I cannot imagine what it must feel like to live in a state
where marriage equality is legal, and I cannot fathom the excitement at being
able to marry the person you love, after so many years of being told your love
is obscene, immoral, a sin, and, well, just plain nasty.
But the weddings are beginning
in Washington State.
Same-sex couples were able to
apply for marriage licenses yesterday, and because there's a three-day waiting
period, the Big Day for a lot of gay couples is this Sunday, December 9.
Seattle Mayor, Mike McGinn,
will be opening Seattle City Hall's lobby to all couples who want to marry
on December 9, and several judges have volunteered to perform weddings for
free. In addition, the Stranger--the
source of this post--is working with local artists to create pop-up wedding "chapels" in the
lobby.
The doors will open at 11 AM
and any couple--gay and straight--who comes with their paperwork will be able
to get married at City Hall between noon and 5 PM.
It'll be a great day in
Washington, with other great days following soon in Maryland and Maine.
And, I'm hoping, in other
parts of the country as well.
Over 800 couples in King County alone. Here in SE WA we had a front page picture of the second couple of young men applying. Everyone had big smiles on their faces. All SE WA newspapers endorsed the referendum. Two members of our neighborhood tribe will now be able to get married if they choose.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I live in Iowa. When it bacame legal to marry in 2009, we did. We had been together for 13 years when we married. In addition to this day being very important to us, it was also very important to our daughters. They were all three adults and each did a reading and signed our Marriage Certificate. The wedding itself kind of separated the wheat from the chaff so to speak. Wonderful friends and family attended and shed tears of joy for us. My mother chose to not attend. After putting up with her bigoted and hateful actions for years, that finally did it for me. I haven't spoken to her since. I don't think I ever will again.
ReplyDeleteYAYZ for all the happy couples!
ReplyDelete(wishes PA would do the same)
Today's news also should prove to be good news for equality. Once SCOTUS rules against DOMA, all the state bans will have to fall. And, after hearing the Prop 8 arguments that have won twice in lower courts, the justices should be compelled to rule in favor of equality.
ReplyDelete