USA: Eleven same sex couples exhange wedding vows under Washington D.C's new marriage law

Record ID: 334851

  • Title: USA: Eleven same sex couples exhange wedding vows under Washington D.C's new marriage law
  • Date: 21st March 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAD SHOW, WED IN SAME SEX CEREMONY SAYING: "Going from legal strangers in the eyes of the court to a married couple with all the rights that go with it and we don't want special rights. We want the rights that everyone else can get when they are in a committed relationship and after nine years, we think we've earned that." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JESSICA MILLER, WED IN SAME SEX CEREMONY SAYING: "It's been something that I've been waiting for, something I think deserves to be here and defiantly needs to be recognized and I think we've come a long way in a short amount of time, but we've got to keep stepping forward and keep pushing on." (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAD SCHOU, WED IN SAME SEX CEREMONY SAYING: "I feel like marriage is a contract you make with your community as well as with your partner and finally we're able to make that contract with our community and that's where we are and it's important to build strong communities and keep people together and I feel very happy about that. So I feel like we're celebrating equality not only with people who are here but with everybody in D.C. -- straight, gay, bi-sexual, whoever you are, we're celebrating it all together."
  • Embargoed: 5th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABJJIDC1XVODV0D67A8ZKIZRAJ
  • Story Text: Eleven same sex couples exchanged vows on Saturday (March 20) in a ceremony called "Our Time Has Come," a group wedding planned to unite couples under Washington D.C's new marriage laws.
    On March 3, 2010 Washington D.C. began allowing same sex couples to apply for marriage licenses, and weddings began on March 9.
    Brad Schou said he was happy this day had finally arrived.
    "Going from legal strangers in the eyes of the court to a married couple with all the rights that go with it and we don't want special rights. We want the rights that everyone else can get when they are in a committed relationship and after nine years, we think we've earned that."
    Reverend Bonnie Berger, who officiated the group wedding said, "as a gay woman myself, to be able to be a part of seeing people who I know personally have not been able to have the right to marry and to finally be able to say 'yeah, we can' and we will and it will be legally recognized, is a huge step forward."
    Washington D.C is the latest municipality to recognize same sex marriages. In the United States only a few other locations recognize same sex marriages. They include: Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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