Human Rights A Day

Ontario Court allows gay couple to adopt non-biological child.André Cyr and his same-sex partner Todd Armstrong wanted to be legal parents of children, but Ontario’s Child and Family Services Act (like its equivalents in most provinces) prevented them from doing so. As single individuals, gay men and lesbians could adopt, but not as a couple. The result was that some gay and lesbian parents were being denied legal protections for co-raising the biological child of a partner. This meant they could not give medical instructions or even register the child in school. On May 10, 1995, an Ontario court ruled that the act infringed on these non-biological parents’ equality rights as per Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ontario was the first province to allow such adoptions; other provinces soon followed. The case highlighted the contrast between Canadian courts’ willingness to protect gays and lesbians at the time, and politicians’ continuing reluctance to legislate in favour of equality for all Can