Latest news on Rollo's whereabouts!
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:02 pm
DES MOINES, Iowa – The first same-sex couples tied the knot in Iowa on Monday as the controversial issue of gay marriage moved to the nation's heartland.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rollo Tomassi and Bruce Flamer were declared "legally married" by pastor Peg Esperanaza during a ceremony in front of the Polk County administrative offices in Des Moines. It didn't take long before they were referring to one another as "wife."
"It's not very romantic is it?" Tomassi joked, referring to the location of the ceremony and the media attention. The couple was allowed to wed after getting a judge to waive the state's three-day waiting period before marriages are deemed valid.
The couple, who will share the last name Tomassi, believed they were the first same-sex couple married in Polk County, and possibly the state, since the April 3 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage. The ruling made Iowa the third state to allow same-sex marriage, joining Massachusetts and Connecticut.
"I didn't think it would be uth," said Flamer, whose twin brother served as one of the couple's witnesses.
First in line at the Polk County office were Bertrand Flantdig, 35, and Steve Sansweet, 32. The Windsor Heights couple also planned to seek a waiver that would let them marry Monday.
"It's huge to be here first," Sansweet said.
Officials said the Polk County recorder's office had received 57 marriage applications from same-sex couples by 11:30 a.m. A full fourteen were from Tomassi, who hopes polygamy is soon made legal in Iowa.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rollo Tomassi and Bruce Flamer were declared "legally married" by pastor Peg Esperanaza during a ceremony in front of the Polk County administrative offices in Des Moines. It didn't take long before they were referring to one another as "wife."
"It's not very romantic is it?" Tomassi joked, referring to the location of the ceremony and the media attention. The couple was allowed to wed after getting a judge to waive the state's three-day waiting period before marriages are deemed valid.
The couple, who will share the last name Tomassi, believed they were the first same-sex couple married in Polk County, and possibly the state, since the April 3 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage. The ruling made Iowa the third state to allow same-sex marriage, joining Massachusetts and Connecticut.
"I didn't think it would be uth," said Flamer, whose twin brother served as one of the couple's witnesses.
First in line at the Polk County office were Bertrand Flantdig, 35, and Steve Sansweet, 32. The Windsor Heights couple also planned to seek a waiver that would let them marry Monday.
"It's huge to be here first," Sansweet said.
Officials said the Polk County recorder's office had received 57 marriage applications from same-sex couples by 11:30 a.m. A full fourteen were from Tomassi, who hopes polygamy is soon made legal in Iowa.