Same Sex Couple Prepares For Wedding In Montgomery County
By Syma Chowdhry
ABINGTON, Pa. (CBS) -- What turned out to be a celebration has now turned into a full blown wedding.
Ana Maria Garcia is experiencing the type of stress any bride would the day before her wedding.
By her side to calm her down is her fiancé, Carol Wolf.
After 25 years together and 10 years after adopting their son Lucas, the two will say I do.
"I turned to Carol and said, 'Do you want to get married?'" Ana Maria Garcia.
It's perfect timing, if you ask them.
"The week after we announced our engagement is when Obama came out in favor of marriage equality, and several days before our wedding is when DOMA falls," Carol explains.
The couple is tying the knot at Abington Friends. It is the first sex-same marriage taking place at this Quaker meetinghouse in its 300-year history.
"The Quakers have always led in terms of social consciousness, so it makes sense they would be the ones to do it," Ana Maria says.
Gay marriage and civil-unions are not recognized in Pennsylvania – unlike in neighboring states.
Delaware is legalizing gay marriage starting Monday, while New Jersey recognizes civil unions.
"Pennsylvania will catch up -- maybe, soon, I hope," Carol says.
State Representative Brian Sims hopes so too. He says he is thrilled that the Defense of Marriage Act was shot down this week by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"It certainly bolsters the effort that many of us have been making in the state over the last couple of years, and especially in the last few months," Sims says.
Some lawmakers – like State Representative Paul Clymer – don't want the laws to change.
"Marriage being defined as one man, one woman, is, historically, the right way to raise children, nurture children," Clymer says.
"It's wrong. They're wrong," disagrees Carol.
Wolf and Garcia have raised Lucas since he was two months old. They say good parenting isn't limited to heterosexual couples.
"It disrespects the many single women, single dads, grandparents, aunts and uncles, blended families that work so hard," Ana Maria explains.
The couple hopes opponents of gay marriage look at them not as a threat to society, but as human beings.
"Needing what you need, right? Love and stability," Ana Maria says.
And that's what they'll celebrate this weekend.
