Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a
Democrat, on Wednesday married longtime partner Marlon Reis, marking
the first same-sex wedding of a sitting governor in the United
States.
According to NPR, the couple's
traditional Jewish ceremony was held at the University of Colorado in
Boulder, which is Reis' alma mater.
“The greatest lesson we have learned
over the past 18 months is that life as we know it can change in an
instant,” Polis said in a tweet. “We are thankful for the
opportunity to celebrate our life together as a married couple.”
“After 18 years together, we couldn't
be happier to be married at last,” he added.
The couple, who are raising two
children, got engaged in December as Reis was preparing to go to the
hospital as he battled a coronavirus infection.
“I was getting my things ready,”
Reis
said at the time. “My daughter was crying in the corner – she
didn't want me to go. My son was asking me a lot of technical
questions: 'When are you coming back? Do they know exactly what's
wrong?' It was a very tense moment.”
Polis, the nation's first openly gay
elected governor, assured him he was going to be okay, then got down
on one knee and proposed.
“It was the absolute perfect time,”
Reis said. “I said to him, 'I couldn't breathe before. Now I really
can't breathe.'”
The couple's 7-year-old daughter served
as their flower girl and their 9-year-old son was the ring bearer.