 The Rev. Elder Troy Perry, right, and his partner, Phillip Ray De Blieck, were married in Toronto, then returned to California and sue for the right to have their marriage recognized by the state.
The Rev. Elder Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, has been performing wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples for years and years — since 1968, in fact.
But now, thanks to the California Supreme Court’s May ruling declaring that the state must legally recognize same-sex marriages — a ruling, by the way, that came in a case in which Rev. Perry and his partner, Phillip Ray De Blieck, were plaintiffs — he will get to perform his first wedding ceremony that will be sanctioned by the state.
And it will be a special one: Rev. Perry will be performing the wedding ceremony for the Rev. Cindi Love, executive director of the UFMCC in Abilene and former pastor of MCC of Greater Dallas, and her partner, Sue Jennings. (read about Love and Jennings and their reasons for going to California to get married here.)
The wedding is set for June 24 at MCC of Los Angeles.