Christians ridiculed in court
TORONTO, ON–Pro-family and faith groups alike are enduring ridicule during court hearings to examine the case for upholding a traditional view of marriage.
Derek Rogusky, director of research for Focus on the Family Canada, attended the November 5 Ontario Superior Court hearing of a constitutional challenge launched by eight gay couples who were refused the legal right to marry.
Accusations fly
Although the couples claim discrimination, Rogusky says some of those attending the hearing felt the discrimination was also against religious groups.
"Some people who were watching the proceedings called us bigots," he says. "One gentleman accused us of being filled with hatred."
"I don't want to ascribe his attitude to everyone, but the lawyers for the same-sex couples made some very derogative comments about religion that I don't think related to the case."
"I was struck by the level of antagonism toward religion," comments Janet Epp Buckingham, general legal counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and a member of the Interfaith Coalition for Marriage. "There was a sense that the gay community blamed religion, and blamed Christian evangelicals in particular, for its marginalization."
The same-sex couples involved in the case argue that the government's refusal to register their marriages violates several provisions of The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including equality rights, freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and religion and security of the person, defined as psychological well-being.
Martha McCarthy, one of several lawyers for the same-sex couples, says the legal definition of marriage is "the last bastion of discrimination" against gay and lesbian Canadians.
The Association for Marriage and the Family in Ontario, of which EFC is a member, as well as the Interfaith Coalition are interveners in the case, presenting spiritual and social reasons for marriage as a solely heterosexual union.
All say the outcome is likely to lay the groundwork for a Supreme Court of Canada case on the same issue, where the Ontario case could be joined with decisions in similar cases in Quebec and British Columbia.
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