Amid roses and camera clicks, day of vows

Chris McCary and John Sullivan, the first on the damp steps of Provincetown's town hall., came from Anniston, Ala., and drove through the night for their place in line. Chris, a divorce attorney, said it was important to them to make their union of six years legally binding.

The next to arrive, the Rev. Lynette Curley-Roam and her soon-to-be wife Ellen Curley-Roam, drove from Long Island, where she devotes her Independent Catholic ministry to the needs of gays and lesbians. Though the pair had a civil union a year and a half ago, they decided they couldn't miss the real thing. Marrying so many others over the years, Ms. Curley-Roam says, has sharpened her desire to make those promises herself.

But the desperate attentions of TV crews left her feeling a little cold. "All these cameras - I wish we could do it without all this hoopla," she says. "But then again, we are at the forefront of the civil rights movement; that's what it's all about."

At least some locals don't mind the attention. "It's a little bit of an overwhelm for a small New England fishing village, but anytime somebody stops you and says 'Hi, I'm so and so from NBC or CBS or Fox,' it's kind of fun," says Patricia Fitzpatrick, the town's director of tourism. Besides, she says, an anticipated boom in the number of couples honeymooning at the gay-friendly resort will do wonders for the local economy. "We're becoming literally a gay Niagara Falls," she says.

There were similar theatrics at Boston's City Hall, where about 50 couples were standing in line by 9 a.m. People handed out flowers and candy along the L-shaped line leading into the imposing stone building.

Many couples said they chose to get their license Monday because of the historical significance. Others said they were motivated by a sense of apprehension.

"We could have done it later in the week, but with the governor working against us, we did not want to take any chances," says Stephen Kyle of Boston. "We wanted to make sure we were legally married before anyone can stop us."

While about a dozen protesters from the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, D.C. kneeled in prayer, opposition to the event was subdued.

The same was true in Northampton in the Connecticut River Valley, where 50 couples - about 40 of them female - waited amid cheering crowds.

One resident wore a T-shirt reading "Straight But Pro-Gay Marriage." Another group of women and children held signs that read "Love Does Not Discriminate" and "Equality At Last."

On a park-side bench in Provincetown, partners Mary Kay Burgan and Ivy Frances of Scituate, Mass., had a front-row view of the celebrations. Though not marrying Monday, the couple appreciated being here.

"This is the enlightenment of the rest of society happening on those steps," says Ms. Frances.

• John Nordell and Elizabeth Armstrong contributed to this report.

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