About 140 Gay Couples Tie The Knot In Seattle - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

About 140 Gay Couples Tie The Knot In Seattle

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First Baptist Church: Fourteen male and 11 female couples pledge their love during a group ceremony on Sunday, the first day same-sex couples could marry in Washington state. (Photo courtesy Seattle Times) First Baptist Church: Fourteen male and 11 female couples pledge their love during a group ceremony on Sunday, the first day same-sex couples could marry in Washington state. (Photo courtesy Seattle Times)

SEATTLE (AP) - About 140 same-sex couples got married at Seattle's City Hall on Sunday.
    
City officials opened City Hall on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 16 local judges volunteered to conduct the weddings. There were five separate chapels to accommodate the couples.
    
Washington voters approved Referendum 74 in November with 54 percent of the vote. The measure asked voters to either approve or reject the state law legalizing same-sex marriage that legislators passed earlier this year.
    
The law took effect on Thursday, but state law says couples have wait three days to marry after picking their marriage licenses.
    
Mayor Mike McGinn says opening city hall on Sunday underlines that the city stands behind the partnership of same-sex couples.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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