[http://north.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=0713same_sexJuly132004]We nervously await developments
That would bring it to four provinces and territories.
Great; - now I have that “I’m the only gay Eskimo” song stuck in my head. 
Does that mean Yukon Cornelius and Herbie the Elf can finally solemnize their relationship?
And Sergeant Preston can finally make an honest man out of some lucky guy…
Yay!
Steve and Rob win!!! And now we can have the proper wedding and reception and par-tay! And they don’t have to schlep us all the way to Atlin for it!!
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/07/14/yukon_gays040714.html
Steve’s kindof a dink, but Rob is one of the nicest, sweetest guys I’ve ever met, and he’s mellowed Steve considerably. I’m so glad for them both.
And again Canada proves that in many ways it is the true beacon of civilization in North America. Half the country recognizes SSM and the federal government not only drops appeals but acts to legalize it in the other half. Meanwhile, in the Land Of The Free 98% of the states don’t recognize it, 76% of the states specifically outlaw it and our One and Only Congress is wasting valuable time debating an amendment that everyone knows has no chance of passing so that the lunatic right wing fringe can sleep at night secure in the knowledge that they’ve beaten the hordes of Militant Homosexuals away from the gates of the kingdom for another day.
Congratulations! 
Sad day for Canadian morality.We shall pray that God will lead the Canadian Supreme Court to halt this now.
Except, oops, the Canadian Supreme Court isn’t able to stop it. No case before it, only a request for an opinion on how to implement it nationally without infringing on anyone’s religious liberty.
Sucks to be anti-gay in Canada these days, don’t it? Big losing streak. Huge.
What is the population of the Yukon? Are there enough people there to even worry about this?
Maybe Dawson can become the gay marriage capital of the North!
As of December 2002, there are 29,960 Yukoners(?). Yukonians? Yukonites?
Anyways, hurrah for the Yukon!!!
w00t! Yukon rocks. 
And if they know what’s good for them, they’ll be promoting this out the ying yang for tourists. 
Wow, you know them?! I swear, I wasn’t going to say anything…
I say we go with “Yukonistas.”
And there are seriously only 30,000 Yukonistas? Damn, there’s seven times that many people in Madison and I can’t get a date, and these guys are getting married?
Work(ed) with 'em both. Steve was the head of Sales at my company, and his SO is a consultant in the I/S department. Heck, I went to high school with Steve, as did many of us up here. That 30,000 residents thingy means that, well, most of us know the rest, either personally or by reputation and relations.
Part of the reason Rob and Steve did this is because Steve is amazingly well-connected in the business and legal communities, and knew that they would have a better chance of fighting this out. And part of it is Steve’s a stubborn git and totally failed to see why he’d have to leave the area he was born and raised in to get married.
Gay people in the Yukon actually fare rather well, once out of high school. High school seems to be vicious anywhere, AFAICT…but I digress. See, it’s easier to be tolerant when you know Real Live Gay People, and know that they’re just people too, with the same ratios of assholes to good people. Gay men do only slightly less well than gay women, only because there’s redneck 'phobes everywhere. Just stay outta the '98 and a couple other bars if you’re a flamer. Go to Lizard’s, the KK, or the Capital. None of which are classified as Gay Bars as per the Royal Arms in Vancouver, but hey, we don’t have anywhere near as many gay people.
My buddy J, who used to be my partner at Helpdesk, is of mixed feelings. I swear he’d be a conservative Republican if we had such creatures here… He deplores the publicity and other trappings, OTOH, if it brings a new selection of potential partners into the territory, he may perk up. I mean, Thou Shalt Not Poach the bridal couple, but they by Og bring friends.
Heh. One of the major issues facing gay men specifically, but occasionally cropping up among the women, is the small local pool of potential partners. Steve got his Outside. With all the single gay men in town, J has either been there done that, or wouldn’t go there on a bet. I am soooooooooo tired of him whining… I offered to lasso him a German kayaker, but they seem to travel in herds and are quite protective of their members. But I digress again…the point I was drifting toward is that from what I have seen, more gay people leave the territory due to limited dating prospects than due to 'phobes.
From my experience, and I admit it’s biased and whatever, Northerners mostly don’t care who you sleep with (well, except for the gossip aspects…) as long as they don’t have to watch or participate. Of course, we’ll dissect every last detail (and invent some if detail is lacking) behind your back like any other small town, but… It’s a bad idea to overtly offend those nice ladies down the road - you know, the ones with the D-9 cat keeping your driveway open? Or those nice men who run the only cafe in town - don’t want to offend them either.
A few years back we also had the first Canadian lesbian couple fighting for half of itself to immigrate from England. They won, and promptly retired to raise sled dogs in I think Teslin. Or was it Watson Lake? Don’t remember…anyways. The point is they won.
Weird to think that our parochial little corner of the world actually has advanced thinking in some areas.
Oh yeah.
And collectively, we’re Sourdoughs. Sour on the Yukon and not enough dough to leave… Or just Yukoners. Not militant enough to be Yukonistas.
And Otto, new gay men in town are often quite popular until they’re snagged or no longer new. Wanna come up for a visit? I imagine J could be convinced to show you around…
Hold the phone! I thought you were dating some hot Latin hunk who spoke little English. Did I miss the breakup?
Honey, I missed the breakup.
I keep reading the thread title as “Yucky gay marriage ruling.”
Actually, the Court has been asked to consider the basic point of whether restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples is discriminatory.
When Prime Minister Chrétien announced the reference to the Supreme Court about a year ago, the three questions were about the details of implementing same-sex marrige, as you suggest:
However, the federal government took a lot of heat politically for not asking the basic question, is same-sex marriage constitutionally required? In January of 2004, the new government of Prime Minister Martin added a fourth question:
Source: Department of Justice Fact Sheet on Marriage Reference.
The government’s explanation for adding the fourth question was:
[QUOTE]
[ul][li]This Government has now reviewed the situation and has decided that, although we agree that the draft bill represents the best way to fully respect both fundamental Charter rights here - equality and freedom of religion - there is a need to be responsive to those concerns, and to ensure that Parliament has full information, when it is called upon to debate the draft bill.[/li][li]As a result, the Government will add to the questions before the Supreme Court the central underlying question - is the opposite-sex requirement for marriage constitutional? Although the Government continues to believe that the courts of appeal were correct in their legal conclusions, this will allow individuals and groups who disagree with the Government’s approach to put their case before the Supreme Court. [/ul][/li][/QUOTE]
Source: Department of Justice Backgrounder on Civil Marriage and the Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Unions. So it is possible for the Supreme Court to reach a different conclusion on this point than the lower courts have reached.