First legal same-sex marriage performed in Stevensville

Just two days prior to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that makes it illegal for states to ban same-sex marriages, a Stevensville couple took advantage of the ruling last November by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that struck down Montana’s ban.
Cathy Scholtens and Becky Howard have been in love for a long time. They became friends in 1991 and several years later realized that they had fallen in love with each other. In 1998, they celebrated their commitment to each other in a personal ceremony held at Twin Lakes in the Big Hole. Since that time they have been living together. But as of last Wednesday, June 24, they are “officially and legally” married.
The marriage ceremony took place in Stevensville and was performed by Mayor Gene Mim Mack.
“I have known these women since I moved here,” said Mim Mack, “and I was tremendously honored to be asked to perform this ceremony. Personally, I look forward to the day that it’s considered just another wedding and not a statement about justice. And I think it’s great that the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that all Montanans and all U.S. citizens can enjoy the same right to marry the person they love.”
Scholtens said that she and Howard were excited when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Montana’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. She said they talked about it and when it turned out that family members were going to be in state at the same time they decided that the time had come.
“The incredible love and support that we have received from people in the Stevensville community made a big difference in our decision,” said Scholtens.
Howard said, “We have loved each other for such a long time, to actually be married like other people feels really, really good.” She said that the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling making it the law of the land to allow same-sex marriage was wonderful thing.
“In a world with so much discrimination going on it is good to see some of it changed,” she said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling was made on a five to four vote and Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority opinion.
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family,” wrote Kennedy. “In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death… It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
Senator Jon Tester issued a statement saying, “The rights and freedoms of every married couple are now protected regardless of what state they live in. All couples should have the same rights to happiness and protections under the law that my wife Sharla and I enjoy.”