Anyone looking to apply for a marriage certificate on Sunday – the first day the Marriage Equality Act goes into effect across the state – better think again.
While a few town offices on Long Island will be open by appointment only, Town of Huntington Clerk Jo-Ann Raia confirmed that next Monday will be the first day her office will issue licenses to same-sex couples.
“It’s business as usual and we try to flow with the times,” said Raia, the Town Clerk since 1982.
But Raia is planning for a busy Monday. Her office will create two lines: One for marriage licenses and another for all other business. She’s fielded approximately 30 inquiries since same-sex marriage was signed into law June 24.
That’s not the only hurdle for her staff. The new marriage certificate doesn’t work with the computer program in her office. So all new licenses will need to be processed using a typewriter for the foreseeable future.
“It’s a marriage license application,” Raia said. “It’s the same. But the spacing and heading are different.”
Where as the current certificate divides up applicants by “Bride” and “Groom,” the new forms are more general, with “Bride / Groom / Spouse” used for each heading. The new application also has an optional field for sex.
Those are internal quirks. Raia has seen them before with other legal changes. Marriage certificates once required blood tests, she said. There was a surname law. And Social Security numbers have been added along the way.
“I just want to make sure everything does run smoothly,” Raia said.
One more consideration: Unless you are already legally married in another state or country, there will be a 24-hour waiting period before a ceremony can be performed.
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