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Monday, February 04, 2008

Hitched -- At Last !!





After ten years plus a couple of months, we have finally been recognized by the state of Oregon as Domestic Partners. We just returned from the county building and were the 106th couple registered on this, the first day that same-sex couples have been permitted to be legally recognized. There were lots of volunteers from Basic Rights Oregon helping with paperwork, the paperwork process, and even handing out flowers. As we came out the glass doors, the lobby full of volunteers erupted into applause along with a television camera crew taking our photos. I don't think we can really get our head space around this whole deal. The significance of its impact. Its relevance in history. The sharp trendsetting edge that it is. It, my friends, is simply not just another day. And I don't know that it's a day that we ever truly expected to ever dawn. But it did....and we did! I guess that unless you've ever been a part of a group of people that were not treated with equality, fairness, and justice because of who you are as a person, it may be difficult to comprehend. I'm very proud to call myself his husband.....er, a.....wife? Whatever it is, we're quite happy.

74 comments:

Anonymous said...

So cool! Congrats to you both!

Stacey said...

Congratulations!!!

Blair said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Laurie said...

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's about time you made an honest
man of him ;)

I am soooo flippin happy for the
two of you!

Congradulations to the two of you.
I wish you happiness like no other.

LSL said...

Well, I admit this brought tears to my eyes! Congratulations to you wonderful boys. Many, many, many more years of love and happiness to come!

Blair said...

You make me so very proud to be your husband. Today was a very special and a long awaited day for us.

I am truly the happiest and luckiest man alive..........just when you think it can't get any better.......

Nathan Garvison said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is fabulous! I'm so happy you two can finally do it to it!

Greg said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Jim said...

Husband and husband. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(how many exclamation marks is too many?)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bridgeout said...

CONGRATULATIONS Lewis!!! This is wonderful! We went to Mult. Co. in 2004, this time we went to our local Benton Co., and it was sweet! We were couple #4 today at the quaint little Benton County courthouse! :-) It is indeed significant!! Good luck you guys! Wendy

WAT said...

This is wonderful, you guys are an adorable couple and I hope that your union lasts till the year 3045, by which time aliens will finally have descended upon the Earth in great numbers and shall destroy the human species once and for all and burn all of our buildings and cities in the process.

In the meantime, congratulations guys!

Anonymous said...

That is so wonderful!!! Congrats :)
So when is the party??

Lots of love to you both!!
Love Lila and Jerry

Cooper said...

Many, many congratulations! I am so happy for you both! I'm going to have a glass of wine in your honour this evening ... "To Lewis and his husband" ...

"Marriage is not
a house or even a tent

it is before that, and colder:

the edge of the forest, the edge
of the desert
the unpainted stairs
at the back where we squat
outside, eating popcorn

the edge of the receding glacier

where painfully and with wonder
at having survived even
this far

we are learning to make fire "

(Margaret Atwood)

Sorted Lives said...

That is soo awesome. M and I couldn't be happier. Can't wait to see you guys again!!

Anonymous said...

Lewis, I simply wept as I read this! May you be blessed with many, many more happy years together!! Congratulations and best wishes!

r. said...

THIS. DEFINITELY. CALLS. FOR. A. GRAND. CELEBRATION!!!!

Woohoo!! Congrats Lewis and Steven!!! So are you both going to have an official ceremony? I think you should get a gown from Vera Wang! :-)

S said...

It's about time.

I was wondering when you were going to make an honest husband out of him.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! I'll never see this in Virginia...at least in my lifetime.

A Bear in the Woods said...

Congratulations to you both!!!!!

And I totally dig the guy in the top pic. Thirty years ago I would so totally have dated him.

Totally...

don said...

A big Congratulations to you both!

Could you toss the bouquet ovah this way? Puhlease!

Steven said...

Doing the happy dance for you and refilling my Kleenex dispenser. It couldn'y happen to a more deserving (and sexier) couple. Congratulations, Lewis! (((((Lewis))))

Ur-spo said...

i first saw this over at 'It's Raining Men' or whatever they call it.
Congratulations indeed!
you two make lovely brides - or grooms or dammit you two make a lovely couple.

Homer said...

Congrats, you make a very handsome couple.

Dave2 said...

Many happy congratulations!

Ever since I read this entry...
http://spiritofsaintlewis.blogspot.com/2007/03/rites-and-rituals.html
... I don't want to live in a world which would value your relationship less than any other. :-)

Anonymous said...

So very cool, grats to both of you!

Tony (LT) said...

Congratulations!

Now you won;t be living in sin! ;-)

The Daddy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ikanbilis said...

congratulations!

a big celebration should follow the event =)

Wayne said...

Congratulations!
Craig and I have seen a lot of progress in our 31 years together. Hope to some day see this for everyone.

Anonymous said...

Wait... you say "Congratulations" to the bride and "Best Wishes" to the groom... or is it the other way around? I'm all confused.

Either way, yay you guys!!

tornwordo said...

Congrats! And we've found that "spouse" works better than husband or wife. When's the honeymoon?

ericopia said...

Congrats to you both -- a day that's been a long time in coming. And I love that Oregon ("backwards," country-ish Oregon, or so many are led to believe) is on the forefront in this.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

congratulations!!!! may the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

if only all the states were as enlightened as oregon and the handful of other places!

and sometimes good things do come to those who wait - best to you both - yes you guys make a very lovely couple!

