Dan Barker, a staff member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and former minister whose ordination is still valid, was invited to officiate at the wedding of Barb (left) and Molly (right), a lesbian couple. This was the first gay marriage Dan has officiated at. Making the ceremony even more ground-breaking was the fact that the happy event–complete with flowers, candles, rings, music, and an audience of supportive family and friends–was conducted live on WTDY radio (Madison, Wis). The secular April 14 event was billed as: “A lesbian wedding/civil protest, in the name of love.”
Morning talk show host Lee Rayburn (“The Experience”) turned his studio into a wedding chapel to challenge those working to deny marriage to same-sex couples. Gay marriage has become a major state/church issue, since most of the opposition to gay rights and gay marriage is church-led. “You right-wingers, why don’t you come down here and protest love?” Rayburn said during the broadcast.
Same-sex marriages are not legal in Wisconsin (yet), so Molly and Barb did not have a license from the county. But that did not stop them from announcing to the world that they are a “loving couple.” A festive reception, with wedding cake, followed the wedding at Barb and Molly’s new home.
