State College mayor holds commitment ceremony for 4 gay couples

Posted on March 31, 2008
Filed Under Gay News Blog

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Mayor Bill Welch presided over a commitment ceremony for four gay couples, even though the state does not legally recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions.

More than 500 people cheered after the ceremony, which looked very much like a wedding, at Penn State University’s Alumni Hall on Saturday. Two groups protested the event, which was organized by a group of Penn State graduate students to start the annual Pride Week for gay, bisexual and transgender students.

The couples , Frank Vasquez and Paul Datti, James Collins and Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kat Sinclair and Delia Guzman, and Amanda Applegate and Donna Coffman , exchanged vows and rings, and sealed their pledges with a kiss.

“We were really nervous, all of us, until we came out of Boucke (Building) and everyone cheered,” Guzman said. “From that point, it was like we were walking on air.”

Steve Glassman, the state Human Relations Commission chairman, contributed readings to the ceremony and called the day “historic.”

State College mayor holds commitment ceremony for 4 gay couples
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA –

Also:

· Pride takes on prejudice with same-sex ceremony Centre Daily Times

· 4 couples take vows, promptingprotest The Patriot-News – PennLive.com

· Events in State College to push legal status of gays into spotlight