Same-sex marriage in Nova Scotia has been legal since September 24, 2004 when the

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

began issuing

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 jurisdiction ...

s to

same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a Romance (love), romantic or Human sexuality, sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil ...

immediately following a court ruling from the

Nova Scotia Supreme Court The Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a superior court in the province of Nova Scotia. The Supreme Court consists of 25 judicial seats including the position of Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice. At any given time there may be one or more addit ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

became the sixth jurisdiction in

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 tot ...

, and the ninth worldwide after the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

, and

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, to legalise

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

Background

In November 2000, the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

approved the ''Law Reform (2000) Act'' (its long title being ''An Act to Comply with Certain Court Decisions and to Modernize and Reform Laws in the Province''), establishing domestic partnerships., ; mic, nikma'jewel, ;

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

: , The act was assented by the

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia () is the viceregal representative in Nova Scotia of the , who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as well as the other Commonwealt ...

Myra Freeman Myra Ava Freeman (born May 17, 1949) is a Canadian philanthropist, teacher, the 29th and first female Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. Freeman was born Myra Ava Holtzman in Saint John, New Brunswick, the daughter of Anne Golda (Freedman) ...

, and went into force on June 4, 2001. Domestic partnerships grant cohabiting couples many of the rights and obligations 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 ...

, including

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

benefits,

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

, and the ability to divide

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 ...

or other assets at separation or death. These partnerships differ from

common law marriage Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, or marriage by habit and repute, is a legal framework where a couple may be considered married without having formally registered their relation as a civil ...

s in that they are registered with the state and the property rights of domestic partners are better defined. Both partners must be 19 or older, resident in Nova Scotia for the past 3 months, and not currently married or in a partnership with another individual. Both opposite-sex and same-sex couples can enter into a domestic partnership. In July 2001, the

concluded that the provision in the ''Adoption Act'' which prevented common-law couples from adopting was unconstitutional; the result been that common-law couples, either same-sex or opposite-sex, are now able 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. Madame Justice Deborah Gass ruled that "prohibiting a joint adoption where all the evidence indicates these adults are providing optimum care and loving... defeats the very purpose of the legislation". A spokeswoman for

Egale Canada Egale Canada (formerly Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere) is an advocacy organization founded in 1986 by Les McAfee to advance equality for Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, across Canada. ...

said, "It really is a victory for the expansion of the definition of family and that courts recognize families exist beyond married couples and their children."

Court ruling

Following the court ruling legalizing

same-sex marriage in Yukon Same-sex marriage in Yukon has been legal since July 14, 2004, immediately following a ruling from the Supreme Court of Yukon. The territory became the fourth jurisdiction in Canada (and the seventh worldwide) to legalise same-sex marriage, after ...

in July 2004, Sean Foreman, chairperson of 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 is a ...

group, said "We are now considering a change in strategy, to proceed with a similar application in Nova Scotia in the near future, rather than wait for the

Reference Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''name'' ...

." Foreman also asked the federal and provincial attorneys general,

Irwin Cotler Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, OQ (born May 8, 1940) is a retired Canadian politician who was Member of Parliament for Mount Royal from 1999 to 2015. He served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal gov ...

and Michael Baker, to "immediately begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples", but this was not successful. On August 13, 2004, three same-sex couples brought the suit ''Boutilier et al. v. Canada (A.G) and Nova Scotia (A.G)'' against the provincial and federal governments requesting that they be issued

s. The partners who brought the suit were Brian Mombourquette and Ross Boutelier, Kim Vance and Samantha Meehan (who had married in Toronto in 2003 and sought recognition of their marriage at home in Nova Scotia), and Ron and Bryan Garnett-Doucette. The couples were represented by Foreman, also a lawyer at the law firm Wickwire Holm in Halifax. Premier

John Hamm John Frederick Hamm (born April 8, 1938) is a Canadian physician and politician, who served as the 25th premier of Nova Scotia from 1999 to 2006. Education Hamm, a graduate of the University of King's College and Dalhousie University, was a ...

said the provincial government would not oppose the court bid. On September 24, 2004, Justice Heather Robertson of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriages violated the ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

'' and ordered the province to recognize same-sex unions. Ron and Bryan Garnett-Doucette were the first same-sex couple to obtain a marriage licence in Nova Scotia, receiving a licence in Halifax just hours after the ruling was handed down. They said, "We feel really, really good. It's a great day to be a Nova Scotian." Neither the federal nor the provincial governments opposed the ruling, continuing the trend set with the Yukon and

rulings. Attorney General Baker said, "We certainly did not want to waste taxpayers' money.", and Premier Hamm said the province would abide by the court's decision. The

leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Darrell Dexter Darrell Elvin Dexter (born 1957) is a Canadian lawyer, journalist and former naval officer who served as the 27th premier of Nova Scotia from 2009 to 2013. A member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, he served as party leader from 2001 to ...

, praised the court ruling.

Terrence Prendergast Terrence Thomas Prendergast (born 19 February 1944) is a Canadian member of the Society of Jesus who is also a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and the Archbishop Emeritus of Ottawa-Cornwall. He was formerly an Auxiliary Bishop of the Ar ...

, the Archbishop of Halifax, condemned the court decision, stating that "marriage is a natural institution that precedes all social, legal and religious systems", "We must recognize this decision as the end of state support for marriage as we have always known it."

Provincial legislation

An odd proviso to the post-ruling status was that, until a formal change to the provincial ''Solemnization of Marriage Act'', the Minister of Justice still required the terms "husband and wife" to be used by justices of the peace in any wedding. This stance by the Justice Ministry was categorized by some as

heterosexist Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of female–male sexuality and relationships. According to Elizabeth Cramer, it can include the belief that all people are or should be heterosexual and that heterosexual ...

. Shortly afterwards, following warnings of further legal action by the couples' lawyer, the policy was changed to remove that requirement. The ''Solemnization of Marriage Act'', however, was not modified to this effect. Only in October 2017 did the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

approve a bill replacing references to "husband and wife" in the Act 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 distinguish ...

term "spouses". The bill passed its

third reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...

on 20 October 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 other ...

by Lieutenant Governor

Arthur LeBlanc Arthur Joseph LeBlanc (born 1943) is the 33rd and current lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia. Early life and education Born in West Arichat, Nova Scotia, LeBlanc attended St. Francis Xavier University, in 1964 with a Bachelor of Commerce Degre ...

six days later.

Marriage statistics

The 2016

Canadian census Statistics Canada conducts a national census of population and census of agriculture every five years and releases the data with a two-year lag. The Census of Population provides demographic and statistical data that is used to plan public servic ...

showed that there were 2,250 same-sex couples living in Nova Scotia. 126 same-sex marriages were solemnized in the province in 2017, accounting for 3% of all marriages, with 87 (69%) of these being between lesbian couples.

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 ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

of the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church co ...

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

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, pro ...

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 Saints' ...

issued a

pastoral letter A pastoral letter, often simply called a pastoral, is an open letter addressed by a bishop to the clergy or laity of a diocese or to both, containing general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circumst ...

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 m ...

es to perform same-sex marriages.

Notes

References

External links

* {{LGBT in Canada

Politics of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia law LGBT in Nova Scotia 2004 in LGBT history