Ringing in the New Year with an "I Do"

by Michael Jones · 2010-01-01 08:05:00 UTC
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Wedding ChurchThere's little question that 2009 was the year of gay marriage. Iowa and Vermont became states that recognized marriage equality. The District of Columbia's mayor signed a marriage equality bill that should take effect in the coming weeks, and who can forget the international scene, where Mexico City passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage and Argentina became the first Latin American country to witness a same-sex wedding.

New Hampshire also comes into play. The state passed legislation earlier in 2009 recognizing marriage equality, and that law took hold last night at the stroke of midnight. So as millions watched Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest, Carmen Electra, Carson Daly or the cast of the Jersey Shore count down the new year, about 15 couples in New Hampshire made history by becoming the state's first legally-recognized gay and lesbian married couples. What a way to ring in 2010, huh?

The couples exchanged vows outside of the New Hampshire Statehouse in Concord, providing an historic -- albeit cold -- moment that marks the Granite State's entry into the marriage equality club.

One of those couples, Jennifer Morton and Michelle Morrison, told the Nashua Telegraph that they've been waiting 13 years to see marriage equality happen in their state.

"It’s very exciting,” said Morton. “I’m really glad it happened in our lifetimes. I didn’t know if it would.”

There's something really heart-warming about reading a quote like that on the first morning of the new year. Kind of makes one wonder where else in the country marriage equality might become a reality in 2010. After all, who would have thought that 2009 would have been filled with such amazing victories?

Adding even more sweetness to the Morton and Morrison wedding is the sentiment expressed by Jennifer's father, Doug Morton. He was never a supporter of gay marriage, until he saw that just what her daughter's relationship meant to her. "[I] realized the sincerity in the relationship, that they meant to each other as much as my wife and I mean to each other," Doug Morton said. "I couldn't be prouder."

It's always reaffirming to see hearts and minds changing. And with more and more changing every year, it hopefully won't be long until every person in the U.S. can say how proud they are that same-sex marriage became a reality in their lifetime.

(Photo courtesy of JimReeves' photostream on Flickr.)

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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