("Notes of Congratulations" page last updated Thursday, 4/29/04)

Thursday, March 4, 2004

As most of you probably know, Multnomah County (of which Portland, Oregon is the county seat), announced Tuesday (March 2nd) that they would begin issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples in accordance with the language of the Oregon Constitution. This follows similar actions by the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the city and county of San Francisco, New Paltz (New York), Chicago and a municipality in New Mexico, among others.

After eleven and a half years together, with this emerging opportunity at hand, we decided it was time to make it official. We arrived at Multnomah County offices at 1:50 PM, to stand in line. One of the people to walk through the line to congratulate the waiting couples was Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey. Once inside, we also saw Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz. Both of these bold women were part of the (4) woman contingent of the Multnomah County Board of Commisioners who agreed to start issuing licenses to same sex couples, after it was reviewed by their in house attorney, and by their outside counsel. Only one commissioner of the (5) was against the decision. If interested, you can view their statements on this issue: http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/

There were people going through the line, handing out flowers to the couples waiting to wed, and the clergy and the photographers were also donating their time for this momentous occasion. After waiting through long lines to apply for a license, and then another long line for the clergyman to officiate our ceremony, we were pronounced spouses at approximately 4:30 PM. It was quite a moment. When each couple was pronounced, a loud cheer would go up from the surrounding crowd. The entire time we stood in line, cars would be driving by on busy Hawthorne Boulevard honking, waving and cheering their support for our equality.

We would have liked to have invited all of you - our friends and family. However, it was important to make it official as quickly as possible before any potential court injunctions start flying, prohibiting the further granting of marriage licenses. Additionally, with the idea of doing it as soon as possible, we knew it would not be feasible for most to meet us at Multnomah County's offices, since it was during the course of a workday for most. We will be doing a ceremony for all of our friends and family to attend in the coming months - the date is still to be determined, but we're thinking of possibly holding it on our anniversary - July 4th.

(We keep getting asked if it's okay for people to share this link with friends and supporters. Absolutely! That's why we put this all up on our web site - so that people could share the joy and excitement of this moment with us. So, yes, please do share it.)

Cshea & Larry     email us -- contactus[at]lewis-walker.com

To view pictures, click on one of the links below. To save any image, just right-click on the picture, and select Save As.

View Notes of Congratulations        View Low Resolution Pics (best for dial-up)            View Hi Resolution Pics (best for broadband)