Newfoundland mayors to defy law - City won't officiate at gay marriages
CBC ST. JOHN'S ? Some mayors will refuse to officiate at same-sex weddings, regardless of what happens in a Supreme Court of Newfoundland case, says Gander Mayor Claude Elliott.
"It's not right for two people of the same sex to be married, and I will refuse to do any same-sex marriages," says Elliott, who says doing so would go against his religious beliefs.
"It's not right for two people of the same sex to be married, and I will refuse to do any same-sex marriages," says Elliott, who says doing so would go against his religious beliefs.
CBC: Claude Elliott
Elliott says other mayors in the province feel the same way.
Two lesbian couples will be in Supreme Court Monday to argue for the right to marry legally in this province.
Newfoundland and Labrador is one of four provinces and two territories yet to sanction same-sex marriage.
In Manitoba, where gay marriage is now legal, mayors in the province were told they were expected to uphold the new definition.
Gemma Hickey, who works with Newfoundland Gays and Lesbians for Equality, says people shouldn't be forced to perform a marriage against their will.
Still, Hickey says those mayors will have to make a decision.
"The only choice that mayors have ? if it becomes law ? is that they can't marry anyone," she says.
"If they are going to say that we don't want to marry same-sex couples, then they should say we are not going to marry anyone and not marry straight couples."
Elliott says that is in fact what he will do: stop officiating at marriages altogether.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Parliament can enact a national law on same-sex marriages. However, the court said churches would not be forced to perform such ceremonies.
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