Baton Rouge: Couples want legal matrimony; Pride Fest event blesses gay unions.

[Maddy McCall]

Tom Merrill and Rick Cain considered emigrating to Canada three years ago because they wanted to fulfill their desire to gain legal recognition of their 16-year relationship.

With California’s court decision this past week to recognize same-sex marriages, Merrill, 47, and Cain, 45, said on Saturday they might consider joining other gay couples in relocating to that state to enjoy full marital benefits under the law.

But Louisiana — and the South — is still home for the two men, they said, so for now, they’ll just continue to lobby Louisiana government officials to consider joining Canada, California and other jurisdictions in legalizing same-sex marriages.

And in the interim, they’ll settle for the group blessing of their union, along with other gay and lesbian couples, performed Saturday at Magnolia Mound Park.

The blessing of unions ceremony was performed by a minister during the Baton Rouge Pride Fest’s picnic, one of several events planned this weekend by Merrill and other members of the Metropolitan Community Church of Baton Rouge, which ministers to the homosexual and transgender community.

While the blessing celebrated the relationships of those in attendance, the ceremony was still not quite enough for couples such as Cain and Merrill, who consider themselves married but aren’t legally recognized as such by the state.

“We do. Our families do. Our friends and co-workers do,” said Merrill, a communications specialist with the LSU AgCenter. “Really, all that’s left is the state because, in our case, our church does, too.”

More: http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/20637814.html

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Tom Merrill, left, and Rick Cain, his partner of 16 years, hug Saturday after a group relationship blessing by the Rev. Keith Mozingo, pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Baton Rouge, during the Baton Rouge Pride Fest picnic at Magnolia Mound Plantation.