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Gay couples ready to marry in New York hit a small speed bump on the road to wedding bliss when they tried to fill out marriage license applications early Tuesday morning. While the forms were made available to same-sex couples for the first time, the language on the applications still used the terms “bride” and “groom.”
However, while this temporarily deterred some applicants from moving ahead with their plans, others were not swayed by the un-inclusive language and submitted the forms without hesitation; enough for a reported 20% increase in online marriage applications in the state of New York.
Luckily the application forms were quickly updated and now include the term “spouse” along with the traditional “bride” and “groom.”
Couples can now apply for marriage licenses without worry of the earlier bureaucratic snag, but while New York legalized same-sex marriage on June 24th, couples won’t be issued licenses until the law takes effect on July 25th.
“New York [is] expecting an economic windfall from the legislation,” reports Yahoo! News. “One estimate by the Independent Democratic Conference advocacy group of New York State Senators estimated that 21,000 gay and lesbian couples would marry in the first three years the law is in force, adding as much as $284 million to the state's economy over that time.”
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
