Cue the Indignation
Earlier this summer, just after K. and I had decided to embark on this wacky trip that we shall call from here on out, "Our Big Fat Gay Wedding" (I initially typed "Out Big Fat Gay Wedding." Freudian slip?), we were stunned to discover that the download-able marriage-license form at the city's web-site still featured "bridegroom" and "bride." Desiring to give the city the benefit of the doubt, I assumed that T.O. was attempting to reduce waste by using up the old forms first.
We downloaded the same form last week and it still featured "bridegroom" and "bride." What are girls to do? We wrangled about who had to be the boy (K. lost that battle. She's the bridegroom.), filled out the form, and met at City Hall this past Friday to get our license. Contrary to the popular image of civil servants, the one with whom we dealt with was smart, efficient, and cheerful. She had initially won us over by overlooking K.'s lack of "proper" identification, but then she permanently endeared herself to us when her amusement at our traditional marriage license was quickly transformed into indignation when she discovered that that is the only marriage-license form available on the city's web-site. The actual forms read "applicant" and "joint applicant."
After asking her superior about it, she was informed that the form will only change once all municipalities in the GTA (or "Mega-city," which simply feeds the common misconception that Toronto is the centre of the universe) have gender-neutral forms. Since the GTA includes places like North York and Scarborough, the change of forms is not imminent, although she sagely asked, "Who goes to North York to do this?" Indeed. Who goes to North York to do anything other than to shop at IKEA or to buy a KitchenAid. -Zh.
We downloaded the same form last week and it still featured "bridegroom" and "bride." What are girls to do? We wrangled about who had to be the boy (K. lost that battle. She's the bridegroom.), filled out the form, and met at City Hall this past Friday to get our license. Contrary to the popular image of civil servants, the one with whom we dealt with was smart, efficient, and cheerful. She had initially won us over by overlooking K.'s lack of "proper" identification, but then she permanently endeared herself to us when her amusement at our traditional marriage license was quickly transformed into indignation when she discovered that that is the only marriage-license form available on the city's web-site. The actual forms read "applicant" and "joint applicant."
After asking her superior about it, she was informed that the form will only change once all municipalities in the GTA (or "Mega-city," which simply feeds the common misconception that Toronto is the centre of the universe) have gender-neutral forms. Since the GTA includes places like North York and Scarborough, the change of forms is not imminent, although she sagely asked, "Who goes to North York to do this?" Indeed. Who goes to North York to do anything other than to shop at IKEA or to buy a KitchenAid. -Zh.
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