From Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi, gay couples traveled to this quaint Panhandle city on Tuesday, eager to take part in a historic moment: the arrival of same-sex marriage in the Deep South."We came because it felt like home," said Virginia Jeffries, 30, of Foley, Ala. "And because if we waited for Alabama, we'd be waiting forever."
"I have to confess, when I was first approached about coming here, I thought no way," said the Rev. Dr. Jim Merritt, who moved to Pensacola several months ago to become the senior pastor of Holy Cross Metropolitan Community Church. He married his partner of 20 years on Tuesday in one of many same-sex weddings performed at the church.
A Tuesday regular at the diner, Earl Barrett, 72, and his two breakfast companions voted in favor of Florida's gay marriage ban in 2008. Look up the definition of marriage in Webster's Dictionary, they instructed, citing a core text for gay marriage opponents. (The dictionary amended the definition several years ago to include same-sex couples.)
"I'm a Roman Catholic," Barrett said. "For me, I can see how, civilly, they have the right to the benefits of marriage. But religiously, I can't support it."Tampabay.com