MONTREAL, QC-A March 19 decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal opened the door for same-sex couples to legally marry in Quebec. On April 2, Michael Hendricks and René Leboeuf walked through that door.

Hendricks and Leboeuf, together for almost 30 years, have been at the centre of the gay marriage debate for the past five years. Their wedding was considered a milestone by both the gay and straight community. One guest summed it up when she said, "It's a big historical day. It's a big political day."

"We're recognized by society as married spouses," Leboeuf told the Gazette after their wedding ceremony at the Montreal courthouse. "Socially and even to ourselves, it's a commitment that's unbreakable," Hendricks added.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Catholic Civil Rights League were appellants in the Hendricks-Leboeuf case. "It is deeply disappointing to see the Quebec courts allowing same-sex marriage when the issue has not been decided at the federal level," says Bruce Clemenger, president of the EFC.

Although Quebec allows civil unions for same-sex couples (it is the only province to do so), Hendricks and Leboeuf have spent five years and $300,000 pursuing the right to marry. They officially won that right in 2002, when the Quebec Superior Court ruled that marriage as defined in the Quebec Civil Code and the federal harmonization act must be changed to include same-sex couples.

However, the court imposed a two-year moratorium in order to hear appeals. The federal government went ahead with an appeal, as did the EFC and the CCRL. Although the government dropped its appeal proceedings in July 2003, the EFC and the CCRL pursued theirs.

In January 2004, only weeks before the appeal was to be heard, Hendricks and Leboeuf challenged the right of appeal. The court agreed to lift the moratorium on the Quebec Superior Court ruling on March 19, citing the fact that the federal government is taking the matter of same-sex marriage to the Supreme Court of Canada, which takes the issue beyond provincial jurisdiction and changes once again the forum for this debate.