REGINA, Saskatchewan, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Saskatchewan Friday became the seventh Canadian province to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Justice Donna Wilson ruled limiting marriage to heterosexuals violates the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Erin Scriven of Saskatoon and her partner, Lisa Stumborg, planned to marry Saturday. They were among several couples who argued their cases to the justice after being denied marriage licenses.
"This really is about recognition," Scriven told the CBC. "It's about legitimacy. And it's about being on an equal footing and an equal playing field in our society."
Wilson ruled Canada's legal definition of marriage is now "the union of two persons to the exclusion of all others."
Gay marriages have already become legal in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, the Yukon and Nova Scotia, and gay couples are planning a legal challenge in Newfoundland. The Supreme Court refused last month to define marriage as between a man and a woman.
