As West coast couples lined up before midnight to acquire their marriage licenses in Washington, Marylanders were doing the same on the other side of the country.
Both states previously had same-sex marriage signed into law earlier this year, only to have it revoked and put on the November ballot. Fortunately, the public voice was in favor of gay marriage, and history was made today as marriage licenses were handed out to same-sex couples.
Heather Ware and Tiffany DeVore were the first to register for their marriage licenses at the Cumberland Maryland Court House Thursday.
The law doesn’t officially go into effect in Maryland until January 1, but with the holidays being a concern, Attorney General Doug Gansler issued a legal opinion last week that clarified when licenses could be obtained. Governor O’Malley signed a proclamation early this morning that enabled couples to register starting on December 6. At 12:01 on the first day of 2013, they will be legally married.
Kim Hinken, 52, has waited 10 years to become legally married to Adrianne Eathorne. “I never thought that this would happen,” Hinken told the Washington Post. “I really imagined my life as being just with a partner and never having a wife, so to have this day come about and to be a part of it, it means everything to me. It means that finally I can say that I live with my wife and that I’m married. It makes me feel really a part of society.”
Heather Ware and Tiffany DeVore were the first to get a marriage license in Allegany County in western Maryland. “This is more exciting than Christmas,” Ware, who lives in Short Gap, W.Va., told the Post. “It’s kind of like going Black Friday shopping. We want to be the first.”
“It’s just heart-warming that we stand here today in this chapel where one year ago we would not have been welcomed,” said 41-year-old Annapolis resident Scott Bowling, who got a license to marry his partner.
Photo: washingtonpost.com
