Just landed in my inbox…

We write to respond to a news report from Canada that a lawyer in the current government has taken a position in a trial-level divorce proceeding that a same-sex couple’s marriage is not valid because the members of the couple were not Canada residents at the time that they married, and the law of their home jurisdiction did not permit them to marry at the time.

No one’s marriage has been invalidated or is likely to be invalidated. The position taken by one government lawyer in a divorce is not itself precedential. No court has accepted this view and there is no reason to believe that either Canada’s courts or its Parliament would agree with this position, which no one has asserted before during the eight years that same-sex couples have had the freedom to marry in Canada.

Canada permits non-residents to marry and thousands of non-resident same-sex couples have married there since Canada first began recognizing the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in 2003. Indeed, Canada’s Parliament codified the equal right to marry for same-sex couples in 2005.

The message for same-sex couples married in Canada remains the same as it is for same-sex couples validly married here in the United States: take every precaution you can to protect your relationship with legal documents such as powers of attorney and adoptions, as you may travel to jurisdictions that don’t respect your legal relationship. There is no reason to suggest that Canadian marriages of same-sex couples are in jeopardy, or to advocate that people try to marry again elsewhere, as that could cause these couples unnecessary complications, anxiety, and expense.

No need for those wedding plans in NYC now…
This afternoon I was interviewed by Michelle McQuigge of The Canadian Press about the marriage dustup.

They were married on July 1 in the garden of a bed and breakfast, cheered on by the staff that cobbled together a wedding cake and helped them make arrangements in spite of the national holiday.

Their honeymoon was spent in British Columbia among people who were eager to join in their celebrations and echoed their laments that the United States would not follow Canada’s lead on gay rights.

That pioneering position, and Spaulding’s own union, were called into question on Thursday after a twist in a Charter of Rights case launched in Ontario by two foreign women seeking a divorce.