A Lesbian Couple Were Married at Last Night’s Indigo Girls Concert

If you were in the audience at last evening’s Indigo Girl’s concert at the Kimmel Center, you witnessed a marriage. You just didn’t know it was going on, and that was the point.

Yes, this may sound strange, but amongst the music and huge crowd, Jane Kelly and Martha (MJ) Harrison “tied the knot” in quite a unique way: via a Quaker marriage, otherwise known as Pennsylvania’s self-nniting marriage procedure. The Kimmel PR folks told us that a Quaker Marriage “allows couples to get married without the presence of a third-party wedding officiant (minister or judge). The ceremony is apparently non-denominational and some states don’t recognize the unions; however, it has reportedly taken place in Pennsylvania for centuries due to the state’s Quaker origins and history of religious tolerance.”

Ms. Kelly and Ms. Harrison, both residents of Philadelphia since 2011, met during New Years Eve in 2010. Ms. Kelly said the couple picked the concert to perform the ceremony because they are not only fond of the Indigo Girls, but the music “played a big part in [their] relationship.”

Jane Kelly and MJ Harrison with the Indigo Girls.

“When we found out they would be playing at the Kimmel Center with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, it just made sense to use Pennsylvania’s self-uniting marriage Quaker tradition,” said Ms. Kelly. The couple had a private perception at Barbuzzo restaurant earlier in the day with friends and family.

“We wanted to make this event speak to the things, people and places in our lives that matter to us and that’s just what we did,” said Ms. Kelly.

The couple silently exchanged rings in the fifth row of Verizon Hall during the third number of the concert, essentially unnoticed by the entire audience. This was, of course, the intention of the entire ceremony. Later, the newly wed couple met both Amy Ray and Emily Saliers after the rousing performance.