"Bride" and "Groom" Not Tolerated by Calif. Bureaucrats

"Those seeking to wed as 'bride' and 'groom' in California will now have to marry outside the state," asserts the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) in a press release dated Sept. 8, 2008. "Pastor Doug Bird found that out after he officiated his first wedding ceremony since the decision by the California Supreme Court overturning Proposition 22."

"Last week the marriage license that he filed with Placer County was sent back along with a notice of rejection," says PJI.

"I received back the license and a letter from the Placer County Clerk/Recorder stating that the license 'does not comply with California State registration laws'," Pastor Bird states. 

According to PJI, "The applicants, 'Gideon and Rachel,' wrote the words 'groom' and 'bride' next to 'Party A' and 'Party B' because they wished to have their legal union officially recognized as a covenant between a husband and wife. The County Recorder's Office stated that the State Office of Vital Records deemed the hand written words 'bride and groom' to be an 'unacceptable alternation'."  

In an open letter cited by PJI, Pastor Bird asks, "What's next? Will the State of California force . . . [ministers] to use the terms 'Party A' and 'Party B' in the ceremony itself?"

"The change on legal documents is the result of a ruling by the state's high court that found that defining marriage as exclusively between a man and woman violated the California Constitution," says PJI. "The 4-3 decision threw out a state statute passed by the voters." 

 The entire PJI press release is here.