Same-sex marriage in Yukon

Same-sex marriage in Yukon has been legal since July 14, 2004. The territory became the fourth jurisdiction in Canada (and the seventh worldwide) to legalise same-sex marriage, after the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.[1]

  Same-sex marriage in Canada
Legal
Reference Re Same-Sex Marriage
Halpern v Canada (AG)
Civil Marriage Act
Parliament
38th House · 38th Senate
39th House · 39th Senate
Same-sex marriage by province
Related
Civil unions in Quebec
Adult interdependent relationship in Alberta
Domestic partnership in Nova Scotia
Common-law relationships in Manitoba
Marriage
Civil unions and
registered partnerships
Common-law marriage
Minimal recognition
See also
Notes
  1. Performed statewide in 18 states and Mexico City, in certain municipalities in three other states, and recognized by all states in such cases.
  2. Performed in the Netherlands proper, including the Caribbean Netherlands. Registered in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten in such cases, but the rights of marriage are not guaranteed.
  3. Neither performed nor recognized in Niue, Tokelau or the Cook Islands.
  4. Not recognized in Caribbean overseas territories, though marriage-equivalent ordered for the Cayman Islands.
  5. Neither performed nor recognized in American Samoa or some tribal nations.
  6. Cohabitation. Registered foreign marriages confer limited rights. Marriage recognized in Tel Aviv.
  7. Degree of recognition unknown. No actual cases to date.
  8. Limited to residency rights for foreign spouses of EU citizens.
  9. Legal guardianships (nationwide, except Hong Kong and Macau), residency rights for foreign spouses of legal residents (Hong Kong).
  10. Recognition of foreign marriage for parental rights
  11. Maitri Karar–type contractual relationships, but it is not legally enforceable
  12. Offer "partnership certificates", which provide some tools (such as hospital visitation rights) but do not offer any legal recognition
  13. Limited to spouses of foreign diplomatic officials.
* Not yet in effect or automatic deadline set by judicial body for same-sex marriage to become legal
LGBT portal

Court ruling

Rob Edge and Stephen Dunbar had brought suit, in Dunbar & Edge v. Yukon (Government of) & Canada (A.G.), against the Yukon Government after being refused a marriage licence in Whitehorse.[1] Their lawyer, Jim Tucker, used a novel approach: rather than arguing on the basis of Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as in the previous cases, he argued that the Federal Government's failure to appeal the decisions legalising same-sex marriage in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec signalled a change in Canadian common law regarding marriage.

Supreme Court Justice Peter McIntyre agreed that the Federal Government was inconsistent in its approach to the definition of marriage, a federal responsibility, since it had not appealed the first three decisions. Therefore, the territory's failure to provide marriage licences to same-sex couples meant that the law was being inconsistently applied in Yukon. Justice McIntyre declared same-sex marriages legal in Yukon, and ordered the government to issue a marriage licence to Mr. Edge and Mr. Dunbar.[2]

The judge obtained verbal promises from the Yukon Government that the couple would be granted a marriage licence. Premier Dennis Fentie praised the ruling.

Territorial legislation

In May 2002, the Yukon Legislative Assembly approved a bill allowing same-sex couples to adopt children jointly.[3][4] The law took effect on 1 January 2003.[5]

In December 2014, the Marriage Act (French: Loi sur le mariage; Gwichʼin: Nihkhàgadhidii geenjit dàgwìdįįʼee) was amended by replacing the expression "husband and wife" with "spouses" in section 40 and adding "or spouse" in section 13.[6] The amendments took effect on 1 June 2015.[5] The Act states:

If a marriage ceremony is performed by a marriage commissioner [...] (b) each of the parties shall, in the presence of the marriage commissioner and the witnesses, say to the other party: "I call upon these persons here present to witness that I,______________, do take thee, ______________ to be my lawful wedded husband (or wife or spouse)." [RSY 2002, c.146, s.13]

Marriage statistics

From July 2004 to July 2014, 44 same-sex couples married in Yukon.[7]

According to the 2016 census, about 1.9% of all Whitehorse women in couples were in same-sex relationships; the second highest in Canada after Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Men in same-sex couples accounted for 0.7% of all men in couples.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Same-sex marriage in the Yukon Territory, Canada". Kingston: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 20 November 2005. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  2. "Same-sex marriage ruled legal in Yukon". CTV. 15 July 2004. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  3. 30th Legislature, May 8, 2002
  4. Child Care Act
  5. Table of Public Statutes Part 1
  6. "ACT TO AMEND THE MARRIAGE ACT" (PDF). Government of Yukon. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  7. A decade of marriage equality in the Yukon. Yukon News, 25 July 2014
  8. Yellowknife, Whitehorse have more same-sex female couples per capita than any other city in Canada. CBC, 4 August 2017
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