Friday, November 16, 2012
LGBTQITSLFA Get Married at City Hall on December 9
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 11:37 AM
Posted yesterday, moved up.
In New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa, Washington D.C., and other places where marriage equality has been achieved, crowds of same-sex couples wanted to marry on the very first day. Some couples had been together for decades and were anxious to make it official, some had already had their commitment ceremonies and wanted to seal the deal with that piece of paper, and others wanted to marry on what would on an historic day. Joyful scenes played out in at city halls and on courthouse steps as same-sex couples married in front of cheering crowds of friends, families, and supporters.
We can expect to see the same joyful scenes right here early next month. Same-sex couples can start applying for marriage licenses in Washington state starting on December 6, and—because there's a three-day waiting period to get married here—same-sex couples will start getting legally married in Washington on Sunday, December 9. (Eli Sanders runs you through the logistical details here.)
The Stranger is kicking in $2000 to help pay for materials and Stranger staff members—many of whom worked phone banks for R-74—are volunteering their time to help pull this together. This isn't about staging a Moonie-style mass wedding, but creating a beautiful spot for couples who wish to marry on that first day. We're going to need more volunteers to help out at City Hall on December 9 and we're looking for donations of refreshments for people waiting in line. Contact events@thestranger.com if you want to volunteer or make a donation.
We've heard from clubs and theaters and organizations that are planning celebrations and open-to-all wedding receptions for later in the evening and we'll be sharing details about those parties and receptions as they become available. More details to come.
62
I admire what you have done here. I like the part where you say you are doing this to give back but I would assume by all the comments that this is working for you as well.
Visit Congress Ticketing
I admire what you have done here. I like the part where you say you are doing this to give back but I would assume by all the comments that this is working for you as well.
Visit Congress Ticketing
61
I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two pictures. Maybe you could space it out better?
where can i buy raspberry ketones
where can i buy raspberry ketones
60
City hall is such a beautiful place. I have visited there recently.Watching a marriage there is a great experience. I wanna go there again.Austin car accident lawyer
58
I'm a videographer who will be around filming all willing subjects. The blond girl with the camera standing outside, if you are getting married and would like to film your ceremony, grab me. I am so happy for your big day! Congratulations! Also, I hope it goes without saying, it's free, and I'm good!
57
Emailed the link above to volunteer to help. No reply yet but I'm sure you guys are busy. My background is event management and volunteer coordination. But I'll do anything that needs to be done! Let me know if you'd like help...
56
"@SeattleKim, what if those of us married in another State want actual paper recognition here? We have our DP here, we live here, but we got married in California. We'd really like to have a WA marriage certificate. Is that possible?"
Same question here. We would love a marriage certificate that is dated the same as our DP registration like others getting married here will get.
Same question here. We would love a marriage certificate that is dated the same as our DP registration like others getting married here will get.
55
Washington has no residency requirement for marriage. However, be careful, because it does have a residency requirement for divorce. At least one party must live here for that. So if someone comes from another state and marries in Washington and later want to divorce in a state that doesn't allow it, they could be screwed.
There is a 3 day waiting period. That's why December 9th is the first day for weddings even though the law takes effect December 6th.
There is a 3 day waiting period. That's why December 9th is the first day for weddings even though the law takes effect December 6th.
54
This is totally making me cry. I intend to be there with flowers and bubbles for the happy couples. LOVE WINS!
53
Out of curiosity, what are the residency requirements for Washington? (And Maryland and Maine, for that matter.) Some states require at least one party be a state resident. Some require that the license be applied for at least 5 days before its filed (reducing quickie marriages, I guess). Massachusetts used to have an archaic law saying that out-of-staters could only be married if their home state would allow it -- an old anti-miscegenation law that then-Governor Mitt Romney dredged up to stop gays from vacationing in Massachusetts simply to get married. (Law has subsequently been repealed.) Anyone, even though I'm single, I tend to be the one my friends ask these sorts of questions to. Anything preventing someone from California or Oregon going up to get married?
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51
silly.
everyone knows HomoSecularlHumanism is the official state religion in the New QUnited States of GAmerica....
its taught in the schools and everything...
silly.
everyone knows HomoSecularlHumanism is the official state religion in the New QUnited States of GAmerica....
its taught in the schools and everything...
51
@3: Come to think of it, why is anyone erecting chapels on public property? I looked it up to double-check, and my dictionary has only religious meanings for the word.
