Health

Here Are Gloriously Ordinary Couples Getting Their States' First Same-Sex Marriage Licenses 

These are the people we've been holding back.

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This morning was a euphoric montage of rainbow mushroom clouds exploding across America as adorable gay couples raced to be first to get marriage licenses. Especially those in the 13 states where same-sex marriage remained illegal until, oh, ‘round about lunchtime Friday.

Take a good look: This is the supposed front wave of the “all-out assault against the religious freedoms of Christians” that Bobby Jindal rushed to forecast. Seriously, these folks? They’re ordinary to the point of anonymous. They waited in Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, and both Dakotas to be at the head of the line, the civil-rights equivalent of writing ‘First!’ in the comments section. These giddy, normal couples aren’t impeding anyone’s freedoms. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Yeah, the Jindals of the world and the snippy-dark comments on your Facebook feed today prove that we’ve still got miles to go. But for the first time, we can glimpse a morning on the horizon when two men waiting on a marriage license will be as quotidian as anybody else ticking off paperwork in a county clerk’s lobby. If evil can be banal, progress can be, as well.

New Orleans, Louisiana:

Hamilton County, Ohio:

Bibb County, Georgia:

Atlanta, Georgia:

Dallas County, Texas:

Gwinnett County, Georgia:

Cleveland, Ohio:

Tarrant County, Texas:

Travis County, Texas:

Cleveland, Ohio:

Louisville, Kentucky:

Harris County, Texas:

Athens-Clarke County, Georgia:

Nashville, Tennessee:

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