Wedding Bells Ring for ALL in Vermont

Two nice stories from the first day of full marriage equality in Vermont:

From the Associated Press

After 17 years together, Bill Slimback and Bob Sullivan couldn't wait another minute to get married. So they didn't.

With Vermont's new law allowing same-sex marriage only a minute old, they tied the knot in a midnight ceremony at a rustic Vermont lodge, becoming one of the first couples to legally wed under a law that took effect at midnight Monday.

Dressed in suits, saying their vows under a large wall-mounted moose head, the two Whitehall, N.Y., men promised their love, exchanged rings and held hands during a modest 17-minute ceremony. Moose Meadow Lodge co-owner Greg Trulson, who's also a Justice of the Peace, presided.

"It feels wonderful," said Slimback, 38, an out-of-work Teamster who is taking Sullivan's last name as his own. "It's a day I've been long waiting for, and a day I truly honestly thought would never come."

From the Burlington, VT Free-Press:

Perhaps a minute or two after midnight, 27-year-old Cori Giroux and 34-year-old Claire Williams joined hands and repeated words they had only dreamed they get would get the chance to say to each other --- “With this ring, I join with you in civil marriage.”

They slipped silver bands on each other’s fingers, rings they’ve worn since their first commitment ceremony three years ago. Then Beth Robinson, a founder of Vermont Freedom to Marry and one of the attorneys in a same-sex marriage lawsuit, pronounced the two women to be married.

Williams, in mocha polka-dot dress and Giroux in a white blouse and tailored toffee-colored slacks, kissed and hugged while 21 friends crowded into the tiny living room of the women’s South Burlington home clapped and let out a few hoots.

Williams turned to thank the group who had stayed up late on a work night to witness history. The wedding had been purposely scheduled for the first moments when Vermont’s marriage equality law took effect today.

“It means so much for you to be here,” Williams said. “Now please eat some food.”
Williams and Giroux didn’t set out to make history. Williams said she didn’t even plan on falling in love when the pair first met at a party five years ago.

That last quote really struck me (Jim) because Brenda and I didn't plan on falling in love either, but we didn't have to wait for a law to be changed to tie the know.

Fortunately, neither do the residents of Vermont, and one day ALL residents of the United States should have the right to marry the person they lover regardless of gender.