Colorado Gov. Jared Polis Marries His Longtime Partner – The New York Times

Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado married his longtime partner, Marlon Reis, in a traditional Jewish ceremony on Wednesday, the first time a sitting governor has had a same-sex wedding.

It was another first for Mr. Polis, 46, who was the first openly gay man to become a governor when he was elected in 2018. In a statement on Facebook on Thursday, he said the wedding was a small ceremony attended by “family and a few close friends.”

“We are both excited for this new chapter in our lives together, and our hearts are full with the blessings of health, love, and family,” he said.

Mr. Polis and Mr. Reis, a writer and animal rights activist, have been together for 18 years and were engaged in December, according to the governor’s office. They have two children, ages 7 and 9.

All attendees at the ceremony in Boulder, Colo., were required to test negative for Covid-19, the governor’s office said.

“After 18 years together, we couldn’t be happier to be married at last,” Mr. Polis said on Twitter.

Mr. Polis, a Democrat who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for a decade before becoming governor, was part of a 2018 election that saw L.G.B.T. candidates elected in record numbers, with more than 150 taking office. Among those re-elected were Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon, who became the first openly bisexual governor when she was appointed in 2015; she married her husband, Dan Little, in 1997.

Other public officials have had same-sex marriages while in office; among the first was Representative Barney Frank in 2012.

Colorado’s ban on same-sex marriage ended in 2014; a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was legal across the country.

Mr. Polis proposed in December while both he and Mr. Reis were sick with Covid-19, according to Colorado Public Radio. Mr. Reis, 40, was hospitalized when his symptoms became serious.

They chose Wednesday to get married because it was the 18th anniversary of their first date, they said.

“Over the course of Jared’s career in Congress, you know, we didn’t set out to be the first of anything,” Mr. Reis told the station. “Things sort of happened that way.”