(Miami, Florida) Wendy LaChaunce and Bonnie Alberti were not hopeful, but they still thought it was worth a try getting a marriage license at the Sarasota County Courthouse.
When the couple, who have been together for 25 years, went to the counter at the County Clerk's office they were read the Florida law that bars same-sex marriage. They were then given copies of a booklet on family law in the state.
But, that didn't stop LaChaunce and Alberti. They were married on the courtyard of the courthouse anyway.
"I didn't expect the wondrous, joyous feeling I have now," LaChaunce told the Bradenton Herald following the ceremony that was performed by Rev. Rick Sosbe of Church of the Trinity.
"I thought it would be just routine. But after we put the politics behind us, it was all about love."
A second lesbian couple, Sue Clayton and Sheila Serrao, was also married in the courtyard by Sosbe.
About 50 friends and curious onlookers who were at the courthouse on business watched the ceremonies. Sarasota County Courthouse employees also looked on but did not interrupt the weddings.
Sosbe concluded each wedding with the words, "I pronounce your marriage good, affirmed and recognized as good and real and true and that you stand united as a married couple in the pathway of life."
But, despite the words, the weddings are not recognized by either the state or the federal governments.
Lesbian Couple Have Marriage License Refused - Marry Anyway
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