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Monday, December 10, 2012

City Getting Hitched at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Men's and Women's Choruses

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Mon, Dec 10, 2012 at 11:51 AM

Audience members attending last night's Seattle Men's Chorus holiday concert were in for a marvelous surprise, as the performance ended with the onstage vows of two couples: Donald Jenny and Neil Hoyt, and Jane Abbott Lighty and Pet-e Petersen, who've been together for 35 years and were the first same-sex couple in Washington state to receive a marriage license on December 6.

"Marriage is the utmost expression of commitment and love," says presiding judge Anne Levinson before the ceremonies began.

The celebration starts at the 6:12 mark (with the second marriage of Jane and Pete-e starting at the 12:00 mark). Prepare yourselves to cry and coo:

Thanks to Slog tipper MacCrocodile.

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Comments (15) RSS

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Okay, now I have to pull myself together. I have dinner plans tonight, and I don't think the tears-and-snot look is covered in the dress code at Canlis.

Posted by MacCrocodile

on December 10, 2012 at 12:07 PM

Drip ... drip ... driiiiiip. Ah, I'm such a softy. At least now I know why Jane and Pet-e weren't married at City Hall. But why avoid the lead-up to the ceremony, as it was all lovely.

Okay, time to munch on an imaginary cupcake.

Posted by Helenka (also a Canuck) on December 10, 2012 at 12:33 PM

18 seconds into it and i'm already verklempt.

Posted by I Got Nuthin' on December 10, 2012 at 12:43 PM

I was going to snark about something or other, but I don't think crying tears of joy will ever get old. Keep it up, love these!

Posted by Pick1 on December 10, 2012 at 12:59 PM

So many tears of joy these past few days! I love it.

Posted by gnarly on December 10, 2012 at 3:42 PM

I was just watching this when my husband of 18 years came home and found me crying watching it, and then he started getting choked up, too. Wow. This is so very beautiful. Thanks for bringing it to Slog.

Posted by Alice Dreger

on December 10, 2012 at 4:00 PM

Yaaayyyy!!!

I kinda know Pete-e and Jane, and have seen them around for years. They were featured in the documentary Inlaws and Outlaws. They are the nicest, cutest old ladies in the world.

I'm so, so happy for them.

Posted by Reverse Polarity on December 10, 2012 at 4:00 PM

The Supreme Court of the United States of Amurka needs to watch this.

Posted by rabbitbrush on December 10, 2012 at 5:20 PM

It's amazing to see history being made in front of us, around us, because of us.

Posted by Sargon Bighorn on December 10, 2012 at 6:17 PM

No words.

Posted by kim in portland

on December 10, 2012 at 7:07 PM

My face is wet. I am so proud to live in Seattle. We do some things right.!

Posted by toasted on December 10, 2012 at 9:22 PM

Stop making me cry, Slog.

Posted by Eva Hopkins

on December 10, 2012 at 9:31 PM

I was there, getting misty-eyed along with everyone else. Every kind of human bond, the full and copious spectrum of human relations, was felt in turn: the warmth of kin, the gravity of empathy, the ecstasy of passion, the solemnity of civic pride, the giddy affection of tribe... An older woman who was attending with her partner turned to me and said "Did you ever think you'd see the day?" Being of my generation, I always regarded marriage equality as a hazy certainty, like the junior high kid with the expectation of a high school diploma. To see the moment through the historical lens, though, is to see something so inconceivable as to dwarf the moon landing -- not a private ceremony in a back yard or a rented hall, but a legal wedding in front of thousands of cheering, everyday, off-the-street people. We lose in the platitudes what we ought never to forget: that love wins, that empathy wins. Sometimes it wins at a glance, sometime it has to work like a root under a sidewalk to break through the accretions of institutional prejudice, but on a long enough timeline, love conquers all.

Congrats to the happy couples. Truly inspiring.

Posted by chaseacross on December 10, 2012 at 10:51 PM

@13 - a beautifully written paean for a 20-minute ceremony that for those of us there in the audience and on stage will never forget.

Posted by Rhett Oracle on December 11, 2012 at 12:02 AM

Thank you all for the heart felt comments! Every time I watch this video I get to re-live the most wonderful moment in my life! Words escape me at the love and energy that was there that night!

This was the best Christmas Gift I could have ever dreamed of! I love you all!

and I love my husband Neil!

Posted by weddedbliss