Ohio hasn't said "I do" to same-sex marriage — but that's not stopping couples. Standing on Ceremony — a series of micro-plays that examine same-sex marriage — is coming to Cleveland Public Theatre from March 5 to 21. Attendees can plot the places they fell in love on maps and tell their own tales. So we asked 31-year-old Tristta Kuykendall to share the story of her marriage to Rebecca Fischel. They got a marriage certificate in Chicago in March and held a June ceremony in Cleveland.
Becca is my person. She just has that personality that you want to be around all the time.
We didn't go to Chicago with the intention of that being our marriage day. We referred to it as our paperwork day because we weren't able to do our paperwork in Ohio.
Our big day was in June, when we had our friends and our family celebrating with us. We got married at the Cleveland Airport Marriott. They included language on their website saying though Ohio does not recognize same-sex marriage, they were happy to host a wedding for same-sex couples.
We walked each other down the aisle because we had been together for six years at that point, and we wanted it to be very symbolic that we have come this far together. We just felt so much love. It was kind of symbolic at that moment, because even though it's not legally recognized in Ohio, our family and friends were very much supportive of us.
Even though I appreciate the progress being made, I find myself in situations where regardless of what the state decides, people are becoming more accepting all on their own. It can only get better from here.
— as told to James Bigley II
