The historic Toronto church that fought the law for the world’s first same-sex weddings is hosting a stunning thousands-candle tribute to Joe Hisaishi this weekend

The Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, a sanctuary renowned for its history of celebrating love and courage, will be transformed into a glowing homage to classic animated films like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. Get your tickets here.

Harriet Scrumptious Frew

– Staff Writer

· October 7, 2026

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On a chilly day in January 2001, two couples stood at the front of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto and said their vows. Rev. Brent Hawkes had found a loophole: Ontario law still allowed couples to marry by having their banns read aloud in church on three consecutive Sundays, with no licence needed.

The province refused to register the marriages, and the fight went to court. When the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in 2003, it confirmed that the 2001 weddings had been legal all along. Although Amsterdam is often credited with the world’s first legal same-sex marriages, which took place in April 2001, the Ontario ruling later recognised these earlier Toronto weddings as the first legal same-sex marriages in the world.

The church even kept the carpet the couples stood on, and still brings it out for weddings today. The couples were making history, but at its heart, they were doing something wonderfully simple: celebrating love.

And more than two decades later, that same spirit of love and connection glows on at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto.

This weekend on Friday 9th the church will host a candlelit tribute to Joe Hisaishi, whose instantly recognisable compositions have become inseparable from some of cinema’s most tender and unforgettable moments. Beneath the glow of thousands of candles, a live performance brings music from Studio Ghibli favourites such as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and more back to life, creating an evening that celebrates emotion and the stories we hold close.

Candlelight: The Best of Joe Hisaishi

4.79 (1155 reviews)

13 November 2026 18:30 + more dates

Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto

From CA$31.86

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