Some vendors deliberately exclude capabilities from their genealogy program. This is most obviously true of vendors giving away a lite edition, hoping to entice you into buying the full program, but that isn't a real problem. There is a built-in solution to any deliberately limitation of the lite software that bothers you; pay the vendor for their fine program by upgrading to the full product.
You do not make things up. You do not leave facts out.
Good genealogical research is about finding and recording genealogical facts. You do not make things up. You do not leave facts out.
Genealogists must record the facts as they find them, and good genealogy software allows them to do so. Blocking genealogists from entering facts is anti-genealogical.
Blocking genealogists from entering facts is anti-genealogical.
Blocking genealogists from entering facts is anti-genealogical, yet that is exactly what some genealogy software vendors do.
There are vendors who deliberately include a misfeature they fully understand to be misfeature;
they add extra code that makes it impossible to enter a same-sex marriage.
It does not matter what your personal opinion on same-sex marriage is.
It does not matter what your opinion on any marriage is.
When your research comes across yet another marriage, you should record it.
It certainly does not matter what the vendor's opinion on any marriage is.
Your genealogy software must allow you to record any marriage.
Some genealogy software vendors hold negative opinions on same-sex marriage, and feel so strongly about it, that they deliberately impair the functionality of their software, by adding code that stops users from recording a same-sex marriage. That is an anti-genealogical misfeature.
There is genealogy software that supports same-sex marriage, and there is software that does not. There is a workaround that works with most of that software
One way of dealing with a program that does not allow recording same-sex marriages is to lie about one of the genders,
and then add a remark about the gender in a note field.
You should not have to do that.
In fact, you should not do that.
Remember, you should enter the facts as they are, not make things up.
This isn't a workaround, this is a lie, and that is not OK.
The workaround is this: Lie, Export, Correct & Import (LECI):
That's it.
The article How to enter a Same-Sex Marriage in PAF explains the workaround in some detail, but it is really simple.
Correcting the gender involves nothing more than changing an M to an F or vice versa.
Many programs that block you from entering a same-sex marriage directly will import a GEDCOM file containing a same-sex marriage.
The edited GEDCOM file is just as valid as the original. In fact, the edited GEDCOM file is what the GEDCOM file would look like if the program did support same-sex marriage.
Many programs that block you from entering a same-sex marriage directly will import a GEDCOM file containing a same-sex marriage.
Whether that is a GEDCOM file created by another program or a its own GEDCOM file you creating by editing a gender does not matter.
So, this workaround works with most programs that try to block you from entering a same-sex marriage.
There is genealogy software that supports same-sex marriage, and there is software that does not.
There is a workaround that works with most of that software, but not with all.
So, there are three categories:
The last category includes several web apps that do not support GEDCOM import at all.
Most desktop genealogy programs either support same-sex marriage or will at least import a GEDCOM file containing a same-sex marriage.
There are just a few desktop genealogy programs that will actively refuse to import a valid GEDCOM when it contains a same-sex marriage.
The best known example is Millennia's Legacy Family Tree, and it is not honest about refusing to correctly import a valid GEDCOM file. When you try to import a GEDCOM file containing a same-sex marriage, Legacy Family Tree pretends to import the GEDCOM file without any error, but actually modifies your data data upon import. When Legacy Family Tree encouters a same-sex couple, it changes one partner's gender to make the couple heterosexual, and it does so without telling you about it.
Millennia's official suggestion for creating a same-sex couple is to use Microsoft Access to edit the Legacy Family Tree database directly. That is a completely unreasonable suggestion. Millennia should fix their software, remove their anti-genealogical misfeature, not demand that you obtain a Microsoft Access license and edit the Legacy database directly - that is what the genealogy program is for.
The GEDCOM specification supports same-sex marriages, no vendor extensions needed.
Some vendors of bigoted software try the GEDCOM excuse; the program does not support same-sex marriage, because GEDCOM does not support it.
That is a lie, and they know it, they just hope that you do not know.
That they are lying should be obvious.
After al, GEDCOM allows vendor extensions specifically so that vendors can support things the core GEDCOM specification does not support.
However, they don't even need any extensions, they just need to support GEDCOM!
The GEDCOM specification supports same-sex marriages, no vendor extensions needed.
It is true that GEDCOM was created by FamilySearch, which is part of the LDS, an openly homophobic organisation.
It is true that FamilySearch attempted to exclude same-sex marriage from their GEDCOM specification.
However, it also true that they, through their sloppiness, failed to do so.
Although you won't get that impression from a superficial reading, the FamilySearch GEDCOM specification does allow same-sex marriages.
The GEDCOM specification does support same-sex marriage, despite FamilySearch's intentions.
Many genealogy software vendors figured this out years ago and all support same-sex marriage in GEDCOM in exactly the same way; the GEDCOM way.
You should use real genealogy software that lets you record any marriage.
You should actively avoid bigoted genealogy software.
Genealogy software containing anti-genealogical misfeatures isn't real genealogy software, it is unfit for purpose.
If you are using bigoted genealogy software, you have a problem, and the only real solution is to get real genealogy software.
If you paid for the bigoted genealogy software, report that it is unfit for purpose, and demand your money back.
MARR without FAM
Copyright © Tamura Jones. All Rights reserved.