Update July 21 2004 Same-sex divorce filed in Ontario court: report

CTV.ca News Staff

One of the first same-sex couples to tie the knot under Ontario's revised marriage laws are vying for another first. They've filed a petition for divorce.

In a Toronto Star report published on Wednesday, a couple identified only as M.M. and J.H. are described as a five-year couple who split up less than a week after their marriage in Toronto last summer.

They tied the knot on June 18, 2003 -- the week after the Ontario Court of Appeal legalized same-sex marriage in the province.

A lawyer representing one of the women says a divorce petition was filed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice last month, shortly after the couple signed an official separation agreement.

The case threatens to further complicate the legal questions the Supreme Court of Canada will consider when it hears the case this fall.

Lawyers for the federal government are asking the provincial court to delay the divorce case until after the top court has issued its ruling on the constitutionality of same-sex unions.

Although courts in three provinces and the Yukon have ruled that provincial marriage laws cannot ban same-sex marriage, the Divorce Act has not yet faced a similar challenge.

Nevertheless, Justice Ruth Mesbur has scheduled the divorce motion for September 13.

In a break with convention, Mesbur also issued a publication ban on the couple's identity.

Individuals filing for a divorce are usually obligated to write their names on the court petition. Exceptions are allowed "when necessary in the interests of justice."