Virginia – Gay Marriage

Same-sex cou­ples can now start to marry in Vir­ginia. Just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way by turn­ing away sev­eral appeals, gay cou­ples started get­ting licenses from the Rich­mond Cir­cuit Court Clerk’s office shortly after 1 p.m. Mon­day.

Thirty-year-old Lind­sey Oliver and 42-year-old Nicole Pries got the first same-sex mar­riage license and said shortly after their wed­ding that she believes gay mar­riage will soon be legal through­out the coun­try.

Ear­lier Mon­day, the Supreme Court unex­pect­edly and tersely turned away appeals from five states that include Vir­ginia, that wanted to pro­hibit gay and les­bian unions.