Rhode Island, Minnesota join same-sex wedding states

Gary McDowell, left, and Zachary Marcus, center, both of Providence, R.I., are presented with their signed marriage license by Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, right, at City Hall, in Providence, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013, moments after Taveras presided over the couples marriage ceremony. Gay marriage became legal in Rhode Island and Minnesota at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

WASHINGTON – Gay and lesbian couples in Rhode Island and Minnesota began tying the knot as same-sex marriage laws in the two states went into effect Thursday.

Minnesota became the 13th US state to legalize same-sex weddings, just an hour after Rhode Island, in a different time zone, became the 12th.

Same-sex couples in Minnesota began getting hitched in ceremonies conducted throughout the night at Minneapolis City Hall, local media reports said.

Mayor R.T. Rybak officiated at 42 weddings of gay and lesbian couples as same-sex marriage became legal in the state at the stroke of midnight.

In historic rulings in June, the US Supreme Court struck down a law denying federal benefits to homosexual couples and cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California.

Support for same-sex marriage in the United States is at record levels according to recent surveys.

A USA Today poll last month reported 55 percent of participants said they believed same-sex marriage should be recognized as valid.