Same-sex marriages commence in Washington state

"The First Couples" wait in King County, Washington (Lots more on Facebook). The relentless anti-gay propaganda machine was dealt another crushing blow today as same-sex couples flooded the city halls of Washington state in an effort to destroy society as we know it obtain a civil marriage license to legally protect their families. Via Equal Rights Washington:

In Clark County, Camas residents Paul Harris and James Griener have been together for nearly 40 years.  Paul, age 64, has been processing marriage licenses for the Clark County Auditor for over 27 years.  'After decades of giving other people marriage licenses, I'm overjoyed to be able to get one myself and finally marry my partner of nearly 40 years,' Paul says.

More on Paul and James here.

In celebrity wedding news, activist, agitator, advice guru and Seattle impresario Dan Savage tweeted this photo of he and his husband "with a piece of paper."

Dan Savage: "Me and Terry with a piece of paper." There's a serious policy side to this story and Savage wisely points it out:

Years ago Terry and I paid lawyers thousands of $$$ to secure some of those rights: living wills, powers of attorney.

Now they're available to all - you don't need thousands of $$$. Just $64. That's why marriage equality is a social justice issue.

Yes, gays can go to great lengths and great expense and great difficulty to imitate marriage, if they have the means to do so. Of course, there's still no guarantee a homophobic judge won't toss all that out if a homophobic family member protests.

Last month, Savage declared Nov. 14 "Thank a Breeder Day" in acknowledgment of the tremendous support the LGBT community got from heterosexuals this cycle. I was there in Washington for part of the time and he was correct. Breeders rock! Of course, there's a companion Tumblr blog, Straight Up, Thanks.

Col. Grethe Cammermeyer and Diane Divelbess Other celebrity weddings include those of pioneer "Don't ask, Don't tell" challengers Grethe Cammermeyer and Margaret Witt, who will both wed their long-term companions (not each other, though that would be awesome).

In Island County and Spokane County, Colonel Grethe Cammermeyer and Major Margaret Witt, both decorated military veterans who fought for years to help topple the nation's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy so that lesbian and gay service members could serve their country in the military, will each be first in line to get married to their partners of many years.

Mazel Tov to all!

Soon, may we do away with the so-called Defense of Marriage act so these couples can have full federal marriage equality and our servicemembers and veterans, like Cammermeyer and Witt, can rest easy knowing the government they served is committed to caring for their families.

The state opened offices at 12:01 am this morning to issue licenses. In Washington there is a non-waivable three-day wait period for all couples, gay and straight, meaning the marriages will not be consummated, er, weddings can't be performed until Sunday.

Seattle PI reports, "King County issued 1,889 marriage licenses to heterosexual couples during July. It expects to equal that number in the first three days of licensing." Many couples waited in long lines for many hours, which really isn't a big deal compared to waiting decades. West Seattle blog has been live updating and you can follow the news on Twitter with the hashtag #MEdayWA.

Unconfirmed rumors report National Organization for Marriage's Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher are safely ensconced in an undisclosed location with a bucket of Chick-fil-A.