Petition for a change in marriage certificates
The website change.org which gives people the opportunity to raise petitions for causes they believe in and to gather support is promoting a petition raised by Ailsa Burkimsher Sadler.
Ailsa is campaigning for changes to the format of the marriage certificate. Her petition raises the following points, quoting directly from her petition page on change.org :
"In England & Wales mothers' names are not on marriage certificates.
This is not fair.
This is 2014.
Marriage should not be seen as a business transaction between the father of the bride and the father of the groom.
This seemingly small inequality is part of a much wider pattern of inequality.
Women are routinely silenced and written out of history.
There is space for the name of the Father of the Bride and the Father of the Groom and their occupations. On civil partnership certificates there is space for mothers, and on Scottish and Northern Irish marriage certificates."
Over 20,000 people have already signed the petition. As well as for equality, the more information there is on a marriage certificate will also benefit family historians and researchers in the future who will be glad of the extra family information! If you'd like to get involved in the campaign go to the change.org website