Many same-sex couples in Washington were planning to get married whether or not the state sanctioned their union. That includes Spike Huntington and Nick Chandler-Klein of Seattle, who are planning a wedding next summer. Spike’s mother, Susan Huntington, is planning to make the trip to Seattle from Newport, Oregon for the ceremony.
"I was just thinking about what this passage of the same-sex marriage law in Washington is going to mean to our family event," Susan says. "Do you think it's going to make any difference?"
"You know, it's really interesting, because for me, I want to say no," Spike answers. "Because I was planning to get married, for years and years and years, even before I met the man that I fell in love with, right?"
"Right."
"But in terms of this specific day with Nick, it's something that having the legal recognition was not important," Spike says. "Yes, it's something I wanted. And I'm glad that we have that now. But this, for me, was more about saying, this is about us. This is about our friends and our family and recognizing the thing that we share, not necessarily being validated by somebody else."
Susan asks, "You didn't plan to be the poster boys for Washington's same-sex marriage then?"
"Right, right," Spike says with a laugh.
"I'm just really excited about what's to come," Susan adds. "I'm really excited for the wedding and I'm excited for all of our friends and family who are thrilled about it. This ballot measure hasn't made any difference as to how happy we are about your relationship with Nick being formalized to the extreme that was possible. And now it's got more possibilities and I'm really happy. I'm happy for you and Nick, and I'm happy for everybody else that is on this cutting edge of history.
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Susan Huntington, speaking to her son Spike Huntington. Their conversation was recorded by Correspondent Chris Lehman