Same sex couples can tie the knot at Vancouver Pride this year

Three same-sex couples are tying the knot during Pride festivities in a major public ceremony being held on the main stage at Sunset Beach.

Sister Festivus Illuminata, an ordained minister, will be legally marrying two of the couples – the third is renewing their vows – publicly in order to celebrate 11 years of legalized same-sex marriage in Canada.

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“It’s to bring to Canadian’s attention just how lucky we are to be living in a country where civil marriage act of 2005 provides under the Canadian constitution a gender-neutral marriage definition,” Sister Festivus told Daily Hive. “We want to be reminded how lucky we are because many people don’t have that.”

The unions will be completely legal, and participants are expected to show up with their marriage licenses in hand.

Sister Festivus is part of an association called The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group, she says, of “gay men who had leftover nun costumes who were just going to throw them on on the weekends and go out to the bar in San Francisco.” It later became much more than that: they started fighting for LGBTQ rights during the height of the AIDS epidemic.

The Vancouver chapter has been around for six years to support the local community here by raising money for functions and give their time by assisting other LGBTQ-related organizations.

Despite the fact that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence do dress up in nun costumes – complete with glitter beards – Sister Festivus insists they’re not drag queens.

“We’re presenting the coming together of the feminine and the masculine – everybody is different. We’re not trying to be drag queens.”

When she officiates weddings, Sister Festivus says she does so both in and out of costume. For this massive Pride wedding, expect her to be there in full regalia.

The couples she’ll be marrying are across all parts of the LGBTQ community – gay, lesbian, and trans – and she says there’s still room for up to five more couples to join them on stage. If you’re interested, contact Sister Festivus here.