49
@48: great answer to the question of straight couples on the ninth: There are some times when the majority have to sit in the back and know their (our) place (I am not joking.)
Some day we will all be queer (I pity anyone who thinks their sex is actually "normal", the same as everyone else), and we all realize that we are in fact already from a mixed ethnic background (though I love love love our differences because they are fun and fun is good), until then the spear tip goes on the front of the spear, not in the middle.
Cheers, tears and laughter everyone!
PS: after the fight is over (we win) we all need to take up some extreme sport to fill the void
Some day we will all be queer (I pity anyone who thinks their sex is actually "normal", the same as everyone else), and we all realize that we are in fact already from a mixed ethnic background (though I love love love our differences because they are fun and fun is good), until then the spear tip goes on the front of the spear, not in the middle.
Cheers, tears and laughter everyone!
PS: after the fight is over (we win) we all need to take up some extreme sport to fill the void
48
Came here for the Vancouver question. What's going on in Clark County (and Spokane for that matter)? I'm in Portland, I've shot friends' weddings, and I want to show up with a rainbow silk bouquet and a wedding arch and give any couple who wants one a memorable, FREE photo. This is what the wedding photos of our precious, tragically short-lived marriages looked like here in 2004:
http://imgur.com/a/EHWMD
Also, straight couples: Just let the gay couples go first on December 9. In some instances, they've been waiting more decades to get married than you've been alive; you can wait a few extra hours.
http://imgur.com/a/EHWMD
Also, straight couples: Just let the gay couples go first on December 9. In some instances, they've been waiting more decades to get married than you've been alive; you can wait a few extra hours.
47
Tears in my eyes too. This is so beautiful and take lots of pictures not just to spread the joy but because I truly believe it was those first pictures of obvious love and joy in the eyes of folks being married in those massive first gay weddings at city halls that swayed people away from some of their anti-gay views. I have long noticed that personal experience trumps ideology and I believe the rhetoric and ideology of hate was not able to stand against the experience people felt of genuine love when they viewed those pictures. Keep the love rolling.
45
Tears in my eyes right now. I wish I could be there. Take lots of pics so I can cry and then post them around my new home in super-bigoted Latin America.
44
@SeattleKim, what if those of us married in another State want actual paper recognition here? We have our DP here, we live here, but we got married in California. We'd really like to have a WA marriage certificate. Is that possible? We certainly don't want to have to get divorced just to get a new certificate. That'd suck.
40
29
'chapels' is plural. 'is' is singular.
'chapels is open to all' is hillbilly.
didn't we see you in Deliverance?
'chapels' is plural. 'is' is singular.
'chapels is open to all' is hillbilly.
didn't we see you in Deliverance?
39
You might get a bonus visit from Westboro Baptist Church to add entertainment. They were in DC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knVKpesec…
along with the much larger group of counter protesters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knVKpesec…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knVKpesec…
along with the much larger group of counter protesters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knVKpesec…
37
For whoever above asked about legal same sex marriages performed elsewhere: Here is the info from the King Co Marriage licensing div:
We are a same-sex couple that got married in another jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriages. Do we need to re-apply?
http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/marriag…
•No. On Dec. 6, 2012 at 12:01 a.m., your marriage will be recognized by the state of Washington. You do not need to apply for another marriage license
We are a same-sex couple that got married in another jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriages. Do we need to re-apply?
http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/marriag…
•No. On Dec. 6, 2012 at 12:01 a.m., your marriage will be recognized by the state of Washington. You do not need to apply for another marriage license
35
I hope the Stranger reports on same sex marriages in places like Lincoln or Adams County which voted against equality.
34
@31, My birthday's November 6. Gotta say that I got some nice presents this year. I didn't get everything I wanted but I got a lot.
If The Stranger is accepting donations online I will chip in a little bit to help. Since I live in NYC I can't really do more than that.
Mazel Tov everyone!
If The Stranger is accepting donations online I will chip in a little bit to help. Since I live in NYC I can't really do more than that.
Mazel Tov everyone!
32
Hi Dan. great news about marriage.
