'Bride' and 'Groom' to be Restored to Calif. Forms
The Press Enterprise
By Lisa Leff
October 6, 2008

The Associated Press 

State health officials say the words "bride" and "groom" will reappear on all marriage license applications issued in California starting next month.

In a notice posted on its Web site, the California Department of Public Health says it is making the change because many couples still wanted the option of identifying themselves in traditional terms.

When same-sex marriage became legal in the state on June 16, the health department issued new gender-neutral marriage forms with the words "Party A" and "Party B" where "bride" and "groom" used to be.

The latest paperwork, which county clerks will be required to use starting Nov. 17, will have blank spaces for applicants' names and personal information next to the words "First Person Data" and "Second Person Data" and boxes for checking "bride" or "groom."

Because "bride" and "groom" appear in both sections, couples could check the same title twice to reflect a union between two men or two women.

The health department sent a letter to the state's 58 county clerks on Friday describing the boxes as optional: "The designation of Groom or Bride is now available but not required," the letter states.

Eliminating "bride" and "groom" from marriage certificates was a step the department thought it had to take to comply with the California Supreme Court decision in June that legalized same-sex marriage, spokeswoman Suanne Buggy said Monday.

But in the time since, state officials have looked for alternatives to satisfy couples who did not like the ring of "Party A" and "Party B," she said.

"We have heard from many Californians who have asked to have the option to identify as bride or groom, and we have been reviewing how we could provide the options they have requested and still be in compliance with court rulings," she said.

Because the revised forms won't be available until next month, couples who have tied the knot since the court's ruling took effect on June 17 will not be able to have their recorded marriage certificates amended to reflect the new language, Buggy said.

A suburban Sacramento couple sued Placer County's clerk last week for rejecting their marriage license after the couple hand-wrote "bride" and "groom" next to their names. Under state law, changes to official forms are prohibited.

Despite the health department's compromise, the Pacific Justice Institute does not plan to withdraw the lawsuit it brought on behalf of the Roseville couple, Gideon Codding and Rachel Bird.

"We have nothing legally binding them to continue this policy," said Brad Dacus, the institute's president.

He said there might have been political motivations behind the switch, with voters set to decide an initiative that would ban same-sex marriage in a matter of weeks.

He said he thinks the department restored the bride-groom wording "to mitigate the political damage that this injustice to our clients will have on those supporting homosexual marriage in this election."

The Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, a think tank based at the University of California, Los Angeles estimated Monday that 11,000 same-sex couples have exchanged vows since they won the right to do so.

The tally came from comparing the number of wedding licenses issued statewide between June and October 2007 and the same period this year, said Gary Gates, a demographer with the institute. Since Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in May 2004, about 10,400 gay and lesbian couples have wed there, Gates said.

"California has married potentially more couples in three months than Massachusetts has in four years," he said.