First Same-Sex Marriages Take Place in Brooklyn

After 48 years of coupledom, on Sunday morning Barbara Pilgrim, 83, and Geraldine Whigsett, 76, finally tied the knot.

The Park Slope pair were the first couple to officially wed in Brooklyn this morning. The Marriage Equality Actand officially went into effect on Sunday, extending marriage rights to LGBT couples in New York State.

Pilgrim and Whigsett were the at the Brooklyn Municipal Building, arriving to wait in line before 5:30 a.m. and opting to officially tie the knot in the Brooklyn City Clerk’s office, just after 9 a.m.

“It was love at first sight,” said Whigsett, who met Pilgrim working at the now shuttered Youth In Action center in Bed-Stuy.

Across the street at Borough Hall, the second marriage of the day was performed.

Decked out in two white dresses, Downtown Brooklyn couple Stacey Minondo, 50 and Barbara Tremblay, 40, were wed by a judge in a courtroom on the second floor of the elaborate Greek Revival building.

Minondo and Tremblay had been together for nearly eight years, and though they had a “ceremony of love” last year, they wanted to wait until it was legal in New York State to actually wed.

"We've been waiting a long time to be equal. It's our civil right,” said Tremblay. “It's a great day for New York City, it’s a great day for New York State."

“We shouldn't discriminate based on who you love,” added Minondo.

All in all, 112 couples won spots to marry in Brooklyn this morning, opting to either wed in the City Clerk’s office or before a judge, priest or rabbi in a free ceremony at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Though New York State typically requires a 24- hour waiting period to wed after receiving a marriage license, the city issued waivers today for couple, many of which wed after decades of waiting. Downstairs on a rotunda, a modest reception was set up where newlyweds could pose for photos.

Borough President Marty Markowitz, who attended some of the Borough Hall ceremonies, grew teary-eyed as Minondo and Tremblay wed.

“The greatest thing that has happened to me meeting my wife 12 years ago and taking our vows across the street,” said Markowitz. “I hope they share the love and joy I share with my wife. When two people are willing to put their names legally on paper together, it means that they feel so strongly about their commitment and that it’s true love.”

Paris Fields, 47 and Clifton Murdoc, 55, were the third couple to wed this morning in Brooklyn. The Park Slope couple has been together for 24 years.

“We’ve been waiting for 24 years for this to happen and we never knew it would happen. We weren’t going to go to another state, it should come to us, and it did,” said Fields. “This day means that I can go home and do the dishes with my legal spouse! It recognizes our two and a half decades of our relationship.”

Boerum Hill residents Darlene Miranda, 36 and Cristine Junquera, 35 have been together for 11 years.

"Today feels more real then ever," said Miranda. "Our commitment has always been there, but is it’s great to be finally recognized.”

“We never won anything in our lives, but we won the lottery!" said Junquera. "They left three messages and now we feel like superstars.”

After Whigsett and Pilgrim’s marriage, they planned to eat their first meal as wife and wife at McDonald’s, ravished after hours spent waiting in line to be the first couple to tie the knot in Brooklyn.

And as Whigsett explained her plans, finally, for the first time, Whigsett was able to refer to Pilgrim as her “wife.”

Paul Leonard contributed to this report.