After Consideration California County Still Says We Dont To Civil Ceremonies

Ann Barnett, the county clerk of Kern County in California, decided in June to stop performing civil ceremonies for couples who take out a marriage license. The decision coincided with the California State Supreme Court’s ruling that California counties must issue “gender-free” marriage licenses.

Barnett says that Kern County is unprepared to deal with the cost, space and security requirements of conducting an increased number of civil ceremonies and opted to eliminate all civil ceremonies as a result. The County Board of Supervisors considered Barnett’s actions and after a vote, agreed to support Barnett’s decision to bow out of the wedding business.

Prior to Barnett’s decision, Kern County performed about 2,000 civil marriages per year, or an average of about eight ceremonies per day. Kern County is strongly conservative and most voters oppose homosexual weddings. Since state law only requires that the county issue marriage licenses, the county will comply with state law, but will not perform any civil unions for any couples, regardless of their gender.

Opponents argued that the refusal to perform civil weddings would negatively impact minority and low-income couples in the county. In November, California voters will consider a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union that exists only between one man and one woman. It is not clear whether passage of an amendment would nullify existing legal marriages that don’t conform to that definition, but it would prohibit such unions in the future. Barnett has not said whether the county would perform civil weddings again if the proposal passes.

Keywords: Wedding Planning, Weddingblog, Wedding

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