Same-sex marriage in Yukon

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Yukon since July 14, 2004. This happened after a decision by the Supreme Court of Yukon. Yukon was the fourth place in Canada to allow people of the same sex to marry. It was also the seventh place in the whole world to do so, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, and Massachusetts.

Yukon was the first of Canada's three territories to allow same-sex marriage. It did this before the whole country of Canada made it legal in July 2005, when the Parliament of Canada passed a law. This means Yukon was a leader in making sure everyone could get married, no matter who they loved.

Court ruling

In January 2004, two men named Rob Edge and Stephen Dunbar asked for a marriage licence in Whitehorse, but were turned down. They felt it was important to be married in their own community. They took their case to court, asking the government to allow same-sex marriages.

In July 2004, a judge agreed that the government had been unfair. He said that since other parts of Canada had already allowed same-sex marriages, it wasn’t right for Yukon to refuse. The judge declared that same-sex marriages could now happen in Yukon and told the government to give Edge and Dunbar a marriage licence. This made Yukon the fourth place in Canada to allow same-sex marriages.

Territorial legislation

In May 2002, the Yukon Legislative Assembly approved a bill allowing same-sex couples to adopt children jointly. This law went into effect on January 1, 2003. Later, on December 9, 2014, the Assembly changed the territorial Marriage Act to use the neutral term "spouses" instead of "husband and wife." This change became official on June 1, 2015.

More changes came in 2018 with the Equality of Spouses Statute Law Amendment Act. This law updated other acts, like the Evidence Act and the Family Property and Support Act, to remove old terms and make them more fair. MLA Kate White spoke about this change, highlighting the importance of human rights and the progress being made.

First Nations

The Indian Act affects many parts of life for First Nations in Canada, but it does not control marriage rules or how customary marriages are done. Marriage laws are mostly decided by provincial and territorial laws. However, the Indian Act can affect things like band membership and property rights on reserves.

While there are no records of same-sex marriages as known in Western legal systems, many Indigenous communities recognize identities and relationships that may fall within what is sometimes called the LGBT spectrum. This includes two-spirit individuals—people who see themselves as having both masculine and feminine qualities. In some cultures, two-spirit individuals assigned male at birth might wear women's clothing and take on roles usually linked to women. In the past, this identity sometimes allowed unions between two people of the same biological sex. Ethnographic sources show that the Dene recognized gender variance and had a special status for two-spirit people. First Nations have long-standing marriage traditions focused on community, family, and spiritual bonds. For example, customary Gwichʼin marriages include spiritual practices, feasts, and traditional dances. Marriages were exogamous, matrilineal, and mostly monogamous, although chiefs (khèhkwaii), shamans (dinjii dazhan), and wealthy men sometimes had more than one spouse. Similarly, Northern Tutchone marriages were traditionally exogamous and matrilineal, with bride service required, and chiefs (hákí) sometimes practicing polygyny.

Marriage statistics

Between July 2004 and July 2014, 44 same-sex couples got married in Yukon. According to the 2016 Canadian census, there were 70 same-sex spouses living in Yukon, and most of them—55 out of 70—were women. The census also found that about 1.9% of women in couples in Whitehorse were in same-sex relationships. This was the second highest number in Canada, just after Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. For men, same-sex couples made up about 0.7% of all men in couples.

Religious performance

In July 2019, the Anglican Church of Canada decided that its local groups could choose whether to bless and perform marriages for two people who love each other the same way. The Diocese of Yukon was one of these groups, and its rules did not say no to such marriages. Before this, the former leader of the Diocese of Yukon did not support these marriages.

Other groups also perform these special ceremonies, including the United Church of Canada, Quakers, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and the Canadian Unitarian Council.