The ketubah for gay and lesbian weddings

The ketubah is a lasting and powerful document, signifying the love and commitment between two people. Since many communities still refuse to grant gay and lesbian couples official wedding contracts, the ketubah is often used as symbolic replacement of it. Since a ketubah is traditionally hung proudly in the home, it also serves as an ongoing celebration of a couple's union.

How to make your ketubah

All of my ketubah designs are available with Hebrew and English texts written specifically for gay and lesbian couples. I offer a "Commitment Hebrew" text, which uses gender-appropriate language for gay or lesbian couples. This text translates as "On the ___ day of the ___ month of the year ___ in the community of ___, ___ son/daughter of ___ and ___ son/daughter of ___ were wed." Instead of saying "bride" or "groom", the text uses a Hebrew word which roughly translates as "partner" or "mate".

For the English text, I offer two texts that are written specifically for commitment ceremonies. The first ("Commitment") is based on my standard text, but doesn't use any gender-specific terms like "bride" or "groom". The second text ("Commitment 2") is derived from the wedding vows used by the city of San Francisco.

If you have any questions about how to fill out my order form to create your ketubah, please contact me and I'll give you a hand. (Also, I'd like to apologize in advance: for simplicity's sake, my order form does use the terms "bride" and "groom". If you can recommend a better gender-neutral term, please let me know.)

More information

For more information on gay and lesbian weddings, visit Marriage Equality USA, whose mission is to "end discrimination in civil marriage so that same-sex couples can enjoy the same legal and societal status as opposite-sex couples".