Bride, Groom Restored to Marriage Licenses, Sort Of

The San Fransisco Chronicle reports :

The words, “bride” and “groom” will be restored on all California marriage licenses starting next month, state health officials announced Monday.

On June 16, when same-sex marriage became legal in the state, the Department of Public Health issued new gender-neutral marriage forms with the words “Party A,” and “Party B” in place of bride and groom.

That drew objections from some heterosexual couples, who wanted the more traditional wording to describe their unions. Several contacted the state, and one Roseville couple sued the county clerk of Placer County last week for rejecting their marriage license after they altered it by writing in “bride” and “groom.”

Those hoping the move is an implicit approval of the traditional definition of marriage, however, will be disappointed:

Beginning Nov. 17, couples can check boxes next to their names indicating whether they are a bride or a groom. Couples can check bride and bride, groom and groom, or bride and groom, allowing for same-sex and opposite-sex pairings . . . .

Geoff Kors of Equality California, a gay rights group, said “sounds like the perfect solution, this treats everybody equally.”