May 20, 1999
Web posted at: 6:07 p.m. EDT (2207 GMT)

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OTTAWA (CNN) -- In a landmark gay rights ruling that could have ramifications across Canada, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Ontario's legal definition of a spouse as someone of the opposite sex is unconstitutional.

The high court, by an 8-to-1 vote, gave Canada's most populous province six months to amend its Family Law Act to recognize same-sex couples. However, the court stressed that the ruling should not be construed as giving same-sex couples the right to marry.

The decision was the Supreme Court's most definitive ruling yet on the legal rights of gays and lesbians in Canada. While Thursday's ruling applies directly only to Ontario, observers believe it could mean that hundreds of laws on both the federal and provincial levels will have to be rewritten.

Federal and provincial laws, ranging from adoption and marriage to pensions and taxes, contain myriad references to spouses.

"The consequences here are substantial," said Ian Brodie, a political science professor at the University of Western Ontario. "Spouses get special treatment not just in family law but in all sorts of other law, too."

"It's about recognition. It's about respect. It's about a more equal Canada," said John Fisher, head of the gay rights group Egale.

Ontario premier says he'll abide by ruling

But groups opposed to gay and lesbian rights decried the ruling and called on Ontario's Conservative government to invoke a rarely used clause in the Canadian Charter of Rights that would allow it to ignore the decision.

"The Supreme Court has overturned centuries of social tradition," said Darrel Reid, president of Focus on the Family Canada, which intervened in the case to argue against expanding gay rights.

"I think Canadians are going to be pretty upset by this," said Peter Stock of the Canada Family Action Association. "They understand marriage to be a man and a woman, and they're not going to accept this."

However, Ontario Premier Mike Harris said that his government would abide by the decision if it is retains power in the June 3 provincial election.

"My sense is that I think across the country, governments will comply," he said in a radio interview.

Lesbian alimony dispute triggered case

The case involved two lesbians from Toronto, who had lived together for five years and owned a home and business together. After they broke up in 1992, one of the women sought alimony from the other under the Family Law Act.

The act allows both married and unmarried heterosexual couples to seek spousal support, but its definition of spouse precluded gay and lesbian couples from seeking support from each other. Two lower courts agreed that the distinction was unconstitutional.

After Harris became premier in 1995, his government appealed those rulings to the federal Supreme Court. Though the women eventually settled their dispute out of court, the high court continued its review of the law.

Writing for the court's majority, Justice Peter Corey said the exclusion of same-sex partners from the act promotes the view that their relationships "are less worthy of recognition and protection."

The court stressed that it was not changing "traditional conceptions of marriage," noting that the Ontario law had already expanded spousal support beyond married persons to heterosexuals living in common-law relationships.

However, the court majority said its decision "may well affect numerous other statutes that rely upon a similar definition of the term 'spouse.'"

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.