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Same-Sex Marriage at
Hancock Courthouse
Echo photo illustration by Jason Platz
Two men married each other this week at the Hancock County Courthouse in Bay St. Louis. It was the first such ceremony in Hancock County since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling which declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
BY DWAYNE BREMER Staff Writer
wo weeks after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision which ordered all states to allow same-sex marriages, at least two couples have applied to be married in Hancock County, records show.
The supreme court handed down its decision on June 26; however, due to a pending case in the U.S. District Court of Appeals, Mississippi did not begin complying with the supreme court mandate until June 29.
In the past two weeks, there have been at least two applica-
L It’s everyone’s right to get married and be happy. Marriage is about love. I just hope that people will be getting married because they love each other instead of just because they can.’ - Cara Coley
tions filed at Hancock County Circuit Clerk's Office, with at least one of those couples already getting married.
The new law allows for any two adults to become legally married as lor?g as they abide by local regulations such as providing a valid driver's license or birth certificate and paying a $22 fee to the circuit court.
The reaction to the supreme court ruling has been hailed by
many as "overdue and needed."
Local resident Cara Coley, who had to go to California to get married a few years ago, said people no longer have to go "out of their way" to get married.
"It's everyone's right to get married and be happy," she said. "Marriage is about love. I just hope that people will be getting married because they love each other instead of just because they can."