New marriage certificate design for Alabama after court rulings

Published 4:00 pm Thursday, February 5, 2015

With same-sex marriages set to begin Feb. 9 throughout the state, the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) has unveiled its new marriage certificate design following the 11th Circuit Court’s strike down of the same-sex marriage ban in the state.

The new document released Thursday to probate courts now features designated areas, both marked “SPOUSE,” that are to be completed by each member of a couple to legally acknowledge the union. Formerly, these areas were labeled “BRIDE” and “GROOM.” New to this document are also spaces for each party to indicate their sex as “Male” or “Female.”

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According to the Associated Press, Director of the Alabama Center for Health Statistics Catherine Molchan Donald says department staff looked at forms in other states before coming up with a license form that could be used for all marriages.

The updating of the state marriage license document is just one result of the ripple effect caused last month when U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade struck down a law banning gay marriage in the state of Alabama on Jan. 23, making the state the 37th in the United States to authorize same-sex marriage, as indicated via the Human Rights Campaign’s Marriage Center.

This ruling allowed Mobile couple Cari Searcy and Kimberly McKand the opportunity to finally marry legally in their home state and equal custody of the son they both care for.

Tailing Granade’s first ruling, a subsequent 14-day stay was ordered—which gave Attorney General Luther Strange and his office the opportunity to appeal for an extended stay on same-sex marriage rulings until later this year. During that time, Granade ruled favorably in another same-sex marriage case, granting Plantiffs James Strawser and John Humphrey the chance at an official marriage license after being denied back in 2014 following their church ceremony.

“This confirms what we already knew — that LGBT Alabamians have the constitutional right to marry regardless of who they love,” said HRC Alabama State Director Ashley Jackson via a written statement on Tuesday. “The time has come for loving and committed couples from Florence and Huntsville to the Gulf Coast to be able to marry in the state they call home.”

With seemingly no legal red tape or obstacles standing in their way, same-sex couples across Alabama are expected to wed beginning Monday, Feb. 9— the last day of the stay ordered by Granade back in January. Printed copies of the new marriage certificate are scheduled for availability that date as well.