Gay men booted from altar duty Canada.com

A gay man has filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal against a Catholic bishop after being removed from his volunteer job as an altar server because of his sexual orientation.

Jim Corcoran was asked to step down from his role at St. Michael’s Church in Cobourg, 100 kilometres east of Toronto, after 12 of his fellow parishioners complained to the diocese of Peterborough.

In an interview, Corcoran said he was told by his parish priest in April that he and his partner would have to end their altar duties. He said it was Bishop Nicola De Angelis’s decision, not the priest’s.

Corcoran added that he and his partner of 19 years have been chaste for years, which makes the decision to remove them even more difficult to comprehend.

Corcoran, 50, said he is seeking $20,000 from each parishioner and $25,000 from the bishop. He said he wants the money to be donated to a charity of his choice.

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Sask. appeal court asked whether commissioners can opt out of same-sex marriages

REGINA — The Saskatchewan government wants the province’s highest court to weigh in on proposed legislation that would allow marriage commissioners to not perform same-sex marriages if it is contrary to their religious beliefs.

Justice Minister Don Morgan said Friday that the government is referring legislative options to the Court of Appeal for its opinion on whether the proposals meet the requirements of the Charter of Rights.

“We’ve given the Court of Appeal two suggested options: one that we grandfather the existing marriage commissioners that are reluctant or refusing to perform a same-sex marriage, and the other one would be to create a religious exemption for those and for future marriage commissioners,” he said.

“It would require us to have two pools of marriage commissioners. One that would be willing to perform the same-sex marriage and one that would not.”

Whether officials can refuse to marry same-sex couples is the subject of a lawsuit and a complaint before the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal – both of which are being heard by Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench.

The complaint arose in 2005 when marriage commissioner Orville Nichols, a devout Baptist, told a gay couple he wouldn’t marry them because it went against his religious beliefs.

See Sask. appeal court asked whether commissioners can opt out of same … The Canadian Press

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