The mood was cheerful this afternoon at Black Walnut Point Inn on Tilghman Island, where 7 same-sex couples wed today, on the first day for legal same-sex marriages in Maryland.
Nina Nethery and Ruth Siegel spent the weekend at Black Walnut Point Inn, the host site for the mass wedding event today. “We wanted to step up and be counted” said Nethery, who traveled from Silver Spring for the ceremony on Tilghman. “This was a long time coming”, she said. “We worked with Equality Maryland for some 6 years to get this measure passed. It’s an important day.”
It was such an important day, that Jonathan Franqui and Dwayne Beebe drove to Tilghman Island all the way from Florida. “We decided, that at this point in our lives, with our goals and the way we want to live, that it was important to do this right. We wanted it to be legal”, said Franqui. His spouse, Beebe, is a Senior Chief in the Navy.
The news media were out in full force on the grounds of the Inn on this cloudy afternoon. Friends and family members of the wedding parties gathered around a large bonfire, and as a new ceremony began, people moved toward the Inn to participate and witness. Tilghman Island Country Store owners Patricia and John McGlannan were present for last evening and this afternoon’s ceremonies, and said that they were proud supporters of the event.
Inn owners Tracey Staples and Bob Zuber were among the happy couples who wed today.
Maryland is the eighth state to approve same-sex marriage, and is the first state below the Mason-Dixon line to do so. In November, voters in Washington state and Maine stepped up to allow the marriages, following Connecticut, Iowa, The District of Columbia, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York.
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maritza nunez says
I’m so proud of my nephew for choosing what makes him happy. I can’t wait for the reception in March. Titi Love you Both…smooches Three words,
Eight letters,
One meaning;
a profoundly tender,
passionate affection
for another person.
I love you
Lisa says
Congrats!!!! It’s a Beautiful thing to be Happy with the person that make’s it all possible….. May you Always remain Happy…… Loving you always your cousin, Lisa<3
Dienda Angel says
Same sex is still sex