Meet the First Gay Couple to Marry in Vermont!

Bill Slimback and Bob Sullivan waited 17 years to get married. But after Vermont's marriage equality law took effect early this morning at midnight, they couldn't wait any longer to tie the knot.

Literally. At 12:01am, Bill and Bob said "I Do."

“It feels wonderful,” said Slimback, 38, an out-of-work Teamster who is taking Sullivan’s last name as his own. “It’s a day I’ve been long waiting for, and a day I truly honestly thought would never come.”

The AP reports that the couple "dressed in suits, saying their vows under a large wall-mounted moose head, the two Whitehall, N.Y., men promised their love, exchanged rings and held hands during a modest 17-minute ceremony. Moose Meadow Lodge co-owner Greg Trulson, who’s also a Justice of the Peace, presided."

“We’ve waited a long time to do this - basically, our whole lives,” Slimback said Monday. “We’ve been waiting for a chance to actually solidify it,” he said. He and Sullivan said they never wanted to obtain a civil union because they believe that’s a kind of second-class recognition.

Congratulations to the Sullivans!