By Ian Gunn BBC correspondent in Vancouver

One couple wasted no time in exchanging marriage vows

A court ruling in British Columbia has made it the second province in Canada to allow same sex marriages.

The ruling on Tuesday forced the provincial government to begin immediately issuing marriage licences to any couple, regardless of their sex.

A similar ruling in Ontario last month led to the country's first gay marriages.

On the news from the British Columbia court, one gay couple quite literally ran to the licensing, then to their church, where they were immediately married surrounded by a crush of reporters.

The minister who performed the service said he was proud to be Canadian and able to perform such a ceremony.

Pioneering provinces

The Vancouver marriage follows similar weddings in Ontario in recent days.

Last month a court there issued an almost identical ruling prompting North America's first ever gay marriages.

The provincial courts have ruled that it is discrimination to deny people the right to marry just because they are gay.

The federal government in Ottawa says it will not challenge that opinion and is widely expected to present draft legislation this week. It would make same sex marriages legal right across the country.

But that law is unlikely to come into effect for many months and has yet to face a vote in parliament.

Some conservative and religious groups accuse the federal government of failing Canadians by not challenging the provincial court ruling.

The groups say that they will take the case to the country's supreme court in an effort to protect the traditional definition of marriage.

Canada's new acceptance of same sex marriage is also drawing attention in the United States. Gay couples have been travelling north to hold weddings in Canada that they simply cannot hold at home.