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| Tina Roose and Teresa Guajardo (Photo courtesy Teresa Guajardo) |
It's about to happen: many same-sex couples will tie the knot in about two weeks at the state Capitol. Tina Roose and Teresa Guajardo, who have been together for 13 years and have a big white poodle named Brooke, wanted a Capitol wedding, so they reserved the Rotunda back in February, soon after Governor Gregoire signed the bill into law.
Guajardo says they trusted the people of Washington
would stand for equality and she went on planning her wedding with the certainty
that Referendum
74 would pass.
It was on election night that Roose and Guajardo came
up with the idea of inviting other same-sex couples to marry on the same day
with them. It has turned into a great
public event and, so far, 20 couples have confirmed they will say I do at
the state Capitol on Saturday, December 15. Guajardo believes that number will
increase between now and then.
Many other couples throughout the state are expected
to follow suit in the coming weeks and months.
But as the new law goes into effect, questions have
begun to pop up:
- Can couples married in other states still marry here?
- What do couples in domestic partnerships have to do to get married?
- If someone got married somewhere else but then split, can he or she marry a different person in our state?
- What about folks in civil unions from other states who are moving here?
- Can couples who live in states that don't allow equal marriage get married here, and would it be valid?
- Will seniors in domestic partnerships be allowed to stay in those partnerships?
- If one of the parties is a foreigner, will equal marriage give that person legal status?
