Same-sex marriages start in Napa

Morning line forms at county office

By JILLIAN JONES
Register Staff Writer

Carol Whichard and Deb Stallings have dubbed themselves the “official crusaders of marriage equality in Napa County.”

Every year on Valentine’s Day, they arrive at the Napa County Recorder’s office asking to be married. Every year, they have been turned away, sent off with the promise that when California recognizes same-sex marriage, they will be greeted with open arms.

Tuesday morning, the couple saw that promise realized, becoming the first same-sex couple in Napa County to receive a marriage license.

They join thousands of gay couples across the state who, for the first time, legally wed or just received their licenses in the state of California.

The milestone follows a May 15 California Supreme Court ruling that overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

“It’s history in the making,” Whichard said. “Nobody can ever, ever, ever take this day away.”

The mood was one of celebration Tuesday, with couples lining up as early as 7:30 a.m. for marriage licenses in Napa County. Whichard and Stallings burst through the doors with balloons, cameras and a bevy of friends singing “The Chapel of Love.”

A total of 18 couples applied for marriage licenses Tuesday, Napa County Recorder John Tuteur said. Half were same-sex couples, and five were married by the end of the day.

“May we be the first of hundreds,” Stallings said, as she and Whichard received their marriage license in front of a crowd of joyous onlookers.

“This exact fight we don’t have to fight anymore,” she said.

The two will hold a “traditional” ceremony officiated by state Sen. Patricia Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, in September.

On their anniversary, which happens to be Nov. 7, they are hoping for a victory for same-sex couples at the polls.

Karin Ashford and Kim Kocher, the second couple to receive a same-sex marriage license in Napa County, refused to wait another day before they married after 21 years together. “We wanted to be part of history,” said Kocher, who married Ashford Tuesday afternoon during a ceremony officiated by Tuteur.

Wearing golden green dresses and their mothers’ wedding rings, the couple married in a small, simple afternoon ceremony that began with the traditional “We are gathered here today.” The brides held matching white bouquets and stood in front of the rose garden at Napa’s historic courthouse.

“I just never thought it would happen to me,” said Ashford, who, said she was still a young girl when she gave up on the idea of having a traditional wedding like her siblings.

“We’re just equal now,” Ashford said. “We’re just a couple of gals going to get married and it feels really good. … The Supreme Court basically gave us our civil rights back.”

Despite increased police presence, the day came and went in Napa with little protest on the streets.

One protester, Tom Kerruish of Napa, held a sign that read, “Wickedness never was happiness.”

But those applying for marriage licenses were for the most part unconcerned.

“It is his civil right to stand there,” said Kocher.

Richard Schull, who received a same-sex marriage license Tuesday morning, said he’s just happy “to be able to join the human race again.”

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