Marriage Equality Vows

Marriage Equality Vows

During our engagement gay marriage became legal in California and the right was voted away as well. Bubbs and I talked a lot about our discomfort getting married as our close friends and family couldn't. The issue was at the forefront and only days before the wedding, the legality of Prop 8 (the proposition that took away the right in CA)was "confirmed" by a judge, so it weighed heavy on us.

At first we considered asking for donations to the cause in lieu of gifts. This was logistically difficult as the issue was so dynamic, we couldn't figure out which organization to support!

We finally agreed to take a Marriage Equality vow during our ceremony. We asked our friend (party responsible for our meeting) to say a few words.

When I get emails about the fight for equal rights to marry, this vow comes back to me.

Marriage Equality Vow:

After the final blessing from our family, our friend stood up.

Tim and Regina would like to acknowledge that not everyone can legally get married to the person that they love. As they celebrate their love and join their families together today and this marriage is recognized, by the state of California, Tim and Regina, along with vowing to be together for the rest of their lives, also vow to work
toward and fight for marriage equality.

Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the 2003 case in which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the state may not deny the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage to same-sex couples:

We share a common humanity… Simple principles of decency dictate that we extend to the plaintiffs, and to their new status, full acceptance, tolerance, and respect. We should do so because it is the right thing to do. The union of two people “is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred.

It is an association that promotes a way of life, not causes; a harmony in living, not political faiths; a bilateral loyalty, not commercial or social projects. Yet it is an association for as noble a purpose as any involved in our prior decisions.

Coming up, we profess our love and get down to business (the vows)...