HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Same-sex marriage has been legal in Nova Scotia since last month, but Justice Department guidelines require couples to take vows as husband and wife.
Some Canadian same-sex couples, who fought for the right to be legally married are angry over the terminology, reported the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday.
"Nothing in the statute says the marriage is invalid unless those exact words are used," said Kevin Kindred, a lawyer and spokesman for the gay advocacy group Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project.
"The law is pretty clear on that, so I wonder why the government would have touched on the issue at all."
Kindred has requested Justice Minister Michael Baker for a review of the guidelines.
Ron Garnett-Doucette, who plans to marry his partner, Bryan, next June, called the guidelines an "insult."
"If we'd been made aware of this, we never would have applied for a license," he told the Halifax Daily News. "I'm hoping it's an oversight, but if it was intentional, it's an extremely heterosexist act."
