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At 12:01 a.m. Thursday, the first batch of Washington's same-sex marriage licenses were issued in downtown Seattle. Sporting a Liberty University t-shirt, Dan Savage — aka the man who changed the way we think about Rick Santorum forever — and his partner became one of the state's first gay couples to get married there legally and enjoy the protections of marriage, all for $64. Back on election night, Washington, Maryland, and Maine became the first states in history to pass gay marriage with a popular vote, and this morning that measure went into effect. Same-sex couples in Maryland can start obtaining their licenses (though they won't go into effect until January 1), while gay couples in Maine will be able to marry beginning on December 29.

Savage and husband Terry Miller got married in Canada in 2005, and made it official (again) in the state's eyes this morning. Savage tweeted: 

And one more (the heavy-handed irony being that Liberty University is the stringently Christian, Jerry Fallwell-founded college in Virginia):

As the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Joel Connelly and Casey McNerthney point out, Savage and Miller were joined by hundreds of gay Washingtonians (the photo slideshow they have of all the happy couples is pretty heartwarming). As for celebrations and wedding presents, Savage points out there was also another Washington measure that went into effect:

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