"This has given us the ability to make that proclamation to the world that we are just like everyone else," Norman said. "We love each other just like heterosexual couples, and we'd like to proclaim that love publicly."Posted on 06/21/2008 5:54:26 PM PDT by SmithL
Derek Norman, 23, and his partner of four years, Robert Blaudow, 40, were married in California on Monday, moments after the state's same-sex marriage ban was lifted.
"This has given us the ability to make that proclamation to the world that we are just like everyone else," Norman said. "We love each other just like heterosexual couples, and we'd like to proclaim that love publicly."
However, their proclamation was more spur-of-the-moment than planned.
Blaudow, an employee of a biotech company Downtown, and Norman, a graduate student at the University of Memphis, were in San Francisco on Sunday morning for a conference when they realized the ban would be lifted Monday evening. They decided to get married.
With a 5:05 p.m. appointment, just four minutes after the ban was lifted, they became the second same-sex couple to receive a marriage license in Alameda County in the eastern San Francisco Bay area.
"It was very no-frills," Blaudow said. "We dressed nicely in some button-downs."
Outside the clerk's office, there was quite a scene. Reporters outnumbered the more than 20 couples scheduled to be married Monday night.
"We weren't doing it for any other reason other than we wanted to be married," Blaudow said. "We quickly realized as we sat there that something was going on around us that was bigger than what we were looking for ourselves."
Norman and Blaudow did not even make it back to their hotel before they began receiving phone calls and text messages from friends who'd read of their nuptials online, they said.
Despite the blessings and recognition from friends and family, their marriage is legal in only California and Massachusetts. They returned Wednesday to a state where their union is not recognized.
In 2006, Tennessee became one of 27 states that constitutionally define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Licenses issued to same-sex couples in other states are considered void.
"We're not really concerned about it, because we have a binding document, a contract from the state of California that says we're married," Blaudow said.
"If the state of Tennessee and the businesses in the state of Tennessee aren't going to recognize that, maybe it's high time they start, and maybe we're the ones to begin that and push that recognition."
Because of the state constitutional amendment two years ago, area gay rights organizations such as the Tennessee Equality Project are focusing on issues other than marriage.
"We're intent on following some battles we can win," said Jonathan Cole, co-chairman of the Shelby County committee of the Tennessee Equality Project.
The state group is working to enact anti-discrimination legislation that would help same-sex couples seeking benefits, Cole said, a problem Norman and Blaudow are already familiar with.
Norman's health insurance will expire in November. When Blaudow tried this week to add him to his policy, the insurance company refused to recognize their union, Blaudow said.
Blaudow said he thinks many will oppose his marriage -- and the marriage of other gay and lesbian couples -- based on religious grounds.
"We don't live in a religious state. We don't live in a theocracy. We live in the United States of America, where all people are supposed to be equal."
Despite the business policies and laws that do not acknowledge their marriage, Blaudow and Norman intend to move forward, together, with their lives.
They plan to hold a small ceremony for family and friends soon and are thinking of honeymooning later this summer.
Then, maybe children.
Ummm... No, you're not.
I wonder what happens to all those that use that domestic partnership scam to get benefits for friends ? Do they have to get married now in Ca or lose out ? The HR people in Ca must be looking a way to pull the plug on that scam.
They call it God’s Country for a reason..... it is a great place to be, for sure.
Seriously, what does a queer knot look like? I know what slip-knots and square-knots are, but don't know queer-knots! And that's a good thing.
Bull$h!t. That picture is disgusting.
Can you say "Full Faith and Credit"?
Unfortunately, I can, and unfortunately, that's what they're going to demand next, as you and I both very well know, and they don't care what the people of your state want regarding gay "marriage".
And yet, when you actually listen to the Islamists and read their websites, they mention same-sex marriage as something they hate at least as much as the others.
My point, I guess, is that I would like to see even one story in the mainstream American media to the effect that there is a very large population of people outside America for whom the sanctioning of same-sex marriage is a provocative event. I would like someone in the media to point out that if "the world hates America," then same sex marriage is one of the reasons why.
No.... you have been given an opportunity to proclaim to the world you are perverts attempting to scam employers and insurance companies. You are not a heterosexual couple, so NO, you DO NOT love each other as such. You are on the same degenerate level as a pedophile, or someone who engages in bestiality. I think if you proclaim that “love” of your perversion publicly you should be committed to a mental health ward.
question... if this works for filthy disease ridden queers, shouldn't it also work for pistol permits and carrying a pistol across state lines too???
with Full Faith and Credit tooo...
Somebunny’s a chubby chaser !
C’mon, now. Haven’t you ever dropped the kids off at the pool before ?
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