Civil Liberties

In WA, Two Women Marry After 35 Years Together

A long-awaited moment

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Shortly after the clock struck midnight, two Seattle women legitimized their 35-year love affair early Thursday by becoming the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage license in King County, Washington.

The two women met on a blind date in 1977, when homosexuality was highly taboo and gay people socialized privately in homes, never in public.

Now Pete-e Petersen is 85 and Jane Abbott Lighty is 77, and they have lived to see the world transformed.