Yesterday, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in suburban Philadelphia, announced that they would defy their state’s ban on same-sex marriage:
Officials in Montgomery County have agreed to issue same-sex marriage licenses, despite a Pennsylvania law that bans the practice.
Bruce Hanes, the county’s register of wills, said he wants to come down “on the right side of history and the law.”
Today, that county’s first same-sex marriage happened!
Five same-sex couples have obtained marriage licenses in a suburban Philadelphia county that is defying a state ban on such unions.
Alicia Terrizzi and Loreen Bloodgood, of Pottstown, were the only ones to marry Wednesday. They say they didn’t set out to be pioneers, but wanted to take advantage of the opportunity offered by Montgomery County.
Retired marketing executive Ellen Toplin and long-time partner Charlene (CHAR’-lene) Kurland will marry after 22 years together. Kurland says she previously married a man because she had no other options.
In other states with same-sex marriage bans, licenses issued by defiant local officials have been voided by courts.
The legality of these marriages will surely be contested, but it is an absolute certainty that marriage equality will come to Pennsylvania eventually, especially considering the fact that the state’s attorney general, Kathleen Kane, has stated that she will not defend the state’s ban in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU.
[h/t Joe]
