Gay Couple Denied Marriage License at City Hall


Bob and Bill Sullivan (L-R) have been together for 20 years. They'll be among a group of couples to request marriage licenses at City Hall on Valentine's Day.

Bob and Bill Sullivan (L-R) have been together for 20 years.

On Thursday I reported that a group of same-sex couples were going to protest Pennsylvania’s gay marriage ban by strolling into City Hall to request a marriage license. The whole thing happened this morning, and this is what NBC 10 reports happened to one of those couples, Bob and Bill Sullivan of South Philadelphia:

The pair sought the license Tuesday but officials with the Philadelphia Marriage License Bureau say they’re sympathetic to the request but must wait for courts to rule on the issue in Pennsylvania.

Bill and Bob were the first same-sex couple to get married in Vermont in 2009, but upon moving back to Philadelphia their marriage became null and void. Bill told me last week that they weren’t expecting City Hall to hand over a license today, but he believes the act of capturing the actual refusal “will be a powerful way to demonstrate what the process has been for us publicly.”