First gay couple receives license to marry locally

By: NICKOLAS FONTENOT
Staff Reporter

Jennifer Charlie and Kirstie West are the first to apply for, and gain, a same-sex marriage certificate in Evangeline Parish.
Charlie, a 26-year-old paramedic from Ville Platte, and West, a Walgreens shift leader from Many, Louisiana, planned to have exchanged vows on Saturday, July 11. Both women are excited that they are to be the first same-sex marriage in Evangeline Parish.
“Being the first couple to be married under this new equal-marriage-rights law means that we can stand up and be proud of who we are, and never again have to be ashamed as individuals,” West said. “We are in many ways liberated, and one of the things that we are most excited to obtain, is the ability to be legally married; just like any heterosexual couple. We sincerely hope that we can show LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) and other minorities that people are born without hate, they are taught to hate; just like we can teach children to hate, we can teach our children love and acceptance.
It took only the couple a few days to apply for a marriage license following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision on Friday, June 26 that declared that gay couples have right to marry anywhere in the United States.
“This is the beginning of a new era consisting of love for all people,” West said. “I believe that all these senseless hate crimes that we see on the news will decrease dramatically.”
In the early 1970’s, when the fight for LGBT equality officially began, the fight was for the decriminalization of consensual sex between same-sex couples, forbidding decriminalization based on sexual orientation in public accommodations. The movement gained steam nationally in late 1990’s, when comedian and television star Ellen DeGeneres came out as a gay in a one-hour prime-time television event in 1997, which drew 46 million viewers.
Television shows and movies about the LGBT community became commonplace across the entertainment landscape.
Charlie for one believes that has helped foster a sense of acceptance.
“I personally think that since many people often take what celebrities say so seriously, and look up to them as role models, then yes, celebrities can actually set-the-stage, so-to-speak, for world change,” Charlie said.
Now the two are married, the couple looks forwards to no longer having to deal with the hurdles that presented same-sex couples in the past. Hospitals only allow visitation to immediate family when severe injuries occur. Before that meant that neither woman could visit the other if something happened. Not to mention now both will get the health-care benefits if the other passes away, insurance polices can now placed in one another’s name.
Not to mention, now West and Charlie can officially add to their family.
“The most important benefit of a legal marriage is the fact that we can have children and a legitimately legal family,” Charlie said. “We can make joint legal decisions for our children and for both partners to have equal parental rights of the children.”