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Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
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Ken Molsberry and Chris Vincent |
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| Ken Molsberry and Chris Vincent | |
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Prominent Seattle couple tying the knot in San Francisco by Mike Andrew - SGN Contributing Writer "The struggle for equal rights has never been so romantic!" say Ken Molsberry and Chris Vincent about their upcoming marriage in San Francisco. The Seattle couple will travel to California on July 4 and will be married at San Francisco City Hall on July 7. They consider this their second marriage because they were previously married when San Francisco briefly issued licenses to same-sex couples in 2004. Going with them will be a neighbor couple who will act as witness and photographer, and they will be met in San Francisco by Ken's brother and his new wife. The couple plans a celebration in San Francisco after the ceremony, although they plan to hold their main celebration in Seattle after the November elections, when they hope the California initiative nullifying marriage equality will be defeated. "It will be fabulous!" they promise. Ken and Chris have been together for 15 years but haven't always thought of marriage. It was in 1996, they say, that they began to think seriously of the possibility of getting married. "Because of the debate over DOMA in 1996, we had marriage on our minds. We implored Sen. Patty Murray not to vote for DOMA." With the Massachusetts State Supreme Court ruling in Goodridge v Department of Public Health in 2003, they became even more serious about marriage. "We decided to marry at our first opportunity in the US," they say. "We have friends who were married in Canada, but it was important to us to get married in our own country." State residency requirements made it impossible for Ken and Chris to marry in Massachusetts, but when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome directed the San Francisco County Clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, they decided to fly to San Francisco immediately. "Within two and a half hours we'd hopped on a plane, and we were married the next day." Arriving in San Francisco late at night, Ken spent the night outside in a driving rainstorm holding a place in line. Chris later brought by a car where they managed to get a little sleep. The next day they were married in a ceremony at City Hall, "sleep-deprived, exhausted, wet, hungry, dehydrated & but euphoric!" They describe a magical moment when volunteer musicians who were on-site to play for the couples waiting to be married suddenly began playing "the exact music we would have chosen if we could have - Popol Vuh. What a romantic moment! It seemed designed for us!" They expect their second marriage ceremony next month to be "more planned, but just as wonderful. The idea of joining your life with someone else's is tremendously powerful. It's amazing how differently you feel." The couple will wear white tuxedos with red bow ties and boutonnieres, "kind of a Valentine theme," they say. About 4,000 Gay and Lesbian couples like Ken and Chris were married in San Francisco between February 12, 2004, and March 11, when weddings were halted by directive of the California State Supreme Court. The court eventually ruled that the California State Constitution required equal treatment of all citizens, including equal rights to marriage. The Limit on Marriage Amendment Initiative, filed by a coalition of right-wing groups seeks to nullify the court's decision by amending the California State Constitution to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples. The initiative has qualified for the November ballot. "It seems so cold-hearted, to vote to dissolve your neighbors' marriages," says Ken. Nevertheless, he is optimistic. "If it doesn't pass, marriage is here to stay. This could be the thing that settles the question." In spite of the possibility that their second San Francisco marriage might also be nullified, Ken and Chris remain determined to be married. "It's already happened to us once. If it happens again, we'll just look for another opportunity to get married. As one of our friends says, we'll keep throwing the marriage license against the wall until it sticks!" |
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