Canadian court rules for gay teenager

By Lee Carter In Toronto

A Superior Court judge in Ontario, Canada, has ruled that a gay teenage student has the legal right to take his boyfriend to a Roman Catholic school's end-of-year dance.

The school board had tried to bar the student from doing so because it argued that homosexuality was against Catholic teaching.

In his ruling, Justice Robert MacKinnon said the student, Marc Hall, was a Roman Catholic Canadian trying to be himself.

The fact that he is gay should not deny him the right to attend a school function to celebrate the end of his high school career with his friends.

But the Roman Catholic Education Board in Oshawa, Ontario, east of Toronto, had argued that while it was not its policy to discriminate against gays and lesbians, it could not endorse what it calls a homosexual lifestyle.

It pointed out that Mr Hall could have attended a secular state school.

Thorny case

The student's lawyer said that the ruling showed that in Canada, Catholic schools would no longer be able to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation when dealing with young people.

The ruling was made just hours before the dance itself, which the school was not allowed to cancel.

Constitutionally, the case is thorny and could be appealed.

Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees both religious freedom and strong individual rights.

To complicate matters further, in the province of Ontario, Roman Catholic schools are publicly funded.

Mr Hall's legal battle has drawn high-profile support from politicians and TV stars.

It has even earned him a cameo appearance on the North America version of the gay TV series, Queer as Folk.