Philly couple got N.J. gay marriage rolling

Philly couple got N.J. gay marriage rolling
PHILADELPHIA Louis Navarrete
and Ric Best never wanted
to be pioneers. They loved
each other, and they wanted
to make it official.
On March 8, 2004, in
Asbury Park, N.J., they did. It
was the first same-sex marriage
in the history of New
Jersey, and it put Asbury
Park into the vanguard of
gay-friendly cities testing the
waters of same-sex marriage.
The honeymoon didn’t
last long. Within hours,
state Attorney General Peter
Harvey proclaimed the ceremony
invalid and went to
court to bar the city from
issuing more licenses.
Nearly two years later, the
couple awaits the outcome of
a New Jersey Supreme Court
case they hope will make
their union legally binding —
even though they contend it
already is. Known as Lewis v.
Harris, the case was brought
by seven same-sex couples
who say the state is violating
its own Constitution by denying
them marriage licenses.
The two had been together
for 15 years when they got
the idea to wed.
Best was watching Ellen
Degeneres’ talk show on television
one day when the
news broke in with a report
about President Bush
announcing plans to seek a
constitutional amendment
banning gay marriage.
“It angered me, and when
Louis came home, I said,
‘Let’s get a license,’” said Best.
They went down to City
Hall, paid $28 for a marriage
license and waited the requisite
72 hours.
With Deputy Mayor James
Bruno officiating and a
dozen friends as witnesses,
they tied the knot in a City
Hall conference room.
Word spread quickly. Sixteen
marriage licenses were
issued before the state intervened.
For Best and Navarrete, the
little wedding quickly turned
into something else. Overnight,
they became folk heroes
in New Jersey’s gay rights
movement. JOHN CURRAN
Associated Press