Quebec prepares for partnership registry

SUMMARY: The government of Quebec has announced legislation to create a gay and lesbian partnership registry.

The government of Quebec has announced legislation to create a gay and lesbian partnership registry.

In a surprise announcement Friday, the government said it hopes to have the legislation introduced by the end of the year with hearings in 2002. The registry would allow non-married couples, including gay couples, to sign a register. The province already has some limited rights for gay and lesbian families.

The announcement is seen as an attempt to draw attention away from a constitutional challenge to Quebec and Canadian definitions of marriage. Quebec is the only area of Canada with laws which define marriage, part of its unique legal system, the Civil Code.

Michael Hendricks and Rene Leboeuf are in Superior Court in Montreal arguing the case for gay marriage. Neither Hendricks nor Leboeuf were impressed with the government's registry announcement.

Their lawyer, Anne-France Goldwater, said, "The government is trying to throw a sop to the gay and lesbian community, and at a certain point that's offensive."

Goldwater said: "When I throw Fido a bone because he's my dog, I love my dog but it doesn't mean I think he's a human like me."

Goldwater said her clients want the respect and dignity that would come only with marriage.

"Marriage is a complete partnership," Goldwater told Justice Louise Lemelin. "My clients are not imposing their homosexuality on anyone else. They just want to be married. ... They want the rights and protections to which they have no access, despite 28 years of marriage."

The governments of Quebec and Canada present their arguments next week.