Area Lesbians Make History with Montco-Issued Marriage License

For all the media coverage of the issue of same-gender marriage in Pennsylvania, and for all the uproar over Montgomery County’s Register of Wills issuing marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples and despite the fact that a lone Easttown Police officer kept a vigil in a marked car in the parking lot, the first wedding of its kind at Main Line Unitarian Church went off without a hitch over the weekend.

Actually, two people did get hitched, just like a heterosexual couple had, only a few hours before by the same minister in the same church.

Tammy Davis and Nicole Cucinotta became Mrs. And Mrs. Cucinotta during a ceremony in front of 30 friends and family at the Main Line Unitarian Church on South Valley Road.  It was both a remarkable and unremarkable ceremony on several levels.   

First, it looked and felt any of a millions of “traditional” wedding ceremonies joining not only two people, but their children into a new blended family.  Personalized vows written by the couple touched not only their relationship with each other, but with their relationships with the two teen girls and one teenage boy who are part of this newly blended and officially-blessed-by-the-Unitarian Church family. Rings were exchanged, the happy couple shared a kiss and walked happily down the aisle to greet friends and family.   

What set this wedding apart was that when they were presented to the congregation it was as ‘Mrs. and Mrs.’ Cucinotta. It is the first time this Main Line Church had conducted a same-sex ceremony as an actual marriage ceremony. 

The Rev. Morgan McLean is herself a (heterosexual) newlywed who, according to an official church press release “chose to stand on the side of love and will continue to sign licenses, perform marriage ceremonies and speak out on this extremely significant topic.”   

Shortly after performing the wedding ceremony, she explained that this Unitarian church has long endorsed marriage equality. Until now, she told Patch, she had not had the opportunity to sign a marriage certificate issued for a gay or lesbian couple in Pennsylvania. The signing of  a marriage certificate makes it official, the minister told Patch. Cucinotta and Davis were among the first five couples in line when Montgomery County Register of Wills Bruce Hanes made it clear he would issue marriage license for same-gender couples.   

Nicole Cucinotta told Patch she and Davis had hoped to be first in line, but a work obligation made that impossible. They are the first to ever be officially married at Main Line Unitarian Church. The license was signed by Rev. McLean and returned along with the $32 fee, thus making the marriage official.    

Now comes the less clear part: waiting to see if there will be a court challenge to the Cucinotta and other same-gender marriages and what the outcome of any court case might be.   

Until the licenses Hanes has issued are ruled invalid by a court, Rev. McLean says the Cucinotta marriage is legal and it certainly has the blessing of her church.  

The Cucinottas were concerned after reports of a court challenged surfaced in the middle of last week. They wanted to get married before a court put the issuing of licenses to gay and lesbian couples on hold. They put the wedding ceremony and reception together in about 72 hours and took their vows before any court case was filed that might have invalidated their marriage license.

For now, the new Mrs. and Mrs. Cucinotta are celebrating with their three children. The celebration started with a typical wedding reception for friends and family Saturday evening. The reception included toasts, cutting the cake and, other than the genders of the happy couple, nothing atypical of the countless wedding celebrations that happen in Chester County and around the Commonwealth every weekend this time of year.  

“We needed to move forward now,” Nicole Cucinotta told Patch.  “If we had not gotten married, there would be nothing to challenge in the courts.”  While the couple is hoping their marriage will not be challenged, the issue could not be challenged in court without a marriage being put to the test.   

Saturday’s ceremony went off without incident. Easttown and Radnor Police were nearby, keeping a very low-key watch in case of protestors at the church. None appeared.  

The Main Line Unitarian Church will keep a close eye on developments in the Montgomery County Register of Wills office.  “Many members of the Main Line Unitarian Church, people I love and care for, face the heart-breaking reality that their love cannot be legally recognized in Pennsylvania.  It is past time to treat couples in love equally under the law,” Rev. McLean said.