Wed. August 31, 2016
Chicago, IL -
Same-sex marriage license No. 10,000 in Cook County was issued Wednesday morning, about two hours after the vital records room opened at Daley Center.
Cook County Clerk David Orr watched as Anthony Aranda, 50, and Terry Beauchamp, 49, signed the certificate and, in the process, scored a host of donated presents to the 10K couple, including a trip to Las Vegas.
The two have been dating for 18 years and live in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood.
Aranda is a flight attendant for United Airlines, while Beauchamp manages a luggage store in downtown Chicago.
Related: Journey to #10,000 same-sex marriage licenses in Cook County surprises partners Anthony Aranda and Terry Beauchamp
On Monday morning, Orr was joined by a host of legislative leaders and civil rights groups who were instrumental in bringing marriage equality to Illinois, and others, to celebrate the milestone of near-10,000 marriage licenses which have been issued in Cook County to same-sex couples.
Orr and his staff have been chronicling the same-sex marriage licenses issued in Cook Clerk, even carrying a special section on the website en route to the LGBT milestone.
Illinois became the 16th state to embrace full marriage equality in late-2013. Prior to the law taking effect, Cook County became the first in Illinois to allow same-sex couples to wed in February, 2014.
The 10,000th couple received numerous gifts donated to the Cook County Clerk's office to help mark the landmark occasion, including a honeymoon package provided by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, two roundtrip plane tickets courtesy Southwest Airlines, a romantic dinner for two at Appellation Wine Bar and Restaurant in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood, plus a selection of 'Thank You' cards and stationery from Chicago-based stationery designer La Familia Green.
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