The way weddings should be are.


Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of attending my first post-DOMA wedding. And how poignant that it was the wedding of my good friend and former colleague Jill Barkley!

As most of you know, Jill came to the ACLU of Maine in 2012 to work on the marriage campaign. She was responsible for creating the group Republicans United for Marriage, and thanks to Jill's hard work along with our partners and Maine voters, we won marriage equality at the ballot. And on December 29, many same-sex couples lined up at city hall to finally get married.

But not Jill. Jill's partner Trish is a Canadian citizen, so even though Maine would recognize their relationship, the federal  Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) meant that Jill could not sponsor Trish to come to the United States. So, after winning marriage for so many couples, I watched as Jill celebrated with the community, but continued to fight for marriage equality for herself and other bi-national couples - working with Maine's congressional representatives and coalition partners on immigration reform and the Uniting American Families Act.

On June 26, in an ACLU case, the Supreme Court declared DOMA unconstitutional. Jill and I were in the State House (where else) when the decision came down. And, although Trish and Jill had gotten engaged several months ago, we finally celebrated whole-heartedly for the first time. As Jill would say, there were lots of feelings. 

Just two weeks later, Jill and Trish tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony at city hall. I can think of no better way to celebrate the end of DOMA than with the start of Jill and Trish's life together. Cheers!