Rob Rivera & Dan Seifried were sweating this morning. Not because they were nervous but because they’d just run from Playhouse Square to Cuyahoga County’s old courthouse. They’d read on a blog that the US Supreme Court had legalized same sex marriage.
Rivera: We watched the SCOTUS blog come up. Someone on the SCOTUS blog, it said “marriage,” and then I said, “This is it, let’s go!” So, we threw on –
Seifried: Few tears, we got in our clothes, got running shoes on, and booked our way down here.
In a hallway surrounded by media, they were the first gay couple in Cuyahoga County to receive their marriage license… hands shaking, eyes welling.
Secretary: Your license is valid for 60 days, starting today.
Guys, talking over each other: Thank you.
Secretary: When are you getting married?
Guys, simultaneously: Tonight!
Secretary: Aww…Congratulations!
Guys: Thank you.
Secretary: Alright…
(applause)
10 months ago, the native Northeast Ohio couple had planned to get hitched – at least symbolically -- this weekend. A few hundred friends and family came to town to attend. Tonight, they’ll officially wed.
Around noon, a Cuyahoga County Probate judge performed the county’s first same sex marriage ceremony with a different couple – Roy Keith Garrett and Christopher Richardson. They’d been together for 18 years.
Judge: Christopher, place the ring on Roy’s finger and repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed.
At the same time, outside Cleveland City Hall, council members and a crowd of about a hundred people gathered in a celebratory but serious mood. They waved rainbow flags and talked about inclusivity and respect. Councilwoman Phillis Cleveland...
Cleveland: We all know that our founding fathers set forth the principals in this country that all men are created equal, and that they have certain inalienable rights. But we also know in our 200-plus years that has not always been the case as we stand here in 2015. But today is a historic day and I think a day that will go down in the history of this country for centuries to come.
The case that legalized same sex marriage originated with a Cincinnati man – James Obergefell. He sued Ohio to list his name on the death certificate of his late husband, John Arthur. The two married in Maryland. This morning, Obergefell addressed reporters in Washington outside the Supreme Court.
Obergefell: The state of Ohio, the state in which I’ve lived, worked and paid taxes for most of my life, continued to fight my right to list my name on John’s death certificate. No American should have to suffer that indignity.
In December, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a brief to the Supreme Court against Obergefell. But in a written statement today, DeWine said, - quote -- “While Ohio argued that the Supreme Court should let this issue ultimately be decided by the voters, the Court has now made its decision.”
In 2004, Ohio voters supported a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Phil Burress, President of Citizens for Community Values worked to help pass the amendment. He said the Supreme Court’s decision was the equivalent of unelected people legislating from the bench.
Burress: They have totally disregarded the Constitutions and states’ rights where we have decided in the state of Ohio by a 62 percent vote that marriage is between one man and one woman. The court is absolutely wrong in forcing this on all 50 states.
But Case Western Reserve University law professor Jessie Hill says the federal decision supersedes states’ rights, and Ohio’s constitutional amendment is officially nullified by the Court’s decision. She says there’s no evidence officials in Ohio won’t abide by today’s ruling but there is history of resistance to past court decisions in other states.
Hill: This sort of thing happened in the wake of the desegregation – Brown vs Bd of EducationAfter the Supreme Court struck down prayer in schools there were states that refused to follow those rulings. But it’s been very clear that states cannot prompt the Supreme Court rulings on matters of individual rights and liberties. (0:21)
In six counties around the region, since 10 o’clock this morning, local courthouses have been issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples – the result of one gay man from southern Ohio.
