Happy Freedom to Marry Day, Minnesota!

As of the very first minute of this morning, same sex couples can get married in the great state of Minnesota. Late last night, many gay couples gathered at Minneapolis City Hall, ready to get married as soon as it was legally possible. Here’s one such couple, Emily and Kristina Kritkausky.Mazel tov, Emily and Kristina, and mazel tov to the whole state of Minnesota. Feels good to be on the right side of history, doesn’t it?

It really sounds like it as a party in Minneapolis last night. Per the Star Tribune:

By 2 a.m. the scene inside and outside remained festive and untroubled. Food trucks lined up as newlyweds and other attendees ordered tacos and omelets or stepped outside for a break from the steamy City Hall air. Jitneys waited to whisk couples away to nearby hotels. Just as with heterosexual weddings, a white stretch limo, “Just Married” flags flapping, parked outside to escort a wedding party.

From Minneapolis and St. Paul to Duluth and Crookston, dozens of gay and lesbian couples tied the knot in the pre-dawn hours Thursday as Minnesota became the 13th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Couples and guests gathered in city halls, a conservatory, the Mall of America — even a bar — to be among the first to usher in a new era of marriage equality in Minnesota.

But the story that got me right in the chest was that of Cathy ten Broeke and Margaret Miles, the very first couple in the state to be married – because the Mayor basically said, seconds after midnight, “Ok y’all are married now yay!” Cathy and Margaret wore the same dresses they wore at their commitment ceremony, years ago. This time it was different, they said, because this time, it was “the state of Minnesota committing to us and our family.” A-freaking-men. Now, everybody, hora!

Photo via USA Today.