Event kicks off Pride events
WINDSOR, ONT – Smiles, tears and cheers greeted two newly wed same-sex couples as they were legally married in a civil ceremony July 20. The Michigan couples won the all-expense-paid weddings in a contest sponsored by Windsor Pride, in celebration of the two-year anniversary of Bill C38, the Canadian law that legalized same-sex marriages.
"I have dreamed of a life like this – with Erik – for more than sixteen years now," said Peter Spencer, 31, who married his longtime sweetheart, Erik Tichik of Harper Woods. The two met as teenagers at the Affirmations Youth Group and recently reconnected after more than a decade apart.
About 200 well-wishers attended the dual ceremony. It was conducted on stage at the Essex Hall Theatre at the University of Windsor immediately prior to the opening performance of "The Best Man," a new play by playwright Christopher Lawrence Menard and presented by Windsor Pride and Korda Productions. The comedy/drama unveils a bride-to-be who, poised to say "I do" discovers that her loving groom also loves the best man.
"I couldn't think of a more appropriate way to commemorate the second anniversary of Bill C38," said Joe McParland who officiated at the two simultaneous weddings. Windsor residents Hedy and Colleen Halpern, the two local women who helped overturn the Ontario law that prohibited same-sex marriage, were two of the witnesses. Also witnessing the marriages were Jeffrey Montgomery, executive director of the Detroit-based Triangle Foundation, and Joe Comartin, a member of Canada's Federal Parliament.
Marjorie Rogers and Roberta Davis of Detroit had been together nearly three years before tying the knot at this public celebration. "All my life I have been looking for Ms. Right! I found her, and it will fulfill my life's dream to have this wedding," said Rogers.
"We're ecstatic for the Rogers-Davis and Tichik-Spencer families, and grateful to all of the people who worked so hard to make marriage equality a reality for our Canadian brothers and sisters," said Montgomery. "What's ridiculous, of course, is that unlike any other marriage performed in Canada or anywhere else worldwide, the marriages of same-sex couples aren't legally recognized in the United States outside of Massachusetts. That means that, while these two families are recognized as full human beings in a foreign country, once they cross the border back to Michigan they will once again be treated as second-class citizens."
