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DECEMBER 10, 2001. Lesbian and gay couples in Quebec will be able to tie the proverbial knot as early as next summer.

A civil union bill introduced on Friday in the provincial parliament by the governing Quebecois Party, and widely expected to gain approval next spring after a round of public hearings, offers them almost the same rights as marriage.

A glaring exception is the right to adopt, which activists vow to contest during the hearings.

Recent polls show that 75 percent of the population of Quebec supports gay marriage — not just civil unions. However, in Canada, changes in marriage law can only be made by the federal government in Ottawa.

While supportive of the civil union bill, Quebec queer organizations have strongly reiterated that their goal is marriage. And at least one of them, the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Quebec, says that if it had the political will, the provincial government could find ways to allow same-gender marriage without triggering a constitutional crisis.