First same-sex marriages performed in Charlotte, NC

After a morning of anticipation and excitement outside of Mecklenburg County’s Register of Deeds office, the first marriage license for a gay couple was issued around 8:10 a.m., with dozens more gay couples waiting to get their licenses. The first wedding ceremony was held shortly before 9 a.m.

Monday was the first day marriage licenses were to be issued to gay couples in Mecklenburg County.

Terrence Hall and Christopher DeCaria were the first couple in line because they wanted to beat the crowd.

“I proposed to him two years ago on Valentine’s Day and he cried,” said Hall. “I didn’t think it would happen in North Carolina for quite some time due to Amendment One. We had planned to go to another state to get married.”

DeCaria promised more tears by the end of the day.

“I’ll cry again when we get our license,” said DeCaria. “To be recognized by everyone makes me feel validated and accepted.”

The Register of Deeds office opened around 8 a.m. By 9 a.m., there were a couple of protestors on the steps of the office, one of whom stood outside waving the Bible at couples and telling them they were going to hell. Some yelling matches broke out when one protestor started shouting at couples. Within five minutes, deputies told him he would have to stop harassing people so close to the building and he left on his own. Another protestor with a sign remained peacefully on the scene.

But mostly, the couples were greeted by media and ministers from local churches who intended to perform ceremonies later in the morning.

Later in the morning, the Charlotte Pride Band played the “Wedding March” nearby, and other matrimonial tunes like “Going to the Chapel.”

Charlotteans Joey Hewell, 34, and his partner, Scott Lindsley, 45, who waited outside the Register of Deeds office last week for a marriage license application, were one of the first couples to get married on Monday.

Lindsley, who is an ordained officiate, performed two ceremonies himself after he got married.

Many of the couples said they have already been married in other states but have come here to make it legal in North Carolina.

Equality NC, a gay advocacy group, plans to hold a mass ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday in front of the Mecklenburg County and Courts Office building. And Holy Trinity Lutheran Church plans to hold a marriage equality celebration at 7 p.m. at the church, 1900 The Plaza.

By 9:20 a.m., the number of gay couples waiting in line for a marriage license had died down. And at 9:45, there were no gay couples waiting in line for a license.

David Granberry, Mecklenburg County’s Register of Deeds, said the morning is running smoothly and he expects to release a total count of gay couples who received marriage licenses by the end of the day.

As of 10:30 a.m., Granberry said his office had issued 31 marriage licenses, 25 of which were for same-sex couples. His office also increased its staffing by pulling two people from other departments to help with the demand.

In nearby Cabarrus County, Jean Raley-Dennis and her now-wife, Terry Raley-Dennis, were at their county’s register of deeds at 8 a.m.

Although the couple already had a marriage license from New Jersey, they went to the register of deeds to make that license public record.

The couple, who found out gay marriage was legalized in the state while at dinner at O’Charley’s on Friday night, were getting in their car by 8:20 a.m.

Although Jean Raley-Dennis said the couple was overwhelmed on Friday with joy and excitement (feelings that continued through Sunday when their church had a celebration for the legalization of gay marriage), she said that on Monday, the overwhelming feeling for her was that of “relief and calm.”

She said that not being married to her partner of 14 years caused a lot of stress. For instance, she said, the couple travels a lot, and she always worried something might happen and the other person wouldn’t have say on the medical care of her partner.

Now the couple will head to Provincetown, Mass., on Tuesday, knowing that if something did happen, they would be able to help each other at the hospital.

“We’re just relieved that we can get on with our lives and not have to worry about this,” she said. “We were able to be next to each other as wife and wife, knowing that in the eyes of the law, we are equal as anyone else.”

U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn Jr. of Asheville legalized gay marriage in North Carolina on Friday, when he ruled on a lawsuit filed last year by clergy who challenged the state’s 2012 constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Because his ruling came about 5:30 p.m., when the Mecklenburg Register of Deeds office was already closed, couples couldn’t apply for marriage licenses until Monday.

Register of Deeds offices in Wake, Guilford and Buncombe counties stayed open late on Friday, so some gay couples received marriage licenses then.

David Granberry, Mecklenburg County’s Register of Deeds, said his office will hold its normal business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. He recommended that anyone who wants to get a marriage license arrive by 4:30 p.m.

In anticipation of increased demand for licenses, Granberry encouraged couples to fill out the required forms online before they head for his office. He added a data entry kiosk to handle the extra demand, he said.

He’s also added an extra work station for employees and is prepared to move people from other areas to help with paperwork and processing.

Granberry said the department also has updated its forms, which previously referred to the “bride” and “groom.” Now they refer to “Applicant 1” and “Applicant 2,” although he noted that not all areas have been updated. He told applicants to ignore any discrepancies because the forms will ultimately print correctly as “Applicant 1” and “Applicant 2.”

While gay marriage advocates cheered Friday’s ruling and the ability to get marriage licenses on Monday in Mecklenburg County, it remained unclear what would happen with two other North Carolina same-sex marriage cases in Greensboro.

Both are being heard by U.S. District Judge William Osteen, who held up a final ruling after lawyers for House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate President Phil Berger asked to join the cases.

Cogburn’s ruling on Friday ended 48 hours of motions and counter-motions, arguments and rebuttals. Much of it was part of a Republican effort to delay what appeared inevitable on Oct. 6, when the Supreme Court announced it would not review lower court marriage rulings in five states.

One of those decisions, which struck down a same-sex marriage ban in Virginia, came from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over the Carolinas. The Supreme Court’s decision freed up the lawsuits that had been put on hold until the high court made its thinking known.

Staff reporter Mark Price contributed.

This story was originally published October 13, 2014 at 10:46 AM.