By Alec Clayton
On Saturday December 15, more than 20 gay and lesbian couples, along with many hundreds of joyful witnesses, were married in both separate and mass wedding ceremonies in the rotunda of the Washington State Capitol.
Even a month ago such an event would not have been possible. A few years ago it was not even imaginable. On Feb. 13, 2012 Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law a bill making gay and lesbian marriage legal in the state of Washington. Throughout the state there were wild and massive celebrations by loving couples, their friends and family members who had been dreaming of that day for years.
A referendum was placed onto the ballot for the upcoming November elections to test the new law, meaning that for the first time ever in the history of the United States, the right of gays and lesbians to marry the person they love was put to a vote of the people.
Not to be deterred by the referendum and confident that it would pass, Tina Roose and Teresa Guarjardo reserved the capitol for their very public wedding and invited other couples who wanted to be married to join them.
Tina and Teresa were profiled in the Faces of Capital City Pride article last summer. They have been trying to get married one way or another for a dozen years, traveling the path from registering as domestic partners in Thurston County and Washington State to being married in Oregon during the brief period it was legal. They celebrated with a commitment ceremony to celebrate before the witness of family and friends. But still no marriage. Humorously seeing the absurdity of the situation through what must have been tears of frustration, they had T-shirts printed that listed the dates and events under the heading “The Magical Marriage Tour.”
Other longtime devoted couples profiled in that article were Lynn Grotsky, a counselor in private practice, and Lisa Brodoff, a lawyer and member of the popular band The Righteous Mothers. They have lived together since the early 1980s and have raised two children together— Evan, 25 and Micha, 21. And Jeff and David Walddon who were school buddies in Canada back before either of them knew they were gay and who met again and fell in love after moving to Olympia in the late 1990s.
Lynn and Lisa had a civil union in Vermont and then became Registered Domestic Partners in Washington. David and Jeff were married in an unofficial ceremony at their home in 2001, at which time they took the last name Walddon, a combination of their previous names McDonald and Gruenewald. They adopted and are raising two children: Matthew, age 9, and Elise, age 6. In 2011 they were legally married in Canada.
Lynn Grotsky said: “Our plans are to do a civil ceremony with family at our home on Sunday, Dec. 23 and then a big wedding and community celebration at our Temple Beth Hatfiloh on Sunday, July 28.”
The big celebration in July will be co-officiated by Rabbi Seth Goldstein and Lynn’s cousin, Rabbi Brad Artson, who is the Dean of the Zeigler School of Judaism in Los Angeles, which trains and ordains Conservative Rabbis.
“We are so thrilled for all of Washington State,” Lynn said. “We believe that equality helps everyone. And we are looking forward to the day when folks look at us and all LGBTQ folks and think of them as mothers, professors, artists, humorous or whatever professions and qualities they have. And that our being LGBT or Q is so far down the list that it’s rarely how they even think of describing us. We are slowly breaking down marginalization. And that is good for all.”
By nature of their legal marriage in Canada, Jeff and David automatically became legally married in Washington the moment the new law went in effect, and since they have already had ceremonies in both countries they say they are not likely to do it again.
The weddings in the Capitol Rotunda were joyful and festive. Prior to the first ceremony a choir from Yelm sang Christmas carols. Then the ceremonies began with Tina and Teresa exchanging vows on the third floor balcony while friends watched from the floor of the rotunda and from surrounding balconies.
Following was a reception in a first floor reception room and then a mass wedding with eleven couples saying their vows together from the same balcony and then more individual weddings on different spots in the rotunda.
Tina said there were couples from about five counties, including Thurston, Pierce, and King, along with at least twelve officiants, including a judge, a priest, and ministers of various faiths.
The event was extremely joyful and triumphal.
The next day Teresa summed up what I imagine all of the newly married couples are feeling: “As we process through all the moments we are repeatedly filled with joy and astonishment that we are actually married and at the love we witnessed yesterday.”
