Following an historic court ruling on Friday, same-sex marriage began this morning across the state of North Carolina – including here in Orange County.

There were five couples waiting in line at 8:00 a.m. when the Register of Deeds office opened in Hillsborough. First in line were Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle and her longtime partner, photographer Alicia Stemper.

“Not tearing up is certainly a challenge,” said Stemper. “The oath we had to swear to (includes the sentence) ‘We further make oath that there is no legal impediment to such marriage’ – and we couldn’t have said that before Friday at 5:32.

“So getting to swear to that this morning was a really intense and wonderful moment.”

Stemper and Lavelle spoke with WCHL’s Ron Stutts and Aaron Keck live on the Morning News.

 

Same-sex marriage already began last Friday in some counties, like Buncombe and Wake, where the register of deeds elected to stay open late in the event of a possible ruling. That ruling came at 5:30 Friday afternoon, from District Court Judge Max Cogburn in Asheville, striking down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in accordance with the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court’s earlier ruling that the “fundamental right to marry” extends to same-sex couples.

Judge Cogburn’s ruling sparked celebrations and excitement across the state – and not just from same-sex couples.

“I was photographing a (straight) wedding this weekend…and the bride saw me and said, ‘You don’t know how excited I am to be getting married on the first full day that everybody in my state can get married,’” Stemper said. So that was another moment for tearing up.”

Lavelle and Stemper held a commitment ceremony in September of 2004; while the state is only now recognizing their union, they actually celebrated their ten-year anniversary last month.

And while they were first in line on Monday morning, Stemper says being first isn’t as important as being able.

“(Being first) is fun, but what really matters…is that we can all do it,” she said. “It’s just a shame we can’t all do it together, because it’s significant for all of us.”