Anonymous said...

Congrtulations and best wishes to you both! I am so happy for you, and I look forward to the day that the remaining states will join the ranks of Oregon and the other states supporting gay unions. Again, best wishes to you both!

My adventures said...

congratulations!! you finally have rights!!! what a great country??

Megan said...

Yay for Oregon, yay for rights, yay for tyin' the knot! Congratulations!

bardelf said...

Awesome, Lewis! CONGRATULATIONS to you and your partner. Your good news makes me smile broadly today.

Breenlantern said...

congratscongratscongratscongratscongrats! I only wish we could have been there to hug you both after you registered. A hundred times congratulations! My joy overflows for you guys. I.O.U a celebration cocktail when we finally get to meet some day....

Anonymous said...

"Wonderful news! I know how you feel. We like 'husband' after we looked up the term in the dictionary - "to manage, use frugally,to conserve, to till and cultivate." Yay! Love Ya!"

So, when you take a Honeymoon, think of New England(wait until Spring) and come see us. The daffodills (5,000) will be out about April 15th in time for taxes.

Fritz and Will

Anonymous said...

That's so fantastic. Congrats!!!

Will said...

Delightful--Fritz and I are so happy for you two.

Of course, the naughty thrill of just being shacked-up is gone, but this is a happy and wonderful step forward. Big hugs--and, yes, come see us in the Spring and we'll celebrate together.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!! and welcome to world of gay wedded bliss!!

and btw, its husband & husband.

TJ said...

Congratulations and all the best to you both! We know how you feel as we felt the same way when we were able to register our relationship here in Tasmania. It may not be legal anywhere else but it still feels great to be recognised. Actually ours is apparently recognised by the UK relationship Act. Maybe you should look into if they also recognise yours, well look into it that is if your ever interested in moving to the UK. Anyway, once again ALL the Best! :)

Ryan said...

congrats u2 soon i hope me and mikey can say the same thing.

dpaste said...

Mazel tov!

Michael Guy said...

Every good wish and special hugs to YOU AND BLAIR!!!

Carolyn said...

I just read your happy news on Jim's blog and, even though I am a total stranger, I wanted to give you my congrats. What a wonderful day!

Matt said...

FINALLY. Y'all have been living in sin far too long.

;)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

"W" said...

Awe...that is AWESOME! Where are you kids registered?

Anonymous said...

Mike sent me (and ya know we do everything he says) so Mazel Tov you both.

xoxo
Sue

Trailhead said...

Congratulations! I'm tearing up here in the Seattle airport.

Victor said...

I'll say it too....congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. I hope some day the ability to get married (or "unioned") will be available to us in Arizona

nikoeternal.com said...

I should be so lucky to find someone for a domestic partnership! Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to both grooms!

Billy said...

Congrats boys!

Real happy day!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations you two studs!!

Sending cyberhugs your way!

CawfeeGuy said...

bra-VO!!!! big hugs to you guys!!!!

TED said...

Congratulations! And best wishes for many more years of happiness together.

Oh, and now you can finally have sex!

Spamouflage said...

Wow, happiness looks good on both of you! Congrats.

LeLo said...

So, so, so happy for you two. Isn't it amazing the support you've received here on your blog? AWESOME! You're a beautiful couple and you deserve all the rights and protections that come with that domestic partnership. Congratulations Partner A and Partner B!

Nathan said...

What a wonderful and powerful day in history! Congrats to you both! Two people who have been together that long, loved and cared for each other, certainly deserve the rights as everyone else. I'm so happy for you both.

And thanks for the sweet message this morning. We're back safely, and getting caught up on life in TN :)

Doug said...

That is just so fucking awesome! You guys are so fucking awesome! To be legally recognized in your own state in your own country...I got chills for you guys.

Big hugs to you both!

Java said...

I tried to comment last night but my DNS wouldn't let me.

Congratulations to the two of you! This is terrific. The pics are adorable. So does this mean you get to go on a honeymoon now???

Anonymous said...

Congrats! Now let's get the rest of the states in line!

Jimmi said...

Lewis that is SO awesome!!!!

Congrats!!!

D-Man said...

Oh, my dear sweet boys! I am so very happy for you! I wish I could have been there to throw rice at you.

Oh, and what a bachelor party we could've had, no?

MAZAL TOV! (*D-Man steps on glass*)

You are both are testament to the power of love, and an excellent example to gay youth who aspire to find themselves in a deep, meaningful and loving relationship.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Felicitaciones! Congrats!!
I hope someday I will also be able to get hitched in my state!!! :)

Saludos,
Gregorio

K-A said...

This is wonderful news. Congratulations!

Thombeau said...

YAY! Congrats! As a new Portlander, I'm happy to hear it!

Geoff said...

I am SO happy for you both! Two amazing guys doing something wonderful.......you actually brought some tears to my eyes. Congratulations!

Marrisa said...

Woweee 73 (now 74) comments! That is utterly amazing, and rightly so. Congratulations a million times over to you two gorgeous people.

I am so pleased for you both. It warms my heart to know the world is now heading in the right direction. Best wishes for the future :-)

Topher said...

That's great news.. Congratulations!!