Kevin Schmotzer has worked for the city of Cleveland for almost 17 years. And for almost 15 of those years, the 52-year-old has been in a committed relationship with 44-year-old Lawrence Carter. So, when Mayor Frank Jackson sought to officiate his first LGBT wedding, Kevin was a logical pick for the honor. There was just one catch: Kevin and Lawrence hadn't even planned on getting married. To fix that situation, Kevin asked Lawrence at Pier W on July 11 and surprised him five days later with a wedding at The 9's 70-seat Alex Theater and an intimate reception in the Vault.
Kevin: "I just kept him in the dark on everything. We had our dogs [at the wedding]. Nemo was in a tux, and Bitzy and RooRoo were in wedding gowns. We got in the car, went downtown, and I knew everybody was going to be there at 6:30 p.m. They were corralled around the building so Lawrence wouldn't see them. Right at 7 p.m., the giant billboard was going to have our photo turn on with the question: •Will you spend the rest of your life with me, Lawrence?' So we walked up, and as we were getting closer, he saw the billboard. Then we went around the corner, and that's when he saw the close family and friends that were waiting."
Lawrence: "I was actually very struck at how normal it all was. The ceremony became not just about us getting married, but about everybody that helped us get here. People asked me after if being married is different, because we've been together for 15 years. And I said it actually did change only because I always felt like we were the one-off. Now, we're like everybody else. People were just generally happy because they knew we were going through something special. It wasn't that we were gay guys anymore. That wasn't what was defining us. It was that we were two people that fell in love."
