City court turns away gay couples
By Brian Baer
fredericksburg.com
Date published: 3/25/2004
The anxious couple fidgeted and exchanged silly banter. They joked about who would pay for a divorce if it ever came to that. And, just a couple of minutes after turning in their paperwork to the clerk of the court, they kissed on the lips. In many ways, Pat Victor and Dale Dugger could have been any other engaged pair applying for a marriage license at the Fredericksburg Circuit Court. Except they are both men. The couple were one of four gay and lesbian couples who applied for licenses earlier today as part of a downtown rally in support of legalizing gay marriage in Virginia. All were denied licenses because Virginia state law prohibits same-sex marriages.