Brockie appealed. The Divisional Court split the difference. Brockie, it said, should have printed the materials requested by the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, because "limits on Mr. Brockie's right to freedom of religion in the peripheral area of the commercial marketplace are justified where the exercise of that freedom causes harm to others . . . by infringing the . . . right to be free from discrimination based on sexual orientation in obtaining commercial services."
On the other hand, the court conjectured, there might be limits to the limits government could place on Brockie's religious freedom even in the marketplace. It probably could compel him to print "a directory of goods and services that might be of interest to the gay and lesbian community." It probably could not compel him to print "material that conveyed a message proselytizing and promoting the gay and lesbian lifestyle."
A future Canadian court may define the line between these two -- or obliterate it.
Another ruling issued in Ontario last June was not ambiguous. Superior Court Justice Robert MacKinnon ordered Monsignor John Pereyma High School to allow 17-year-old Marc Hall, an avowed gay, to attend the senior prom with his 21-year-old boyfriend. The board governing the school argued that allowing a gay couple to attend to the prom would contravene Catholic teaching about homosexual behavior and send the wrong message to Catholic students. The judge swept aside these arguments, and forced a Catholic school to act against its understanding of Catholic teaching.
That's what Henry VIII tried to do to Thomas More.
Do these Canadian controversies foreshadow American controversies?
Three years ago, Justices Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor joined the conservatives on the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision holding the government could not force the Boy Scouts to retain an avowedly homosexual scoutmaster because the Scouts organization believes "homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the values it seeks to instill." Last month, Kennedy and O'Connor joined the court's liberals in declaring a constitutional right to homosexual sodomy.
If Kennedy or O'Connor change their minds about the Boy Scouts of America, or if another liberal is confirmed to the court, the Scouts might as well move to Canada.