On this day, only nine years ago, Marcia Kadish and Tanya McCloskey became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in the United States. They had been partners for eighteen years, and after a five hour long wait in line they received their marriage license the night before they wed.
The Washington Post writes,
The first to wed were Tanya McCloskey, 52, and Marcia Kadish, 56, of Malden, who said they had not sought the limelight but merely wanted to get the ceremony over with so they could enjoy the rest of the day. “I now pronounce that you are married under the laws of Massachusetts,” Cambridge City Clerk Margaret Drury declared at 9:10 a.m. “You may seal this marriage with a kiss.”
The Baytown Sun reports,
Marcia Kadish, left,and Tanya McCloskey react after being the first gay couple to be married in Cambridge, Mass., Monday, May 17, 2004, at at Cambridge City Hall. Gay couples began exchanging marriage vows in Massachusetts on Monday, marking the first time a U.S. state has granted gays and lesbians the right to marry and making the United States one of a handful of countries where homosexuals can legally wed. (AP Photo/The Boston Globe, Dina Rudick)
Photo © 2011 AP/Boston Globe
Source: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/at-cambridge-city-hall-marcia-kadish-and-tanya-mccloskey-news-photo/117725817
Other Links…
Married In Massachusettes
http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-500144_162-617905-2.html
Same-sex Marriage in Massachusettes
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/gay_marriage/gallery/cambridge2?pg=2
