Canadian <i>Time</i> picks gay married couple as 2003's top story (10865)

The Canadian edition of Time magazine has made Michael Stark and Michael Leshner, the first Canadian couple to get married after an Ontario provincial court legalized same-sex marriage, its newsmakers of the year. The lengthy story about their union--and about the arrival of same-sex marriage in Canada--can be read online at www.timecanada.com; the piece does not appear in the U.S. edition of Time. Both editions feature "The American soldier" as Person of the Year.

Leshner told the Ottawa Citizen, "We're just elated.... It's a wonderful vindication of all our years of struggle to tell our love story."

Time magazine's Canadian bureau chief, Steven Frank, told the Citizen that the difference between the U.S. focus on the American soldier and the Canadian focus on same-sex marriage speaks to a growing difference between Americans and Canadians: "The United States, especially since September 11, is on a conservative bent. Canada, in contrast, is going in the opposite direction.... And I think the two choices are pretty symbolic of the differences between the two countries, at least socially, in this last year or two." --Matthew Hays