The right to divorce

Toronto

A Toronto lesbian couple has filed for what would be Canada’s first same-sex divorce. The women—identified in court papers as M.M., 41, and J.H., 61—got married in June 2003, a week after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the Canadian constitution guaranteed gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. M.M. and J.H. had been together 10 years; they separated five days after their wedding. But the divorce could be tricky. The federal Divorce Act still defines a married couple as consisting of a man and a woman, so a judge would have to rule the law unconstitutional before same-sex spouses could legally part ways.