SW Same-Sex Couple First in Line for Midnight Mpls. Marriages Aug. 1

Two women from Southwest Minneapolis will be one of the first two couples to be married at Minneapolis City Hall just after midnight on Aug. 1, 2013, according a press release from Mayor R.T. Rybak's office. 

Margaret Miles and Cathy ten Broeke are residents of Southwest Minneapolis, according to the Southwest Journal, which featured them in a  a 2004 story about marriage equality. 

A press release from Rybak's office told more about the couple: 


Minneapolis residents Margaret Miles and Cathy ten Broeke met as coworkers at St. Stephen’s Human Services in Minneapolis. Cathy is Minnesota’s Director to Prevent and End Homelessness and Margaret is the Director of Development and Communications for St. Stephen’s Human Services. In 2001, they held a festive commitment ceremony, which earned a small feature in Minnesota Bride magazine. They have a five-year-old son, Louie.


Ms. ten Broeke and Ms. Miles said, “We have been 100% committed as a family for 12 years. The legal recognition of our commitment by our beloved Minnesota means that our family will have the legal support and protection that every family wants. We are deeply grateful that our son’s generation will grow up knowing not only that they are held in the arms of a loving community, but are also embraced by the protections and privileges that this legal recognition gives.


“We are honored to have our ceremony officiated by Mayor R.T. Rybak, who has been a leader in bringing marriage equality to Minnesota,” they added.


The other couple first in line to be married by Rybak that night are Al Giraud and Jeff Isaacson, who were first in line for a marriage license June 6 at Hennepin County Government Center, according to the Southwest Journal. 

"From 1:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. on August 1, Mayor Rybak will conduct one by one the weddings of the approximately 40 other couples that have asked to be married in Minneapolis City Hall on that day," according to the mayor's press release. Rybak's staff did not release the names of other couples among those first 40.