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Minnesota, Rhode Island celebrate first anniversary of marriage equality

Minnesota, Rhode Island celebrate first anniversary of marriage equality
Stacy Bengs, APMargaret Miles, right, celebrates with wife Cathy ten Broeke, left, after they were married at the Minneapolis Freedom to Marry Celebration and Weddings, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013 at the Minneapolis City Hall.
Stacy Bengs, AP
Margaret Miles, right, celebrates with wife Cathy ten Broeke, left, after they were married at the Minneapolis Freedom to Marry Celebration and Weddings, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013 at the Minneapolis City Hall.

It’s been a year since same-sex couples in Minnesota and Rhode Island gained the right to legally marry.

The anniversary of the two states allowing same-sex marriage arrived Friday. It was a quieter scene than last year when couples lined up to exchange vows at the stroke of midnight.

Both states legalized marriage equality through their state legislatures last year, becoming the 12th and 13th states to legalize same-sex marriage when their laws came into effect on August 1, 2013.

Since then, thousands of gay couples have obtained marriage licenses in the two states in the first year.


Relive the day: Story and photos from Minnesota and Rhode Island


In the year since, same-sex marriage has become legal in six more states — Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Pennsylvania — and bans have been overturned in several others but those cases continue to make their way through the federal courts.

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