Non Traditional Marriages: Gay Marriage

Non-traditional marriage can mean a lot of different things to many people around the US and the world. I will be focusing on examples of non-traditional marriage in the US. Non-traditional marriage means two people from different backgrounds are coming together for marriage. They can have different financial, cultural, language, etc. backgrounds. Another source said non-traditional marriage is no license, no certificate, etc. When two people decide on this they are wanting to commit to each other, just don't want to financially commit because of personal things, weddings are expensive and some people are greedy over their money. A disadvantage of nontraditional marriage is multiple marriages, nonmarital cohabitation, and stepfamilies due to divorces.

In Philadelphia, there was a nontraditional marriage on January 25th, 2004. This marriage included Michael Poulshock (Jewish) and Sunanda Ghosh's (Hindu). Sunanda was wearing a white organza gown. She walked down the aisle with both of her parents. Her mother Krishna wore a sari. Her father Avijit was wearing a black yarmulke atop his head. Michael's family participated in the holocaust. He is the great-grandson of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Austria. Michael and Sunanda were defined as “Hinjew” due to their cultural differences. They were both immigrants and were able to marry into America. “Under the chuppah, two people, two traditions, two families joined in a deep reinvention that also contained elements of loss.” Rabbi Rebecca Alpert agreed to marry Michael and Sunanda even though Sunanda isn't Jewish. “Most rabbis would not”. Michael wanted a Jewish wedding because that was the correct tradition in his religion. The wedding took place before sunset because of the Sunanda religion. Michael and Sunanda drank wine from a ‘Kiddush cup’. A ‘Kiddush cup’ is “'sanctification,' is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Additionally, the word refers to a small repast held on Shabbat or festival mornings after the prayer services and before the meal.” For their wedding, there was no ketubah or marriage contract. They were unique. They worked together between the two different religions to become one married couple.

There was a statistic taken in 2001 that roughly half of American Jews were married between 1996-2001. Jews arrived in America around the 1970s. There was another statistic taken that stated about 30% “The US-born children of Asian and Latino immigrants have married outside their ethnic group”.

Gay couples today are concerned if they should get married or if they should stay in a common-law relationship. Non-Traditional marriage towards gays can be shown in many different aspects. Gay relationships are based on love, respect, and mutual support between each other. More people know days are supporting this because love is love and everyone enjoys it. “On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state and the sixth jurisdiction in the world to legalize same-sex marriage following the Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health six months earlier.”