Ayvaunn Penn, Your Black World
Some bring in the new year with watch night service at their local church while others party the night away popping that notorious midnight bubbly. In Baltimore, Maryland, however, getting married was the celebratory method of choice for a number of homosexuals. The state’s new marriage law legalizing same-sex marriage became official on the 1st of January.
According to reports, about fourteen ready-to-be-wed individuals made their way to Baltimore’s City Hall to tie the knot at midnight. Although a gentleman by the name of Jason Caton was officiating, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake conducted a few of the nuptials — including the first. Requesting to specifically be joined in union by the mayor, the premier couple to experience legal Maryland matrimony consisted of city worker James Scales and his partner William Tasker. These two gentlemen, sixty-eight and sixty years old respectively, have been in a relationship for thirty-five years but will now be able to proceed as a married couple recognized by the state.
Interestingly enough, this is the second go around for Maryland’s same-sex marriage law. Sources say that in February of 2012 Governor Martin O’Malley, a Roman Catholic, signed the bill but was challenged by two things — Roman Catholics officials who called him on violating his faith and pro-family organizations across Maryland that were able to procure adequate signatures to stall proceedings.
Ayvaunn Penn is an award-winning writer pursuing her graduate degrees in dramatic writing and acting. To peruse her poetry, prose, and services, click here. To have Ayvaunn Penn feature your original poetry on Your Black Poets, click here.
