Reuters: U.S.: Gay couples to hold midnight weddings as two states legalize marriage

Reuters: U.S. Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Gay couples to hold midnight weddings as two states legalize marriage Aug 1st 2013, 04:27 By Todd Melby MINNEAPOLIS | Thu Aug 1, 2013 12:27am EDT MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Margaret Miles and Cathy ten Broeke will be the first of 42 gay couples married by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak when Minnesota becomes one of two states along with Rhode Island to legalize gay marriage at midnight Wednesday. "I feel a tremendous sense of relief," said Miles, 49, who fell in love with ten Broeke, 44, while working at a nonprofit that aids the homeless. The couple wanted to marry more than a decade ago, but the law prevented it. So they settled for a commitment ceremony and a mountain of paperwork to legally merge their lives. With Minnesota's legalization of gay marriage taking effect on Thursday, the couple will no longer worry about their legal status. Minnesota and Rhode Island on Thursday become the 12th and 13th states to sanction gay nuptials. Minnesota is only the second state in the Midwest to approve same-sex marriage, after Iowa. In Rhode Island, the smallest U.S. state by area and the last in New England to legalize gay marriage, Democratic state Representative Frank Ferri will legally tie the knot with his partner of three decades, Tony Carparco. While the two men wed seven years ago when they vacationed in Canada, Ferri said Thursday's ceremony in their home state would be more meaningful. "We are going to get a license in Rhode Island and then we are going to have a wedding with cake and a champagne toast," said Ferri, who helped lead the drive for legalization in Rhode Island. Minneapolis couple Miles and ten Broeke said the legalization of gay marriage would end a stigma for them. Not long ago, a child told the couple's 5-year-old son that he could not have two mothers. "No one can say that anymore," said Miles, crying. Michelle Farley and Leisha Suggs plan to exchange vows on the rooftop of a Japanese restaurant on the south side of Minneapolis before a small group of friends. Farley, 35, and Suggs, 28, fell in love while attending the University of Maryland seven years ago. When the couple moved to Minnesota â€" a place they perceived as progressive â€" they were shocked to see a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the 2012 ballot. "It was very scary," Farley said. Minnesota voters rejected the proposal and elected a Democratic majority to the state Legislature. Those lawmakers voted in May to make gay marriage legal. In the hours before gay marriage became legal in the state, Paul Portenlanger, 40, and Gregg Bell, 43, held hands as they strolled along the banks of the Mississippi River. The couple, who were married three years ago in Washington, D.C., were on their way to a pre-marriage party. "At midnight, it's like â€" poof! â€" we're married in Minnesota," said Poretenlagger, noting the moment their wedding would be legally recognized in their new home. Both men plan to skip work on Thursday, search local parks for gay marriages and drink champagne, they said. Another pair of men, Matthew and Adan Sylva, are not waiting until Thursday to celebrate. The couple â€" Matthew took Adan's last name after a commitment ceremony four years ago â€" will attend a friend's wedding at midnight about an hour from Minneapolis. They will return to the city for their own wedding on Thursday, eat breakfast and drive to a small-town winery. (Reporting by Todd Melby in Minneapolis and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Providence, Rhode Island; Editing by Greg McCune and Peter Cooney) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions