As other states legalized same-sex marriage, Emma Foulkes and Petrina Bloodworth of Atlanta considered getting married elsewhere. They almost did it in Florida earlier this year.
But they decided to wait on Georgia.
Foulkes, 46, and Bloodworth, 41, were the first same-sex couple in line to get a marriage license after Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage from coast to coast. They are believed to be the first same-sex couple in Georgia to marry.
Like many people, they were glued to a Supreme Court blog Friday morning, waiting to see if – after years of waiting – this would be the day they exchanged vows.
“I couldn’t process what I was reading,” Bloodworth said of the blog post that delivered the news. “I had to ask, what does this mean?”
The couple met at a party 10 years ago. Soon, each decided the other could be The One. They’ve planned to get married for several years. But they waited.
“We were going to run someplace else and get married,” Foulkes said. “But our son was in college and we wanted him to be home to see this. And we wanted to see the country move in the right direction.”
If the legal obstacles they faced were unusual, the final hurdle was mundane: government paperwork. At the Probate Court office, they giggled over the license application.
“Are we related?” Foulkes asked as she read the application. “In what sort of way?”
Finally, Senior Court Clerk Jill Gates printed their marriage license. They posed for photos and waited for State Court Judge Jane Morrison, who officiated.
In the courtroom, they exchanged vows in a short ceremony, surrounded by reporters, well-wishers and their son, Raimius Foulkes, 22. When Morrison proclaimed them “wife and wife,” they exchanged their first matrimonial kiss.
“It feels really, really good to see their love and commitment to each other validated,” said Raimius.
Eventually, they’ll take a honeymoon. They couldn’t plan it because they didn’t know how or when the Supreme Court would rule. For now, they’ll return to their jobs – Foulkes is a certified financial planner, Bloodworth an auditor.
Had they married elsewhere, they would have returned to a state that did not recognize their marriage. As of Friday, their union is the law of every state in the land.
“I’m just so glad we waited,” Bloodworth said.
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