Marc Hall will take his boyfriend to the prom Friday.
Against his school board's wishes, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted the gay 17-year-old an injunction allowing him to take Jean-Paul Dumond, 21, to his prom at Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic Secondary School.
Dressed in a vividly white suit and hair freshly dyed blue, Mr. Hall told reporters he now feels at ease.
"I'm very excited and so happy we won. I was in the kitchen when my lawyer told me and I was jumping up and down."
Hanging on to Mr. Dumond's hand, Mr. Hall said he hopes no one else has to go through what he went through.
"I am so very proud of him," said the teen's mother, Emily Hall. "He has opened the doors for other gay students."
In his ruling Justice Robert Mackinnon wrote that, "the idea of equality speaks to the conscience of all humanity dignity and worth. Marc Hall is a Roman Catholic Canadian trying to be himself. He is gay. It is not an answer to section 15 Charter Rights on these facts to deny permission to attend a school function to celebrate the end of his high school career with his classmates."
David Corbett, Mr. Hall's lawyer said he is elated by the injunction but Friday's ruling is just the first step in a longer battle.
"The ruling does not stop the school board from doing this again to another student," Mr. Corbett said.
The next step will be to go to trial where Mr. Corbett and Mr. Hall will seek a declaration to overturn the board's power to ban gay students from taking their dates to the prom.
Peter Lauwers, lawyer for the Durham Catholic School Board in Oshawa, Ont., said it is also eager for a full hearing where all evidence can be presented.
"We welcome the opportunity to deal with this through a trial process in order to get this thing resolved," he told reporters Friday.
Mr. Corbett, who represented Mr. Hall pro bono, said that the school board violated Mr. Hall's human rights and the Education Act.
School board officials say they will continue to run their school the way they always have in the past.
"Our stand hasn't changed at all," said chairwoman Mary Anne Martin in a press conference Friday. "We still believe in the same thing we've believed in for hundreds of years."
The case has attracted a broad base of community and political support. Last Month, Mr. Hall's efforts were commended by Industry Minister Allan Rock during a gala at Parliament Hill. He was also presented with an EGALE (a gay-rights organization) community award recognizing his work in the movement for equal rights.
"I'm overjoyed by the decision and proud to stand alongside a brave kid named Marc Hall," George Smitherman, MPP for Toronto Centre-Rosedale told globeandmail.com.
Mr. Smitherman has been an active speaker on Mr. Hall's behalf.
"I think it's a very significant decision for the gay community that says the Charter of Rights has shown once again on behalf of minority communities that these rights matter."
With a report from Canadian Press
The Toronto Star
Hall, boyfriend celebrate victory
But Marc Hall, 17, said Saturday that the "overwhelming" support from people around the world has been enough to encourage him to continue fighting for gay rights.
"It's been really hard on J.P. and me," said Hall, referring to his 21-year-old boyfriend Jean-Paul Dumond. "But I'm going to fight this at a trial so no other kid will ever have to go through what I've gone through."
Still sporting the white patent leather dancing shoes he wore to the prom Friday night, Hall addressed hundreds of supporters in a park in the heart of Toronto's downtown gay district.
Even the activists carrying placards were more interested in hearing how the prom went than talking about the legal implications of his court win.
"It was pretty fun," he said "It was pretty much what I expected, you know, nice dinner, fun dancing."
Douglas Elliot, one of Hall's lawyers, said that while he's glad Hall and Dumond got to dance at their end-of-school bash, the case wasn't really about a high school prom.
"It's about equality, and the values we all share as Canadians," Elliot said.
Hall only won an injunction to allow him to attend the dance. Now the case will go to trial.
In order to set a clear precedent, a judge will have to decide whether the Catholic school board's right to run schools in accordance with religious values trumps the rights of students to freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The issue of how to treat gays and lesbians has long divided the Catholic church.
Hall said most of his classmates were supportive and happy to see him at the prom, though "there were a couple of stares here and there, and a few people said the odd thing, but nothing major."
A number of students arriving at the prom Friday night said homosexuality goes against church teaching and they thought the judge went too far in his ruling.
