Same-Sex Couples Say 'I Do' in DC

WASHINGTON (March 9) -- For Ellen Kahn, the feeling of excitement and joy that she would soon be finally, legally wedded to her partner of 20 years quickly gave way to another age-old realization about married life: "That means I have a mother-in-law."

Kahn, 46, picked up her marriage license Tuesday -- the very first day that the District of Columbia began marrying same-sex couples.

The historic day brought a mix of exuberance and relief, and a dose of wry reflection, for the dozens of gay and lesbian couples who showed up at the marriage bureau at D.C. Superior Court.

Kahn and Julie Drizin, who met in 1989 in Philadelphia and now live together in Maryland, plan to hold their wedding at the Washington Ethical Society.

"Seeing the marriage certificate, that was pretty powerful for me. Wow," Kahn said as she placed the license in her bag.

The couple already had an unofficial ceremony back in 1997, but they wanted to take quick advantage of the new D.C. law "just in case" it is overturned, as occurred in California when voters rejected legalized gay marriage in 2008.

"We wanted to be grandmothered in," Kahn said.

While D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty signed the law legalizing gay marriage in December, the measure had to go through a congressional review period, and opponents of same-sex marriage made a last-ditch effort to get the Supreme Court to intervene. Chief Justice John G. Roberts declined to do so, but the National Organization for Marriage, the group that brought the challenge, said it would continue fighting in court to force a citywide referendum on the law.

Gay couples in the region scored another victory earlier this month when Maryland announced it would recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

"We were just holding our breath and crossing our fingers. It's been a pretty stressful few months," said Emerson Hamsa, 31, who arrived with her fiancee, Janis Goodman, before 7 a.m. last Wednesday. They became the fifteenth same-sex couple to drop off their marriage application.

Because D.C. has a waiting period of three business days for all couples seeking to be married, many of the same couples who waited hours in line last week returned today on the first day they could pick up the license.

With Goodman stuck at work, Hamsa came back alone today to retrieve the license. To commemorate their place in line, they are planning a wedding dinner with friends on March 15, with a larger party for out-of-towners in November.

Hamsa said she and Goodman, who live in Maryland and have been dating for nearly two years, were determined to get married and had even looked into moving to Connecticut, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2009.

"We were just incredibly relieved" when D.C. legalized gay marriage, Hamsa said.

Jeremy Moon and his fiance, Bryan Legaspi, picked up their paperwork at the fourth-floor marriage bureau and then hurried up to a fifth-floor courtroom to have a judge perform the wedding, according to The Washington Post. Another eager pair, James Betz and Robert Hawthorne, showed up at 3:30 a.m. to be first in line, and were married shortly after 9 a.m. on the courthouse steps, the Post reported.

Christine Burkhart and Denise Gavin were much more subdued as they arrived to pick up their certificate around noon, with their 4-month-old twins, Milo and Josephine, sleeping in a stroller.

"This is more of a formality," Burkhart said, noting that the couple celebrated an unofficial wedding back in 2006 and have a formal domestic partnership. They said that while they were excited about the new law, their daily lives won't change much because of it.

"There are far larger issues that affect us much more," Burkhart said. She pointed out that even though they will be legally married, federal law will prevent Burkhart from getting health insurance through Gavin's job as a scientist for the Food and Drug Administration.

The scene Tuesday was much less hectic than it had been March 3, when 151 same-sex couples showed up to submit marriage applications and many logged hours in line. A court official estimated that only a few dozen had arrived by midday Tuesday. By 11 a.m., there was no line at all, although a steady stream of would-be newlyweds came and went as security guards milled around.

Earlier in the morning, a protester was escorted out of the office after she began screaming "No same-sex marriage!" at the top of her lungs, a court official said.

A couple of hours later, the reality of legalized same-sex marriage was still setting in for Hamsa as she prepared to show her fiancee their license to wed. "We were girlfriends, we were fiancees and on Monday we'll be married," she said with a smile.