Going to the Chapel?

Today, December 6th, is the first day same sex marriage licenses can be granted in Washington state! By coincidence, it also happens to be Dean's and my 26th anniversary.  We are in Mexico at the moment, so will have to celebrate from afar this very big step (one of many to come) in the expansion of human rights and social justice. Plus it is just so romantic, isn't it.

see article and pics at link below (I love what Dow Constantine had to say):

Dozens Receive Gay Marriage Licenses as WA State Legalizes Same Sex Unions

SEATTLE (AP) — Two by two, dozens of same-sex couples obtained their marriage licenses in Washington state early Thursday, just hours after Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a law legalizing gay marriage.

King County, the state’s biggest county, opened the doors to its auditor’s office in Seattle just after midnight PST to start distributing marriage licenses. But hundreds of people had lined up hours earlier, snaking around the downtown Seattle building on a chilly December night.

“We knew it was going to happen, but it’s still surreal,” said Amanda Dollente, who along with her partner, Kelly Middleton, began standing in line at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

 

Asked whether the middle-of-the-night marriage license roll-out was necessary, King County Executive Dow Constantine said, “People who have been waiting all these years to have their rights recognized should not have to wait one minute longer.”

In Seattle, the mood was festive. Volunteers distributed roses, coffee and fruit. Couples canoodled to keep warm. Champagne was poured. Different groups of men and women serenaded the waiting line, one to the tune of “Going to the Chapel.”

“We waited a long time. We’ve been together 35 years, never thinking we’d get a legal marriage. Now I feel so joyous I can’t hardly stand it,” said 85-year-old Pete-e Petersen, who with her partner, 77-year-old Jane Abbott Lighty, were the first to get a license.

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