The holiday season has brought celebration for same-sex couples in Maine and Maryland whose marriages are now legally recognized. As a result of November popular votes, couples in Maine were legally married starting Saturday, December 29. And in Maryland, couples could be married after January 1.
Crowds in both Maine and Maryland cheered as people walked out of court houses in both states, having just said, “I do.” Many couples started 2013 off right by tying the knot after midnight on New Year’s Day. In the state’s largest city, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawling-Blake officiated the ceremonies.
“There is no human institution more sacred than that of the one that you are about to form,” she said during the ceremony. “True marriage, true marriage, is the dearest of all earthy relationships.”
Though the law didn’t officially go into effect until the New Year, Marylanders have been able to obtain marriage licenses since December 6, the same day that Washington’s same-sex marriage law went into effect. Maine, Maryland and Washington were the first states in the union to recognize same-sex marriage by popular vote.
One of the first couples in Maine to get married was Donna Galluzzo and Lisa Gorney. They married Saturday morning.
“We’re paving the way for people to go after us. I think it’s just amazing. It’s freeing. It’s what’s right,” said Gorney to the Associated Press.
The Bangor Daily News reports that more than 500 people stood outside Portland City Hall to cheer for the first same-sex couples to be legally married. “There was singing and shouting. Tears and smiles. Hugs and high fives. As more couples emerged from City Hall, they were welcomed with a loud celebration of their relationships.”
These states join New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia as states that recognize marriage equality.
Photo: thinkprogress.org
