Married and equal
Hawaii married its first same-sex couples early Monday morning.
Above: Monica Montgomery (left) and Donna Gedge (right) smile after completing their marriage application, 45 minutes after midnight on Monday. The pair have been a couple for 35 years.
After decades of sound and fury, the first same-sex marriages early Monday morning happened in almost complete silence and intimacy. Standing in huddles on a stage in a Waikiki lounge, the couples read their vows and their officiants performed an act which had only minutes-before become legal.
And in a few short minutes, the hushed sanctity of an intimate conversation transitioned to applause and standing ovations for the pioneers of marriage equality.
Among the group of newlyweds this morning is a person who was part of the team that prepared for the Baehr lawsuit, more than two decades ago. Monday’s weddings would not have been possible without efforts like Baehr, and the many people who pushed for civil unions, reached out to non-LGBT organizations such as labor unions, or who simply maintained hope in the face of intolerance and hate.
The arc of the moral universe is indeed long, and it’s through consistent pressure from the hopeful that it bends towards justice.