Washington, D.C.'s First Gay Marriages

by Michael Jones · 2010-03-09 06:25:00 UTC
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D.C. marriageWhat do you get when you combine three great couples, a few pastors, and a day made for the history books?

You get Washington, D.C. Today marks the first day that same-sex marriages will take place inside the Beltway, and this morning three couples will tie the knot in consecutive ceremonies. They become the first same-sex marriages recognized below the Mason-Dixon Line, and they set a new chapter in the marriage equality history books.

The Human Rights Campaign will be broadcasting the ceremonies live starting at 9:45AM this morning. But for those who can't tune in, check out today's sterling profile in the Washington Post of one of the couples -- Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend. They were the first couple to pick up a marriage license last week, and they'll be among the first couples married today. How does the couple feel about making history today?

"You know what they say about everyone getting 15 minutes of fame?" Young says. "I can't wait for Minute 16."

How cool is that quote. Yeah, today is about the history books on some level. But it's also about giving these two women -- and the many other same-sex couples who will be getting married in the District from this moment forward -- a chance to be in a relationship that is celebrated with just as much dignity and respect as that straight couple down the street, on the next block, or in a certain House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. One part history, and one part watching same-sex couples start to build lives together in a legally recognized way.

Young and Townsend have been together for 12 years, and have 2 children together. Joining them for the first set of same-sex marriages to take place include Reggie Stanley and Rocky Galloway (both 50 years old, both long-time residents of D.C.), and Rev. Elder Darlene Garner and Rev. Lorilyn Candy Holmes (both mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers).

Anybody else getting goosebumps at the thought of these families taking center stage today?

Freedom to Marry's Executive Director, Evan Wolfson, writes that today's big day in D.C. is the result of years of work on the ground, with local advocates doing some serious grunt work to educate policy makers, District residents, and building the personal stories of the couples who will be affected by the legalization of same-sex marriage. Talk about seeing the fruits of one's labor. Now how do we carry this movement beyond D.C.?

"To maintain the powerful momentum created by victory in D.C., the freedom to marry movement must increase education, mobilization, and legislator-persuasion efforts the next wave of states in which victories are within reach," writes Wolfson. Those states? He includes Rhode Island, New York, Minnesota, and Maryland, as well as Oregon and California.

And it won't stop until all 50 states catch up to the likes of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa, New Hampshire ... and now the District of Columbia.

Photo credit: mjoneschange

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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