It's a happy day in Minnesota and Rhode Island, where marriage equality laws passed in May go into effect.
In Minnesota:
Down the street at the Hotel Minneapolis, Cathy ten Broeke and Margaret Miles, the first couple legally wed in Minnesota, partied into the night, wearing the same slinky dresses they wore 12 years earlier at their commitment ceremony. This time, ten Broeke said with some satisfaction, was different because this “was the state of Minnesota committing to us and our family.” [...]
“Margaret and Cathy,” the mayor said seconds after midnight, “by the power now finally vested in me, by the laws of the people of Minnesota, we hereby declare Margaret and Cathy legally married. You may now kiss the bride.”
Gov. Mark Dayton got it right:
“All I did at the end was sign my name on a piece of paper, which is really not that hard once you get the hang of it. The real credit for this transformative event in Minnesota goes to all of you and all the LGBT women and men throughout Minnesota who had the courage to stand up and say, ‘We want the same rights as every other American. It’s our constitutional right, it’s our moral right.”
In Minnesota, as many as 5,000 couples are expected to marry in the first year of the new law. In Rhode Island, where same-sex couples have been easily able to go to Massachusetts or Connecticut to marry, and their marriages have been recognized by their home state for the past year, less of a rush to wed is expected. But that doesn't mean it's not a significant moment.
One of Thursday's weddings:
... will see state Rep. Frank Ferri, D-Warwick, wed his husband, Tony Caparco, for a second time — this time in their home state.
“It’s important to do it,” the 59-year-old Ferri said. “It’s what we’ve been advocating all these years.”
It's actually kind of nice to see marriage equality come to a new state as both a piece of history ... and something of an anticlimax. Congratulations to all the newlyweds in both states!