Getting Married

[PaulnKarl]

I wondered if anyone has stopped at a port of call to get legally married (same gender). We're thinking about Nova Scotia in 2007, and would be interested in the experience of others.

 

Paul

[Schplinky]

The Rosie cruise went to NS last year for that reason and I don't think it was a problem. We don't have waiting periods for licenses in Canada.

[dam1050]

For any wondering how to obtain a marriage license and get legally married in British Columbia; the website for the BC Vital Statistics Agency is located at:

 

http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/marriage/howto.html

 

All the best to you Paul & Karl !

 

 

Dave

[bububr]

In September. My partner and I always book an anniversary cruise. This year we decided to get married on it. We were on the Celebrity Mercury. Seattle, to Victoria, Nanaimo, seattle. We flew into Seattle the night before and drove to Vancouver. In the morning we went to the VSO and filed for our license. It was easy and the clerks were very nice posing for pictures wit us, taking them, talking to us...etc... I suggest the ELBOW ROOM for breakfast if you do this. We had contacted a marriage commissioner in Nanaimo via e-mails and had our ceremony personallized, and arranged. He met us at the pier off the tender...IT WAS WONDERFUL.

 

The hard part was controlling the emotion. Five years ago we had a commitment ceremony with the flowers, dinner, dj, strings..etc...$$$$ and I did fine.. But this time I welled up with tears and barely made it through the ceremony. This wasn't just some token of a commitment, it was a real marriage for life.

 

Things have changed for us since this, even though its not recognized here, we feel married, we feel different, and we feel we are no different from our neighbors and friends. Even though we are the same people. I just feel elevated to a different level...

 

Its a good feeling.

 

Dave:eek:

[PaulnKarl]

Hi Dave

 

Thank you for sharing your experience - congratulations. Karl & I are hoping to take the HAL New England Itinerary in 2007 and have our family and friends with us on the cruise. First choice would be to get married in Halifax NS, but failing that we will do it in Montreal after debarkation.

 

Paul

[bdjam]

I have also heard of the 10-day cruises to Alaska out of San Francisco being “marriage boats.” There is a legally required stop in Vancouver or Victoria on these itineraries and people have taken advantage of them. Who would have ever thought the Passenger Services Act would facilitate same sex marriage? :D

[digby]

What's the point?

[digby]

What's the point if the marriage is not recognized where you actually live? It will be no more legal than if you had a commitment ceremony in your back yard. Does even MA recognize marriages from outside their state? (My partner and I have been together 34+ years.)

[jame_g]

My partner and I are doing a commitment ceremony on Maui on 1/10 while we're on NCL's Pride of America. We'll probably register a reciprocal beneficiary form in Hawaii as well.

 

We'll be in Nova Scotia next October on Carnival Victory, but we don't have any plans to do a ceremony while there.

 

I think right now, while there is nothing legally recognized here, it's more of a personal commitment anyway.

[bububr]

"What's the point if the marriage is not recognized where you actually live? It will be no more legal than if you had a commitment ceremony in your back yard. Does even MA recognize marriages from outside their state? (My partner and I have been together 34+ years.)"

 

Congratulations on your 34+ years!

 

I guess you could say whats the point of many things...But thats not the point.

 

We had a 'commitment ceremony' which is basically a common law marriage which many states do not ecognize for straight couples either. It just wasn't good enough..it was second best.

 

We got MARRIED, A LEGAL CIVIL MARRIAGE :WHO CARES WHAT COUNTRY!

 

We did it for us...we did it for the piece of paper..and we did it knowing that even if we live in an ass-backwards country someone out there recognises us.

 

Thats the point.

 

Dave:eek:

[viaggiatrice]

You go!!!! It matters to you and that's what counts. I believe someday it will be recognized as official anywhere. Be Happy!!!!

[Shan1976]

My wife and I are registered as domestic partners but we would still like to have a ceremony. We've thought of taking a cruise to Vancouver and having our ceremony there. Do what makes you happy.......life is short!

 

Shannon

[parrotthead]

Our July cruise to Alaska on Sernade of the Seas (RCI) just had a change of plans and now we have a stop in Victoria BC..at first I was dissapointed..<I wanted to see more of Alaska, not Canada>..then I started researching and ...(tada) GAY MARRIGE(!)...now, I'm hoping my girlfriend ( sounds so casual, doesn't it) will come around to my way of thinking...when I ask if we can get " really married" ..her resposes 'what's the point...we live together now, we have 2 children[teenagers]...we are married'. BUT, I want the paper..even if it's not reconized here in the US...I would feel 'more married'. What do ( any of) you think???......

[dot73]

If you can't go on a cruise, why don't you come up across the border to Ontario? Toronto is a very gay-friendly city and makes it as easy as possible for people to get married, especially during the gay parade weekend when lots of Americans (and other nationalities) come up to get hitched. Niagara Falls also offers same-sex wedding and honeymoon packages. Businesses have jumped on the bandwagon since they finally realized that gay people have money and they love to spend it. There have recently been a couple of Gay Wedding Expos in Toronto which were very well attended and more are planned. As a Canadian, I am extremely proud that my country has finally seen the light, despite objections from the far right, to give everyone the same rights when it comes to marriage. The Liberal Party may be a bunch of corrupt, lying thieves, but at least they believe in equality. I'll be holding my nose and voting for them again later this month. Hopefully, same-sex couples will have much better luck in the marriage department than the rest of us and prove all the doomsayers wrong.

[sjbdtz]

The point is simple:

 

Are you willing to let the right wing nutbars tell you that the only thing you're entitled to (you sub-par being) is a Committment Ceremony, whereas THEY (those heterosexual demi-gods) are entitled to something else called "Marriage" ?

 

Even if civil unions and marriage had ALL of the same benefits (which they don't), think of it this way:

 

Substitute the word Best for marriage, and SecondBest for civil union.

 

Now...would it acceptable to you to settle for SecondBest, when you could have BEST after a short visit to a neighbouring country?

 

Two things come out of your decision to want BEST for your life:

 

- when a critical mass of people do this, it becomes easier for politicians and courts to put faces and lives to their discrimination.

 

It's easier to outlaw something that applies to "the gays", than something that applies to cousin Fred and his longtime companion Scott.

 

- International Courts may one day demand that, like all other internationally-recognized marriages, same-sex marriages ALSO be recognized as legitimate.

 

This supercedes the US's desire to say no to same-sex marriage, in the same way that it supercedes their desire to torture prisoners of (ahem) "war".

 

But that's another story.