Very happy for all of you! Can a Wiccan priest/preistess not perform a legal wedding in Wisconsin? Down here, anybody can do it as long as the people getting married consider them to be a member of the clergy and the vows are properly solemnized with witnesses who sign the license. My cousin's husband got ordained by the Church of Jedi and can legally perform marriages here.
Handfasting is the Wiccan (and related pagan) equivalent of a church marriage. That’s it. Marriages are entirely legal affairs that are accompanied by a contract with the state that says the participants will be treated as a single unit - that is the point of a marriage certificate. Your vows before God in the church is not what makes the tax office or court recognize you as a family; the marriage certificate you pay for at the courthouse does.
So a handfasting - which is the religious ritual portion of the wedding - serves the exact same function as a wedding at a temple or church. The clergy will be certified by the state to function as clergy (in places that require it) and the marriage certificate is the actual legal document that indicates to the state that you are married.
I am registered clergy. my daughter Kate is also registered. we are recognized as clergy. so YES! i had thought no but in the fullness of time it is yes.
Kate is going to be a lawyer, one her idols is Janet Protasiewicz, a lesbian who rose to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme court it was her that sparked Kate's drive to practice law. Tammy Baldwin also a lesbian serves in the senate Kate contacted Janet's office who responded that the Justice would be honored to perform the service. and so, like us Kate will have not one but TWO weddings. valid under the law.
BLESSED BE
RIKKI
