ontario gay marriages

A way around the system:

Since the US validates marriages done according to law in any other country (ex: if I got married in sweden it'd be legal here), any gay couple from teh US can go to ontario to get a marriage license and come back to the states as a married couple. They should get all the benefits of a married couple- taxes, health benefits, etc.-but there are bound to be people and health companies that will argue it in court. We're in for a major legal battle soon.

That sounds really interesting. I guess any success would depend laregly on in 'which state' the case is to be argued. You would have to look at the states definition of what constitutes marriage, and hope there is some ambiguity there so it can be argued. Unfortunately most states would follow common law principles as outlined by lord Penzance in Hyde v Hyde where it states marriage is a "voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others."

Unless gay marriages are legalised through legislation it would be a difficult one to argue...you would need a terrific lawyer to pull it off. Public pressure to change policy would be more prudent, or at least a much quicker way to have gay marriages legalised rather than through the courts.

The Supreme Court just declared a Texas law which banned sex between same sex couples to be unconstitutional, this could have a very large impact in the future on such Gay rights cases like honoring the marriage (in favor of the couple, of course).

Awesome news. I would image this would have a huge impact. Only a matter of time before it is tested (I hope).

Hmm, interesting slant on the common vs. legislative law issue.