With the adoption of the Name Equality Act -- giving men the right to take a wife's or partner's name at marriage -- California becomes the first state to heed the words of feminist trailblazer Lucy Stone:
"A wife should no more take her husband's name than he should her's."
Ever since Lucy Stone kept her birth name after her marriage to Henry Blackwell back in 1855, the women who followed her controversial example have been termed Lucy Stoners. (I'm a Lucy Stoner!) One hundred and fifty years later, the law (in California) begins to catch up to the thinking of 19th century feminists:
Any man who registers for marriage or domestic partnership in California will now enjoy the option of adopting his wife or partner's last name. The Name Equality Act of 2007, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October 2007 was made effective Thursday. It eliminates any discrepancy in civil rights enjoyed by men and women with respect to the use of a marriage license or domestic partnership certificate to legally change the last name of one, or now both, parties. .
Couples will now have access to a gender-neutral marriage license or domestic partnership certificate, one that provides space for both parties to declare any changes to last names "upon solemnization" of the union. The options include taking the current last name of the other spouse or partner, taking the last name of the other given at birth, combining portions of both last names to form just one, or using a hyphenated combination of both.
The new law is called the Name Equality Act. And not only may a man take a woman's last name, but the couple getting married may combine each others last name. For instance, John Smith and Jane Doe could be Mr. and Mrs. Smoe.
Also see:
The New Agenda: Misogyny and Oppression at the DMV
Feminist Politics Gender News Misogyny Women's History Lucy Stone Patriarchy California Marriage Equality
