You may have a few questions about what all of this means. We've tried to answer them below. Our wedding day will be the happiest day of our lives. We're so overjoyed to have found true love and to be beginning our life together. We hope you'll share in our joy, but if for whatever reason you can't, you are free to decline, no questions asked.
Is it legal?
Breaking news: On Thursday, May 9th, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples. The Minnesota Senate followed on Monday, May 13, and on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, Governor Mark Dayton signed the bill into law. Minnesota is now the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage!
The new law won't take effect until August 1st. We'll still have our ceremony and a killer party on June 15th, though! We'll go back to City Hall on August 1st and wait in line to be among the first to get a legal marriage license. We are overjoyed!
While we're getting married at City Hall, there will be no marriage license. Our wedding will be a celebration of our love and a milestone in our lives together. Unfortunately, Minnesota law denies the rights and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex couples.
In fact, there's no legal recognition at all for us. No civil union, no domestic partnership. But our love is stronger than the law, and we won't wait for it to catch up.
What happened in November 2012?
Minnesota voters said "No" to an amendment to our Minnesota Constitution that would have written a ban on marriage for same-sex couples into our constitution. While this vote indicates times are changing in Minnesota, the fact remains that the state constitution doesn't ban us from marrying, but state law books do.
Why not go to Iowa?
On April 3, 2009, the Supreme Court of Laura's home state of Iowa unanimously ruled that there was no important governmental interest in denying citizens marriage licenses based on their sexual orientation. We could get legally married in Iowa, but none of the rights would apply back home in Minnesota. We're holding out for the real deal.
Other questions?
Feel free to contact us at
info@mccartytufanowedding.com.