California Revises Controversial Marriage License
Bride and groom are back on the license after the state was deluged by complaints
SAN FRANCISCO—Health officials in California announced this week that they had revised the state's controversial marriage license, putting the words "bride" and "groom" back in the documents after being deluged by complaints from both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
When the State Supreme Court declared a state ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional in May, California marriage licenses were immediately changed to become gender-neutral. The words "bride" and "groom" were replaced with "Party A" and "Party B." Though most polls show a small majority of likely voters in the state continue to support the right of same-sex couples to marry, many couples protested the move, saying they wanted to have the option to define themselves in the traditional way.
Suanne Buggy, a spokesperson for the state's Department of Public Health, told reporters this week that her agency thought it was required by law to change the state's marriage certificates after the court's ruling. Several months later, though, officials realized they could find a way to compromise.
Starting November 17, the state's marriage licenses will have two blank spaces for applicants' names. One member of the soon-to-be-married couple will fill out his or her name and personal information in a section marked "First Person Data," while the other will include his or her information in the "Second Person Data" section. Both sections will include optional check boxes where couples can put a check next to the word "bride" or "groom." This will allow same-sex couples to check the same title, if they choose to, while giving opposite-sex couples the opportunity to check different boxes. The California Department of Public Health has a series of sample forms on its website.
An initiative on the ballot next month will allow voters in the state to decide whether they want to overturn the State Supreme Court's decision and ban gay marriage.
Reader Comments
Nothing alike
How can anyone compare marrying a goat to 2 people that are in love having the right to do what the rest of America can do?
I'm sorry, I see NO link here. I think it's only obvious to those that are blind with hate. Bigotry leads people to commit these offensive fallacies and it's sad that people are proud of their own ignorance.
And as for the gay couples raising children, at least the children may have a chance at having 2 paents who love them, as opposed to the 55% of all doomed heterosexual marriages that end in divorce leaving children in broken homes. Or how about the children saved from the horrible foster home drama?
There is no correlation here. Believing that gay couples will only raise gay kids would mean that heterosexual couples only raise straight kids, which we know is false.
Time to wake up and realize we are living in a new age. The world is changing, and it does not have to be as dramatic as we are making it. Gays in Denmark have had the right to marry for years now, and a vast majority of the population agrees it is better for the society.
Ok, so you don't like the thought of gay marriage. So what. Don't get one then. It's not going to hurt you any whether they get married or not. So why deny them the opportunity to be treated like the rest of us Americans that don't even consider marriage a right, take it for granted, then abuse the privilege with repeated divorces?
Sarcasm
Just sarcasm
got your goat
Why are the men who wrote the comments above so obsessed with goats? I'm a gay person, and I never think about goats. What is with these straight guys and their obsession with marrying goats? It's creepy. Goats, goats, goats. Maybe they should seek treatment.
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