12 Jan 2011

Marriage commissioner devastated at same-sex ruling

 

The Saskatchewan marriage commissioner who sparked a court ruling about same-sex marriages says he's "devastated" that not one judge saw it his way,  reports CTA.

Orville Nichols, a devout Baptist, refused to marry a gay couple in 2005.   On Tuesday this week, he told a Saskatchewan talk radio show that he has no problem with gay marriages, he just doesn't want to perform them.

"I was hoping we'd win, and I thought if we would lose we wouldn't lose on a 5-0 judgement," he told "John Gormley Live." "That was my devastation."

The two men Nichols refused to marry laid a discrimination complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. The case went before the human rights tribunal, which ruled in 2008 that Nichols discriminated against the couple. It found that as a public servant he was obligated to marry them once they approached him.

Nichols, who has been a marriage commissioner for almost 30 years, was fined $2,500.

He asked the Court of Queen's Bench to reverse the decision, but it upheld the tribunal's ruling. A further appeal is still before the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.

More -

Marriage commissioner devastated at same-sex ruling - CTV News

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