A year of same-sex marriage. More love. More happiness.
By Molly Guthrey, Elizabeth Hernandez and Doug Belden, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Inside the church, their wedding guests waited.
What a wait! The women had been engaged for almost 10 years.
"Everything you expected it to be?" asked
"Better," answered
Petroske and Germundson were married last Saturday at Unity Church-Unitarian in
"Love crosses time and tradition," said the officiant, the Rev.
On
Since then, six others have followed suit, numerous legal challenges to gay-marriage bans have been filed and federal rights for gay couples have expanded in the wake of the
"I think there's been a sea of change now in the past couple of years, where we're seeing the level of progress that we need to ... secure the freedom of marriage for same-sex couples across the country," said
"If anything has changed in the last year, it's that
Danielle, 40, a real estate agent, and Misti, 40, a teacher, met through softball in 2004. They were engaged by 2005.
"When I proposed, Danielle wanted to do a commitment ceremony, but I always wanted to wait until we could actually have a legal wedding here in
Through the years, the women built a life together, but they weren't sure they'd ever be able to legally marry in their home state.
Until last year.
Misti was at home on
"I was standing in front of the TV, watching the votes come in," Misti said. "When the last vote came in and it passed, I literally dropped to my knees and cried for 20 minutes. I felt ... whole. I felt like a human being. For so long, I felt oppressed by our government. Finally, we would be treated equally."
Meyer says it's been a joy in
"There was more love in our state, more happiness," she said.
Some politicians suffered consequences for their vote on the marriage law.
State Reps.
Other changes were smaller-scale. Minnesota Management and Budget reports that 130 state employees applied for insurance benefits for a same-sex spouse since the law was passed.
Helmberger, of the
"The
Human Rights officials said they couldn't disclose whether any complaints had been filed related to the new law, but they said no cases have been closed.
Just as marriage became legal for same-sex couples a year ago, so did divorce, and some divorce attorneys have been as busy as officiants.
"Minnesotans who were married in other places --
An estimated 3,885 same-sex couples have gotten married in
There is no statewide tracking of same-sex marriages in
Also it doesn't specify gender, so the
Also, in
The numbers include some licenses secured prior to
By far the highest number of same-sex marriages -- 2,334 -- occurred in
The state had 12,224 same-sex couple households in 2011, according to the
One of the guests at the Germundson's reception in
"I met them on the steps at the Capitol," Schoen said. "That's when they told me they were getting married and told me the date and said, 'Get it on your calendar' ... I said, 'I can't wait to be there.' This is a pretty good culmination.
"But you know what?" Schoen said. "It doesn't matter, gay or straight. All people want is love. We all want it, we all strive for it. A wedding is a symbol of love.
"It's so amazing to walk into a church, to walk into a room, and to be where there are so many accepting people. But the goal of this has to be a day when we see this and don't look at it as historic."
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