The state of Washington has proposed leaving the words bride and groom at the altar when it comes to marriage certificates.
With same-sex marriage becoming legal on Dec. 6, spaces on the marriage certificate once reserved for a "bride" and "groom" will become more gender-neutral for everyone, state Department of Health spokesperson Tim Church told MyNorthwest.com.
"Obviously those words aren't going to fit everybody," he said. "We are proposing a change where it will say something like 'Spouse A' and 'Spouse B.'"
The proposed rule also adds sex of the people marrying as an item on the certificate, allowing the state to track how may same-sex marriages occur. The proposal also removes the words husband and wife on divorce certificates.
In the Nov. 6 elections, Washington voters approved Referendum 74, which affirmed the legislatively backed law allowing for same sex marriage in this state.
Work began on the revised certificates before the election so they can be ready for use when the law goes into effect on Dec. 6, 2012.
The Department of Health, which collects records of all marriages and divorces that occur in Washington, is taking comment on the proposed revisions until Dec. 3.
To comment:
- Attend the public hearing at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 310 Israel Rd. SE, rooms 152-153 in Tumwater, Wash.
- Comment online on the proposed certificate revisions by clicking here.
- Mail your comment to Washington State Department of Health, P.O. Box 47814, Olympia, WA., 98504-7814.
What do you think? Should Washington marriage certificates be revised to have gender-neutral wording? Do the words bride and groom hold special meaning on your marriage certificate? Tell us in comments.
Cori Snow Butler said, "Would it be so terrible to have a bride/groom certificate, a bride/bride one and a groom/groom one? Our government certainly has enough other forms. What's 2 more?"
To me this appears to be a rush to make changes with one politician trying to one up another's embracing of same sex marriage, rather than trying to simply do the right thing. If this confuses you and you are about to get married then by all means choose the revised certificate over the traditional one - just let's not take away the traditional one for those that would prefer it.
We've already lost so many of these battles. We need to take a stand here. Let me tell you my story. I was applying for a passport but I got pretty angry at the male/female checkboxes, and the blank for city. There was no checkbox for "Man" and no blank for "Town". I argued for 15 minutes with the passport clerk. Since jails don't honor my food choices, I allowed the police officer to quietly take me outside. Ultimately I filled out that form, and under threat of perjury, I can no longer call myself a man. Thankfully, I can still refer to the woman I married as my wife. Don't let them take that away from me. Let's eliminate all labels from government forms and let people use the labels they've come to cherish. Our freedom depends on it.
I understand the latter's point of view as I read the continuation of the tendentious arguments about the sanctity of a word, and the inability of the hanger-ons to comprehend the difference between civil law and religious celebrations of ritual. Instead of defending holy matrimony on the basis of whatever Bible verse is your motivator, you might think about following a direct admonition to take dominion and exercise stewardship of an Earth that is rapidly loosing species that your God saw fit to create, and "saw that it was good," and that were saved by God's directive to Noah. Or doesn't that count? Jesus' statement about rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar's means to fill out the legal forms according to the govt, and render your spiritual devotion to your god. That means get the license for Spouse A & B, and let the church do the holy matrimony celebration. Quit arguing this nonsensical BS and do something for the betterment of creation that God approved. The Muslim community is reaching out as part of an inter-faith effort. http://sammamish.patch.com/events/what-on-earth-are-we-to-do What are you going to do? .