Same-sex marriage in Nova Scotia has been legal since September 24, 2004 when the province began issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples immediately following a court ruling from the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Nova Scotia became the sixth jurisdiction in Canada, and the ninth worldwide after the Netherlands, Belgium, Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Massachusetts, Yukon, and Manitoba, to legalise same-sex marriage. Background In November 2000, the Nova Scotia House of Assembly approved the Law Reform (2000) Act (its long title being An Act to Comply with Certain Court Decisions and to Modernize and Reform Laws in the Province), establishing domestic partnerships. The act was assented by the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Myra Freeman, and went into force on June 4, 2001. Domestic partnerships grant cohabiting couples many of the rights and obligations of marriage, including pension benefits, inheritance, and the ability to divide property or other assets at separation or death. These partnerships differ from common law marriages in that they are registered with the state and the property rights of domestic partners are better defined. Both partners must be 19 or older, resident in Nova Scotia for the past 3 months, and not currently married or in a partnership with another individual. Both opposite-sex and same-sex couples can enter into a domestic partnership. In July 2001, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court concluded that the provision in the Adoption Act which prevented common-law couples from adopting was unconstitutional; the result been that common-law couples, either same-sex or opposite-sex, are now able to adopt children jointly. Madame Justice Deborah Gass ruled that "prohibiting a joint adoption where all the evidence indicates these adults are providing optimum care and loving... defeats the very purpose of the legislation". A spokeswoman for Egale Canada said, "It really is a victory for the expansion of the definition of family and that courts recognize families exist beyond married couples and their children." Court ruling Following the court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in Yukon in July 2004, Sean Foreman, chairperson of a local LGBT group, said "We are now considering a change in strategy, to proceed with a similar application in Nova Scotia in the near future, rather than wait for the Reference." Foreman also asked the federal and provincial attorneys general, Irwin Cotler and Michael Baker, to "immediately begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples", but this was not successful. On August 13, 2004, three