Greenville issues first licenses to same-sex couples
It was the most traditional of all weddings on a sun-filled November day with Reedy River Falls roaring behind them until the officiant got to the "I now pronounce you" part.
Husband and husband.
David Tarpley and Sonny Southerlin held hands, smiling in the calmest way. After 33 years of togetherness, they were legally family.
Gay marriage became legal Thursday in South Carolina, the 35th state in the nation to do so after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in a court case brought by two Charleston women.
Tarpley and Southerlin were the first to apply for a marriage license in Greenville County on Thursday, the first to pick it up after the mandatory 24 hour waiting period and as can best be determined the first to be married.
"We didn't sleep well last night. Excited," Southerlin said as they sat in the Probate Court for the waiting period to expire. They were 13 minutes early.
"I woke up with going to the chapel on my mind," Tarpley said.
When their names were called, they went to the window and were handed an envelope embossed with an official seal, marriage license inside. They opened it, and Tarpley said, "We're legal now."
They have had to work their way around so many laws that made it difficult for them to be together since they met on April 5, 1981 at Stone Castle, a gay club that once operated off Pleasantburg Drive.
"It was 20 past 12," Tarpley said.
Two months later they moved in together in Charlotte. They spent 25 years living in Orlando, where Tarpley worked in the hotel business before joining Southerlin in the real estate business. Two years ago they moved to Travelers Rest to help Southerlin's mother.
"From Day 1 we always combined everything," said Tarpley. Joint bank accounts, giving each other the rights of survivorship. They couldn't be married but legally it was as close as they could get. When Tarpley was diagnosed with leukemia, his doctors and the Greenville Health System made no distinction between their relationship and any other, Tarpley said.
Tarpley credits their enduring relationship to both realizing everything is two sided.
"You've got to learn to push-pull," he said.
After they got their license Friday morning, they picked up red-rose boutonnieres and went down to Falls Park. It was them and James Akers Jr., a real estate agent who is also a notary. No witnesses. No family.
"This is for us," Southerlin said.
They wore pin-striped suits and exchanged gold bands, that they said were a token of love, faith and loyalty. Akers held the Bible Tarpley's great-grandmother used when she married in 1887. Faded black leather, the spine held together with masking tape, the Bible was used by Tarpley's grandmother and mother as well, the names etched in the precise thick black fountain pen strokes of old.
"Let no man put asunder," Akers said, and pronounced them husband and husband. They kissed. Then hugged.
Akers said he was honored to have been a part of their day.
"I'm beyond moved," he said.
In all, the Probate Court in Greenville County took in 19 marriage license applications from same-sex couples on Thursday, including Melissa and Deanna Moore. They were the second couple to pick up their license on Friday.
Melissa Moore said they went to Stax Grill for appetizers and cocktails Thursday after they applied for the license. While they sat at the bar, they saw they were featured on the news on television.
"Everybody started congratulating us," she said.
Deanna Moore, who legally took Melissa Moore's last name last year, said they spent last night planning their wedding, which will be held next month. She's had her dress for a while. Melissa is still deciding what she'll wear.
Their plan is to be married at the home of their friend and employer, Margaret Chamberlain, have champagne and cake and then jump in a trolley and take the wedding party to see Roper Mountain Lights.
An attorney, Melissa Moore had hurried from court in Anderson to get the license with her fiancée as soon as it was available.
"There it is," Deanna said as she opened the envelope containing the license.
"I can't stop grinning," she said.
