Put it on your calendars now: if you voted yes on Question 6, thus helping Maryland be one of the first states to legalize marriage equality by popular vote, then you’re invited to Chris and Shawn Riley’s “big gay public Maryland wedding” the second weekend of April 2013. A week before the election, Chris Riley told the internet that if Question 6 passed, he would “invite ANYONE that votes YES to my wedding ceremony.” He’s making good on that promise — so we have a feeling it’ll be a pretty crazy party.
“I thought that it would maybe help sway votes in our favor if people [who would not ordinarily have the chance to attend a same-sex wedding] got the opportunity to witness first hand what a gay wedding looks like,” Chris told Southern Maryland Online. And no, it’s not just a bid to get as many wedding presents as possible (who could handle that many woks?); in lieu of gifts, the Rileys are asking attendees to donate $5 to the Human Rights Campaign.
“It’s sort of turning into a two-sided story here. One side of it is thanking all of the ones in Maryland who did vote for our marriage and would like to actually see the fruits of their labor…and the other side of it is to raise the money to keep the fight going,” Chris said.
The couple is in the process of finding LGBT-friendly vendors for their spring 2013 wedding. It will certainly be quite different from their April, 2010 civil marriage ceremony in D.C., which was attended by about 15 close family and friends. You can follow the wedding planning on Chris and Shawn’s wedding blog.
