“Married! We’re married!” sang Solo Adame as they walked out of the courtroom with their new wife. “There’s no going back from this one, baby.”
Adame and Cassandra Ynojosa made things official at the Travis County Probate Courthouse Friday morning as they held hands, cried and exchanged rings. County Judge Bianca Garcia officiated the ceremony and declared them "spouse and wife."
“I have so many feelings going on right now,” Adame said after the ceremony. “This is a huge step for me, for us.”
This is Travis County’s second year offering free ceremonies to couples during Pride Month, but unlike last year’s one-day event, couples could pick from several days this week.
This week marks the ninth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which states that bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. On the same day as the ruling, the Travis County Clerk's Office issued hundreds of marriage licenses.
"People just showed up with cupcakes and cakes and cheer[ed] on the couples outside," said County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado. "So it's a beautiful part of our history ... and we want to continue to uplift and remind people that while it is a celebration now, it was a long fight for many, many decades. And that's not something we want to ever take for granted."
This year, about 40 couples tied the knot at the county's event.
Adame and Ynojosa drove over three hours to get to Travis County for their ceremony. They live in San Angelo and wanted to celebrate their special day without fear of discrimination.
“I held a Pride event over there and they would protest against it, so it’s not very accepting over there,” Ynojosa said. “To come over here and it being so accepting … it was huge.”
June 28 is already a special day for LGBTQ+ Pride as it commemorates the anniversary of the riots at the Stonewall Inn bar in Manhattan in 1969. It also happens to be Adame’s birthday. Now, on top of that, it'll be the couple's wedding anniversary.
“I’ll never forget this day,” Adame said.
Judge Garcia said multiple judges volunteered their time to officiate weddings throughout the week. Couples didn’t necessarily have to be LGBTQ+ couples.
“I wanted to be a part of this day to celebrate love,” she said. “And really commemorate how far we’ve come, but also how far we still have left to go.”
Another couple tying the knot Friday, Jasmine Johnson and DesMonique Farris, decided to come to the Travis County Probate Courthouse only three days prior. They kept pushing off their wedding to plan out something big with all their loved ones.
“But then I was like, the more time passes by … life's too short,” Johnson said. “We told some friends, and we told some family members, but not everybody.”
The people they did tell about the last-minute ceremony were shocked but excited. Four people were able to make it to their celebration. Farris said they had to rush to get outfits ready — Johnson didn’t have a dress until the night before.
“I’m extremely nervous,” Farris said. “But I’m probably only nervous because I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”
