation

In May 2008, provincial law was finally brought in line with the federal legislation. A bill amending the ''Marriage Act'', the ''Adoption Act'' and several other acts regarding family law was passed by the

Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island (french: Assemblée législative de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is the sole chamber of the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The Legislative Assembly meets at Province House, which is locat ...

and given royal assent by Lieutenant Governor Barbara Oliver Hagerman. The law replaced references to "husband and wife" with the

gender-neutral Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions ( social structures or gender roles) should avoid distingu ...

term "spouses", and the ''Adoption Act'' was amended to allow married same-sex couples to

adopt Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

children jointly. The law took effect on 19 December 2009. Prince Edward Island legislation also recognises cohabitation agreements which can be entered into by two people who live together but are not married to each other. It is a written agreement recognised by the provincial ''Family Law Act'' that sets out rights and responsibilities for common-law partners. The agreement provides partners with some, but not all, of the rights and benefits of

. Common-law partners have the same rights to spousal support as married couples, and

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

and custody. However, common-law couples are treated very different to married spouses with regards to

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offici ...

and

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

rights. They have no right to inheritance if the partner were to die, and do not have the right to

division of property Division of property, also known as equitable distribution, is a judicial division of property rights and obligations between spouses during divorce. It may be done by agreement, through a property settlement, or by judicial decree. Distributio ...

or to stay in the common home upon

separation Separation may refer to: Films * ''Separation'' (1967 film), a British feature film written by and starring Jane Arden and directed by Jack Bond * ''La Séparation'', 1994 French film * ''A Separation'', 2011 Iranian film * ''Separation'' (20 ...

or the death of the partner.

Marriage statistics

The 2016 Canadian census showed that there were 230 same-sex couples living in Prince Edward Island.

Religious performance

In July 2019, the

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mea ...

of the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church counted 359,030 members on parish rolls in 2,2 ...

passed a resolution known as "A Word to the Church", allowing its

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

s to choose whether to perform same-sex marriages. In September of the same year, Bishop Ron Cutler of the

Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island The Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada of the Anglican Church of Canada. It encompasses the provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and has two cathedrals: All Sain ...

issued a pastoral letter allowing local

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

es to perform same-sex marriages.

Public opinion

A 2017

CROP A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropo ...

poll showed that 78% of respondents in Atlantic Canada supported same-sex marriage, but did not give a figure for each Atlantic province individually. Nationwide, 74% of Canadians found it "great that in Canada, two people of the same sex can get married", while 26% disagreed.I find it great that in our society, two people of the same sex can get married, CROP Panorama
/ref>

References

External links

* {{LGBT in Canada

Prince Edward Island law 2005 in LGBT history