By Megan Wadding, Dec. 4, 2014.
Since Arizona began performing and recognizing same-sex marriages, Oct. 17, many couples have formally tied the long-awaited knot and the wedding bells continue to ring.
However, being able to say “I do” in one’s home state has already had an impact on so many lives – not just the individuals exchanging vows – including families that this legal right now protects.
Echo spoke to children of couples who have been married since the law changed, who married in another state and have now gained equal legal rights as well as couples who plan to eventually marry now that the option is available to them.
The childrenof these couples, who range in age from 3 to 22, were asked what marriage equality means to them, how the marriage or upcoming marriage of their parents has directly affected them, what parts they played in the wedding as well as their thoughts on marriage, love and family.
After 57 years together, Karen Bailey and Nelda Majors had their long-awaited wedding Nov. 23. The couple has two daughters, Sharla Curtiss and Marissa Diamond. Bailey had been the sole legal guardian of both girls, though both women raised them.
Sharla Curtis, 22
“[My moms’] commitment to each other was obvious. [The issue] was what if something happened to Karen? Where would my sister and I go? Now that I’m over 18, I’m on my own. But for Marissa, if something had happened to Karen, Nelda didn’t have any legal rights to her. It was a big problem thinking about if something did happen, how we could stay together as a family, because Nelda has raised us as mother since we were very young, so we want her to have the rights she deserved.”
Marissa Diamond, 16
“It is nice to know that after 57 years, it’s finally an official thing. I mean, they were already together and they’ll never leave each other, but it’s finally official. Nelda is our mother also, so if anything, God forbid, would happen to Karen, we wouldn’t want to be with anyone else.”