''Hall v Durham Catholic School Board'' was a 2002 court case in which Marc Hall, a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

teenager, fought a successful legal battle against the Durham Catholic District School Board to bring a same-sex date to his high school

prom A promenade dance or prom is a formal dance party for graduating high school students at the end of the school year. Students participating in the prom will typically vote for a ''prom king'' and ''prom queen''. Other students may be honored ...

. The case made Canadian and international headlines.

Legal case

''Hall v Durham Catholic School Board'' began when

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

's Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic Secondary School asked students attending the prom to submit the names of the guests they intended to bring. Hall, who is gay, submitted the name of his 21-year-old boyfriend, Jean-Paul Dumond, and was denied on the grounds that homosexuality is incompatible with

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

teaching. Supported by his family and a wide variety of community organizations, Hall thus took the school board to court in a two-day hearing that began on May 6, 2002. Hall's lawyer, David Corbett, argued that the denial of his request violated the Ontario Education Act, which requires school boards in the province not to discriminate. The school board, on the other hand, argued that court interference in its decision would amount to denying its religious freedom. Corbett argued that an organization that accepts public funding (Catholic school boards in Ontario are fully funded in the same manner as public schools) has to be accountable to the same laws (including anti-discrimination laws) as other public institutions. The school board's lawyer countered that Section 93 of the

Canadian constitution The Constitution of Canada () is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents are an amalgamation of various ...

protects the Catholic board's rights to conduct its affairs in accordance with Catholic teaching. In addition, Corbett noted that while extramarital sex is also contrary to Catholic teaching, the school board had previously allowed

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

, unmarried students to attend the prom. On May 10, Justice Robert McKinnon granted an

interlocutory injunction An interlocutory injunction is a court order to compel or prevent a party from doing certain acts pending the final determination of the case. It is an order made at an interim stage during the trial, and is usually issued to maintain the ''status ...

ordering that Hall be allowed to attend the prom with Dumond and also that the school does not cancel the prom. He did not decide on the larger issues raised by the case, leaving those to be heard at a later trial. Hall attended the prom with Dumond that evening. The case was set for trial in October 2005. In June 2005, Hall applied to discontinue the action and not proceed to trial; this was opposed by the school board, which desired a final judgement on the case. Hall's application was granted by Justice Bryan Shaughnessy on June 28, 2005, thereby ending the case.

In popular culture

Television

Director Larry Peloso created a one-hour documentary on the case entitled '' Prom Fight: The Marc Hall Story''. An unrelated television movie, '' Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story'', aired on CTV in 2004 with

Aaron Ashmore Aaron Richard Ashmore (born October 7, 1979) is a Canadian actor. He is the identical twin brother of actor Shawn Ashmore. He is known for portraying Jimmy Olsen on ''Smallville'' (2006–2011), Steve Jinks on '' Warehouse 13'' (2011–2014), ...

starring as Hall. Hall also appeared in the ''

Queer as Folk ''Queer as Folk'' may refer to: * Queer as Folk (British TV series), ''Queer as Folk'' (British TV series), 1999–2000 * Queer as Folk (American TV series), ''Queer as Folk'' (American TV series), a 2000–2005 American and Canadian version of th ...

'' season 2 finale as a party guest during the Rage party at Babylon. Hall later recounted a story from the prom in the 2019 documentary film ''

Take Me to Prom ''Take Me to Prom'' is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Andrew Moir and released in 2019.Oliver Skinner"What does it mean to be queer at the prom? This new film explores seven decades of answers" CBC Arts, May 3, 2019. The film traces the ...

''.

Stage

The case was adapted into a theatrical musical entitled ''Prom Queen,'' with songs by Colleen Dauncey and Akiva Romer-Segal. ''The Louder We Get'', originally produced as ''Prom Queen'', debuted in Calgary, January 28-February 22, 2020 as part of the 2019-20 Theatre Calgary season.

Literature

Author Robert Joseph Greene referenced the court case in his book ''This High School Has Closets'', where Marc Hall is seen as a hero to the main character.

References

External links

*
Marc Hall (equalmarriage.ca)
{{LGBT in Canada Canadian LGBTQ rights case law Education in the Regional Municipality of Durham 2002 in LGBTQ history School dances 2002 in Canadian case law Ontario case law 2002 in Ontario Student rights case law Catholic Church in Ontario Prom Persecution of LGBTQ people in Canada