Throwback Tulsa: Oklahoma's first same-sex marriage license issued on this day in 2014
The joke among supporters of marriage equality is that all couples, regardless of orientation, deserve the right to be stressed out and miserable on their wedding day.
If that’s the case, then marriage equality reached Oklahoma 10 years ago today.
Same-sex couples took the plunge in Tulsa County after the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal by Oklahoma and four other states — Indiana, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin — seeking to keep same-sex marriages illegal in those states.
October 2014 video: 'A joyous day' as Tulsa County’s first gay couples apply for marriage licenses at the Tulsa County Courthouse.
Same Sex Marriage
Sharon Baldwin (left) and Mary Bishop raise their wedding bouquets after a ceremony outside the Tulsa County Courthouse in Tulsa on Monday, October 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Judge Jane Wiseman (right) of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals officiates the wedding ceremony of Sharon Baldwin (left) and Mary Bishop as they stand with Toby Jenkins (center), then-executive director of Oklahomans for Equality, outside the Tulsa County Courthouse on Oct. 6, 2014. The couple had fought a decade-long federal court battle for same-sex marriage.
Same Sex Marriage
Mary Bishop listens as Sharon Baldwin recites her wedding vows during a ceremony outside the Tulsa County Courthouse in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Mary Bishop (left) and Sharon Baldwin greet supporters after their wedding ceremony outside the Tulsa County Courthouse in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals Judge Jane Wiseman smiles during a wedding ceremony outside the Tulsa County Courthouse for Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Sharon Baldwin (left) and Mary Bishop (center) embrace during their wedding ceremony outside the Tulsa County Courthouse in Tulsa as Toby Jenkins (right), executive director of Oklahomans for Equality, becomes emotional on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Sharon (left) and Mary Bishop-Baldwin kiss after they are pronounced legally married outside the Tulsa County Courthouse as Toby Jenkins (right), executive director of Oklahomans for Equality, holds a flower bouquet on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Mary Bishop-Baldwin raises her wedding bouquet as she stands with her sister-in-law Jan Baldwin (left); mother, Fern Peery (center in tan scarf); stepmother-in-law, Beverly Baldwin; father-in-law, Richard Baldwin; and wife, Sharon Bishop-Baldwin (right) after a wedding ceremony outside the Tulsa County Courthouse in Tulsa.
Same Sex Marriage
Mary Bishop (right) hugs a supporter as her partner, Sharon Baldwin (center), and supporter Jennie Wachowski (left) stand nearby after a press conference at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014. Bishop and Baldwin were the first same-sex couple in Oklahoma to receive a marriage license and were legally married later that day.
Same Sex Marriage
Mary Bishop (right) hugs a supporter as her partner Sharon Baldwin (center) and attorney Don Holladay (left) stand nearby after a press conference at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014. Bishop and Baldwin were the first same-sex couple in Oklahoma to receive a marriage license.
Same Sex Marriage
Attorney Joe Thai (center) takes part in a press conference with Gay Phillips (left), Sue Barton, Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin (right) at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Sharon Baldwin speaks at a press conference at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa with Mary Bishop (right), Gay Phillips (left) and Sue Barton (seated) on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Gay Phillips (right) stands with her wife, Sue Barton (left), during a press conference at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014. The two were co-plaintiffs with Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin in Oklahoma's marriage-equality lawsuit.
Same Sex Marriage
Georgia Andrews (right), Ralph Weidling and Jesus Jimenez (left) applaud during a press conference regarding same-sex marriage at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Attorneys Joe Thai (left) and Don Holladay take part in a press conference at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Attorney Don Holladay (left) takes part in a press conference with Mary Bishop, attorney Joe Thai and Sharon Baldwin (right) at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Sharon Baldwin (center) hugs attorney Joe Thai (right) while looking at her partner, Mary Bishop, after a press conference at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014.
Same Sex Marriage
Sharon Baldwin (left) and Mary Bishop, two Tulsa women at the center of a gay marriage case that was appealed to the Supreme Court, apply for their marriage license on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014 at the Tulsa County Courthouse.
Same Sex Marriage
Sharon Baldwin (left) and Mary Bishop, two Tulsa women at the center of a gay marriage case that was appealed to the Supreme Court, sign their marriage license application on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014 at the Tulsa County Courthouse.
Same Sex Marriage
Toby Jenkins, executive director of Oklahomans for Equality, smiles as Sharon Baldwin (not pictured) and Mary Bishop (left), two Tulsa women at the center of a gay marriage case that was appealed to the Supreme Court, accept their marriage license on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014, at the Tulsa County Courthouse in Tulsa.
Same Sex Marriage
Mary Bishop (right), one of two Tulsa women at the center of a gay marriage case that was appealed to the Supreme Court, greets a gay couple as they also apply for a marriage license on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014, at the Tulsa County Courthouse in Tulsa.
Same Sex Marriage
The marriage license of Sharon Baldwin and Mary Bishop, two Tulsa women at the center of a gay marriage case that was appealed to the Supreme Court, is seen on Monday, October 6, 2014, at the Tulsa County Courthouse in Tulsa.
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