The weddings were initially supposed to cost US$100 a pop. They ended up being free.
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Y’all-Mart, a quarterly art fair in Columbia, capital of the US state of South Carolina, advertised as a “flea market for Southern eclectic folks”, recently hosted eight free gay weddings as a fundraiser.
Stoked by an Instagram post on January 20 beckoning people to “come get gay married at Y’all-Mart”, the fundraiser surpassed its goal of US$2,000, and organisers subsequently made their wedding packages free, complete with cupcakes, flowers, photography and bolo ties.
The mass wedding raised more than US$3,500, which will go to cover fees required for those wishing to change their legal name or assigned gender to do so. Filing this paperwork costs US$150.
The LGBTQ couples all had their own reasons for wanting to get married at an art fair, but one common thread was the uncertainty that their marriage would be legal by the time they could plan a more traditional wedding.
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On January 27, the House of Representatives in the state of Idaho called for the US Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell vs Hodges, the 2015 ruling that extended marriage rights to LGBTQ couples.