Toronto — Two gay men who are legally wed in Ontario say they were refused entry into the United States after a U.S. customs official at the airport wouldn't accept their customs clearance form as a family.
Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell went public Thursday after they abandoned their trip to Georgia when the customs official at Pearson International Airport rejected their family customs declaration form, insisting that they fill out separate forms as single people.
After complaining to a customs supervisor, Mr. Bourassa said, the couple was told that they wouldn't be allowed into the United States as a family because the country doesn't recognize same-sex marriages.
"When we realized we weren't going to be allowed into the country, we had to make a real hard decision," Mr. Bourassa, claiming a violation of human rights, said in an interview from their Toronto home.
"We could have filled out separate forms, but how much of your dignity do you want to have chipped away? We feel we had an affront to our dignity, so we decided to go back home."
The incident comes on the heels of a heated debate in the Commons earlier this week about same-sex marriage. A Canadian Alliance motion affirming marriage as the union of a man and woman was narrowly defeated.
Same-sex marriage is legal in British Columbia and Ontario, where there have been favourable court rulings. Ottawa has drafted legislation that redefines marriage as a union of two persons, but it won't be introduced in Parliament until the Supreme Court of Canada reviews the constitutionality of the proposed legislation, likely next year.
Mr. Bourassa said he and Mr. Varnell were heading to Braselton, Ga., to speak at a human rights conference featuring Coretta Scott King, the widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. Bourassa, who works full time as an advocate for same-sex marriages, and Mr. Varnell, a banking manager, were married in 2001 before the Ontario Court of Appeal recognized last June the right for gays to legally marry.
Their 2001 ceremony was then recognized as a legal union in the province in light of the court decision.
The couple's lawyer, Doug Elliott, said he spoke to Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham early Thursday and Mr. Graham advised him to deal with Deputy Prime Minister John Manley because he would have more authority over border issues.
A spokesman in Mr. Manley's office said Immigration Minister Denis Coderre would have to deal with the issue, but there was no immediate response from his Ottawa office Thursday.
Mr. Elliott said although the U.S. customs official was enforcing American law by not allowing Mr. Bourassa and Mr. Varnell into the United States, "he was doing it on Canadian soil."
"We can't force the U.S. to change its laws on same-sex marriage, but we can insist that Canadian citizens be treated with respect, that the Canadian law regarding family recognition gets respected."
Mr. Elliott said he's also investigating whether any legal action can be undertaken on his clients' behalf.
