OTTAWA, June 28 -- The House of Commons voted Tuesday to guarantee full marriage rights to same-sex couples, reaffirming Canada's sharp difference with the United States over the issue of gay rights and promising an alternative destination for American gay men and lesbians to be married.
The legislation, which opponents acknowledge will easily pass the Senate and which has the support of the government, will make Canada only the third country -- after Belgium and the Netherlands -- to give national recognition to gay marriages.
"The big peaceable kingdom on the U.S. border will demonstrate that it is absolutely possible for religious freedom to coexist with the end of discrimination against gay and lesbian people," said Alex Munter, a gay rights advocate who gathered with other supporters at Parliament Hall in Ottawa to watch the vote.
"Many couples already come from America to get married, and thousands of more will come."
American couples have been wed here since lower courts began to legalize same-sex marriages in some provinces in 2003. The marriage in Ottawa this month of a gay American couple from the popular television show "Amazing Race" is the latest high-profile example.
"We are the only jurisdiction in the world that allows marriage without a residency requirement," noted R. Douglas Elliott, a Toronto lawyer and president of the International Lesbian and Gay Law Association. "Equal marriage is going to become Canada's leading export in the next couple of years."
Although marriages legally performed in another country are traditionally accepted in the United States, the question of whether gay marriages will be recognized in states that have banned same-sex unions is likely to be the subject of court battles, gay rights advocates predict.
The Canadian legislation, which passed the Commons 158 to 133, follows a steady march of court decisions that have already ruled gay marriage legal in eight of 10 Canadian provinces and one territory. In December, the Canadian Supreme Court pointed the way to national legislation by ruling that gay marriage conforms to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, part of the nation's constitution.
But unlike in the United States, where some legislators and President Bush have actively opposed same-sex marriage, the Canadian Parliament acted to establish a uniform national law. Despite opposition from church leaders and politicians in several provinces, the move is supported by a majority of the Canadian public, in what gay rights advocates say has been a relatively swift turnabout of opinion over a period of several years.
"This is absolutely historic," Munter said of the vote in the Commons. "It reaffirms that Canada is an open and inclusive and tolerant country."
Thousands of same-sex couples have wed in provinces where gay marriage has won court approval. Several prominent national political officials are openly gay, and gays are accepted in the Canadian military with full spousal benefits for partners.
Even the opposition's stance would be seen as liberal in much of the United States. The minority Conservative Party proposed that a civil union be approved for gay couples as an alternative to including gays in the definition of a married couple. But the ruling Liberal Party, buttressed by the Supreme Court, argued that anything short of full marriage recognition would provide unequal rights and shortchange the civil liberties of gays.
La Chambre des communes canadienne à approuvé jeudi soir heure locale (vers 0:00 UTC) le projet de loi (''Loi sur le mariage civil'' ou ''C-38'') légalisant le marriage de personnes de même sexe. Si le Sénat et le Gouverneur général (qui représente la reine d'Angleterre donnent leur approbation, le Canada serait le troisième pays au monde (après les Pays-Bas et la Belgique) à autoriser le marriage gay.
Canada autorisera vraisemblablement le mariage gay
Le vote, extrêmement serré (158  et 133 ) a été remporté par le gouvernement libéral  et le  (NPD) de gauche. L'aide du Bloc Québécois (BC) a également été précieuse aux partisans d'un mariage gay pour contourner la forte opposition du Parti conservateur du Canada (PCC), farouchement opposé au texte.

Le gouvernement voyait ce vote aux communes comme un vote symbolique, faisant du Canada un contre-poids progressiste aux États-Unis. Beaucoup d'américains gays se sont et vont se marier au Canada, d'après de récentes prévisions. Dans l'optique d'un pays libéral, le ministre de la justice, Irwin Cotler, assurait mardi :  .

Les marriages entre homosexuels avaient déjà été autorisés dans huit provinces canadiennes, alors que certaines l'avaient interdit. C'est pour contrer ce flou que la proposition de loi a été émise par le gouvernement. Celui-ci précise néanmoins qu'aucun prêtre ne pourra être forcé à effectuer un mariage gay :   affirmait le premier ministre Paul Martin.

L'acceptation de la Chambre des communes du marriage gay fait à la suite d'une longue période de déchirement entre les opposants et les partisans du marriage de personnes de même sexe. Ce clivage se ressent même géographiquement : alors que le Québec et l'Ontario sont plutôt favorables au mariage gay, les provinces des prairies et les Maritimes le rejettent.

Au sein même du parti libéral, Joe Comuzzi à annocé sa démission, car il n'approuvait pas le projet de loi, alors que son parti avait fixé comme ligne le  lors du vote. Et malgré ce revers pour les conservateurs, plusieurs d'entre eux ne se démobilisent pas et espèrent une nouvelle bataille, à la fois politique et juridique.