I just sent you an email about your visit to UW-Madison on Monday. I'm really looking forward to it, assuming I can get in since tickets are out. I sent it to the mail@savagelove.net email because the dan@thestranger.com one didn't work. Please read my email before you come here... Thanks :)
-Thea
I just sent you an email about your visit to UW-Madison on Monday. I'm really looking forward to it, assuming I can get in since tickets are out. I sent it to the mail@savagelove.net email because the dan@thestranger.com one didn't work. Please read my email before you come here... Thanks :)
-Thea
31
Awesome, that's my birthday! A birthday present second only to having your birthday november 6th this year...
30
Straight folks: From a legal standpoint, equal's equal and I hope that any couples who showed up would get married regardless of orientation, and I promise I personally won't get mad at you. But I fear those lines are going to be bananas, my partner has to jump through all kinds of hoops to get time off during the week, and we're going to have to get a sitter to make this happen as it is. If I wait for five hours and don't get a chance to get married because it's too clogged I'm going to be Captain Disappointed.
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@5: If you're legally married in Canada (or New York, Iowa, Massachusetts, DC, etc.) you will be automatically legally married in Washington on December 6 at 12:01am. You can't, and SHOULDN'T, apply for a marriage license here if you're already legally married somewhere else.
26
If I were in Seattle, or even in your country, I would be volunteering at this event in a heartbeat. I've looked up the airfare, and I just can't justify it.
Dan, please post lots of photos!
Dan, please post lots of photos!
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MAJOR POINT: If you're applying in person in downtown Seattle, you have to bring CASH ONLY. They will NOT accept checks, at least per this website: http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/marriag…
22
Marriage is (now) marriage in Washington. All y'all who wanna get married, get the fuck married. Gay, straight, or bi... you all earned this day. Celebrate together.
21
@15 Let me make sure I read that right - you want to celebrate marriage equality with a petty "no heteros allowed" bullshit attitude? Do everyone who works for equality a favor, and keep that shit to yourself.
20
My fiance and I are going to come down and hand out flowers to couples getting married.
We're excited!
We're excited!
19
Hey, how about the Stranger help organize satellite events in, say, Vancouver and Spokane on 12/9?
I dunno the legal issue that would be germane, but I'm sure there are plenty of Portland, Oregon area gay couples who'd welcome an opportunity to get married in the 'Couv, and the gay folk in eastern Washington (and Northern Idaho) would probably be all grateful and weepy if they could tie the knot easily and legally and communally in Spokane on the earliest possible date.
I dunno the legal issue that would be germane, but I'm sure there are plenty of Portland, Oregon area gay couples who'd welcome an opportunity to get married in the 'Couv, and the gay folk in eastern Washington (and Northern Idaho) would probably be all grateful and weepy if they could tie the knot easily and legally and communally in Spokane on the earliest possible date.
16
Dod, what about straight couples who postponed getting married until same-sex couples had the same right?
15
@8 and @14: I hope hetro couples can't get married that day. Thanks for your support, but it's not about you!
14
Can opposite-sex couples participate in this event? My partner and I agreed that if R-74 passed we would get married and we were hoping to do it at an event like this, but I don't want to impose on people who have waited too long for this day.
13
Can opposite-sex couples get married too at this event? My partner and I decided that we would get married if the law passed, and it did so we will, but I want to make sure we don't impose on people who have had to wait a long time for this day.
12
Noooo! The first weddings were supposed to be on the 10th! You've ruined my birthday! McGinn just can't stop ruining things, can he?
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@8, I can't answer for The Gays (esp. since I'm straight) but I think that's so charming! What a great way to show real support and solidarity.
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#3 Because Homosexuals had to FIGHT for the right to get married and this is one of the spoils of a War the Hetero-haters lost. Suck it up bitch.
9
Dow Constantine was on KUOW today. He mentioned that these initial licenses will be signed by him personally, instead of a stamped signature, with one of the pens Gregoire used to sign the bill into law.
8
Dan, Is it distasteful for straight couples to get married at this event? Would it take away resources for the same-sex couples that have been waiting to get legally married?
6
@3.. it was in the fine print in a footnote of page 467 of the gay agenda. you probably didn't read that far.
5
Dan, are you and Terry going to get married in WA now that you can? On 12/9 or on your wedding anniversary, whatever that is? (I vote for the anniversary, just to keep it meaningful.) Because the whole "HICBIA" thing has been silly from the start.
2
I am there. count on it. We are ready. We are printing up card invites tonight. is there a paypal for helping out financially with the arrangements. Can you bring the Pulitzer so I can carry it as a bouguet?
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