OTTAWA — Canada’s Supreme Court will rule next year on legalizing same-sex marriage after some religious opponents to the proposal had their say, capping two days of hearings.
Several religious organizations appeared before the court to argue against same-sex unions, including Islamic congregations, Mormons, Seventh-day Adventists and Catholic bishops. They argued that homosexual marriages are forbidden in their theologies.
Canada’s liberal government last year referred proposed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage to the court, which heard 28 submissions. Supporters of gay marriage include the attorney general of Canada, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, gay rights groups, the United Church of Canada representing Presbyterian and Methodist congregations, the Canadian Unitarian Council and a coalition of liberal rabbis. The courts of six Canadian provinces or territories have ruled to allow same-sex marriages.
“If not marriage, what institution in society can we, as faith communities, promote that accomplishes what heterosexual marriage now does?” asked Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, part of the Interfaith Coalition on Marriage that includes the Catholic Civil Rights League and the Islamic Society of North America. (TAB)
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