Around the world, however, gays, lesbians and civil liberties activists praised Hall for refusing to accept his principal's declaration that homosexuality is wrong and shouldn't be permitted in a Catholic environment.
His case has received extensive coverage in the British and U.S. media; on the Internet, gay news groups have been hanging on Hall's every word.
"This case shows that at younger and younger ages, gay kids are becoming more confident, and that's a good thing," said David Allison, a spokesman for Outrage, a British gay rights group, in a telephone interview from London.
He said Hall has inspired gay teens everywhere, especially those living in rural areas, who may feel alone and have no gay peers to look up to or guide the way.
"For many of us, the Internet is our community because we don't know any people like us in our home towns," Allison said. "News of Marc Hall has certainly gotten right round the Internet into the homes of gay kids around the world."
All the media attention has been a difficult cross to bear, Hall said.
"I mean, guys, there was a news helicopter following our limo (Friday)," he said. "That was pretty freaky."
With all their time having been devoted to the case and interviews, they haven't had time for each other, which has put a strain on their relationship, Dumond said. "But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Time heals."
Hall said he never set out to be a role model for gay youth.
"It's hectic sometimes, but knowing all the supporters are out there will carry me through." A gay teen whose battle with his Catholic school board for the right to take his boyfriend to the prom ended in triumph Friday says the ordeal has been hard on their relationship and the party was anti-climactic.
But Marc Hall, 17, said Saturday that the "overwhelming" support from people around the world has been enough to encourage him to continue fighting for gay rights.
"It's been really hard on J.P. and me," said Hall, referring to his 21-year-old boyfriend Jean-Paul Dumond. "But I'm going to fight this at a trial so no other kid will ever have to go through what I've gone through."
Still sporting the white patent leather dancing shoes he wore to the prom Friday night, Hall addressed hundreds of supporters in a park in the heart of Toronto's downtown gay district.
Even the activists carrying placards were more interested in hearing how the prom went than talking about the legal implications of his court win.
"It was pretty fun," he said "It was pretty much what I expected, you know, nice dinner, fun dancing."
Douglas Elliot, one of Hall's lawyers, said that while he's glad Hall and Dumond got to dance at their end-of-school bash, the case wasn't really about a high school prom.
"It's about equality, and the values we all share as Canadians," Elliot said.
Hall only won an injunction to allow him to attend the dance. Now the case will go to trial.
In order to set a clear precedent, a judge will have to decide whether the Catholic school board's right to run schools in accordance with religious values trumps the rights of students to freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The issue of how to treat gays and lesbians has long divided the Catholic church.
Hall said most of his classmates were supportive and happy to see him at the prom, though "there were a couple of stares here and there, and a few people said the odd thing, but nothing major."
A number of students arriving at the prom Friday night said homosexuality goes against church teaching and they thought the judge went too far in his ruling.
Around the world, however, gays, lesbians and civil liberties activists praised Hall for refusing to accept his principal's declaration that homosexuality is wrong and shouldn't be permitted in a Catholic environment.
His case has received extensive coverage in the British and U.S. media; on the Internet, gay news groups have been hanging on Hall's every word.
"This case shows that at younger and younger ages, gay kids are becoming more confident, and that's a good thing," said David Allison, a spokesman for Outrage, a British gay rights group, in a telephone interview from London.
He said Hall has inspired gay teens everywhere, especially those living in rural areas, who may feel alone and have no gay peers to look up to or guide the way.
"For many of us, the Internet is our community because we don't know any people like us in our home towns," Allison said. "News of Marc Hall has certainly gotten right round the Internet into the homes of gay kids around the world."
All the media attention has been a difficult cross to bear, Hall said.
"I mean, guys, there was a news helicopter following our limo (Friday)," he said. "That was pretty freaky."
With all their time having been devoted to the case and interviews, they haven't had time for each other, which has put a strain on their relationship, Dumond said. "But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Time heals."
Hall said he never set out to be a role model for gay youth.
"It's hectic sometimes, but knowing all the supporters are out there will carry me through."