Even though I live in gay-hating Virginia, one cannot help but feel the excitement in the air from Washington, D.C., on Virginia's northeast border where marriage equality has won the day. Yesterday, the District began issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples and on Tuesday, the first weddings will begin taking place. Already there is talk among Virginia GLBT residents about getting married in Washington, D.C., even though the marriages will not be legal recognized in the backwater swamp known as Virginia. The result will likely be that (1) more Virginians will end up knowing "married" same sex couples who travel to the District to marry - the boyfriend and I may be among them, (2) the sky will not fall in the District as predicted by the homophobes, (3) D.C. and Maryland - which will recognize legal marriages performed in other states - will enjoy an even greater competitive edge over Virginia in terms of attracting top talent and progressive companies, and (4) Virginia will have aligned itself with backwards states like Mississippi and Alabama. The next question will be if and when gays begin leaving Virginia and moving to the District or Maryland. Here are highlights from the Washington Post on yesterday's events:*
Just sitting down at a desk at the marriage bureau at D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday was too much for Angelisa Young. She cried so hard that she eventually had to bury her face in her fiancee's chest.
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About a half-hour later, Young and her partner, Sinjoyla Townsend, who met 13 years ago in a Constitutional Law class at the University of the District of Columbia, became the first same-sex couple to apply to be married in the District as the city officially joined five states in allowing gay marriage.
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For Young, Townsend and the cheering masses, being there, in the tiny and usually sleepy marriage bureau, on the very first day meant everything. There was the history of it all, but mostly it was about having the nation's capital validate their relationships and their families.
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For the couples in line Wednesday and those who follow, it was the culmination of a three-decade struggle for equality. Advocates had long known that the D.C. Council would approve same-sex marriage. But the timing had to be right. Congress and the White House could have killed the bill, which had to clear a congressional review period, so advocates waited for a president and legislature sympathetic to gay rights and home rule. In the meantime, the gay community picked up important rights in the District, including a domestic partnership law, before the council passed the same-sex marriage bill in December.
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The line to get into the marriage bureau was composed of racially diverse couples of all generations and appeared to include more women than men. By the end of the day, 151 couples had filed to be married, far surpassing the dozen or so applications the bureau typically collects on a single day. Some brought their children or spoke of the importance of their change in status to their sons and daughters.
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Court officials had called in extra security officers to monitor the halls for protesters -- but the officers far outnumbered the protesters. And the celebration largely overshadowed the presence of four people from a church in Kansas who gathered outside the courthouse, chanting and carrying protest signs, one of which read: "Mourn for your sins."
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The crowd included local religious leaders who showed their support for same-sex marriage, and dozens of college students cheered as couples emerged hand in hand from the courthouse. Representatives of the Hyatt Regency handed out roses and offered discounts on catering and accommodations for same-sex weddings held before the end of the year.
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Lots of Virginia money will be flowing into the District for weddings and celebrations. Meanwhile, Virginia tourism and destinations will be the big losers. All thanks to the reactionaries in the General Assembly and the Governor's mansion. D.C. will be laughing all the way to the bank.
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