Until this summer, Susan Walker and Suzanne Skelley didn't plan on getting married. The two women had been together for 20-plus years — their commitment was clear, Walker said, and a marriage wouldn't carry the same legal standing as that of heterosexual couples.
That changed in June, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 unconstitutional. The law denied federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. Once it was struck down, Walker said, she and Skelley, both federal employees who live in Washington, decided to tie the knot. Walker said her reaction to the ruling was "absolute joy."
