State annuls marriage for gay-rights couple

Hannah Miller didn't have much time to think of what she was about to do as she ran toward the Orange County Courthouse in the rain.

Donning an altered dress, a rainbow rhinestone, pearl bouquet and a giant veil, this was Miller's wedding day.

It was no regular wedding day either: She was marrying a total stranger.

Miller, who will be transferring to UCF in the fall into the fine studio arts program, was randomly chosen out of three girls to be part of a wedding that served as a performance piece protesting the lack of marriage rights for same-sex couples.

"I was hoping that by doing something as drastic as marrying a stranger we could bring attention back onto a human rights issue that gets underplayed," Miller said.

Miller said her ex-husband Brian Feldman was the mastermind behind the idea.

"In a conversation one night with a friend, I expressed my frustration about the inequality of rights for same-sex couples who care just as much about each other as heterosexual couples," Feldman said. "It occurred to me that complete strangers could marry, as long as they were heterosexual, but a same-sex couple could not. I decided to do something about that through the ultimate performance art project — marrying a stranger."

It was one year ago when Feldman put out a call for any woman to show up at the courthouse and he would marry them.

"To be honest, after I put out the call stating I would marry anybody that shows up at the courthouse, I didn't think anyone actually would show up," Feldman said.

To his surprise, three women showed up.

"This was a predicament," Feldman said, "So I did what any normal person would do — obtained an Aquafina bottle from the vending machine and with a traditional spin-the-bottle game, it landed on Hannah Miller, a local artist and puppeteer who I did not personally know."

When not busy performing as a puppeteer or finishing up her studies at Valencia Community College, Miller volunteers at Equality Florida and several other non-profit groups throughout Orlando.

However, this marriage meant more to her since many of her friends and co-workers identify as gay, lesbian or transgender.

"It's ridiculous and offensive to me that they have to live their lives denied basic rights," Miller said.

Unsure of the reaction the performance would garner, Miller was surprised by how much support she received when she walked into the courthouse waiting room. There, a group of 50 people gathered to watch as Miller and Feldman became a legal union.

"A lot of them I knew, some of them I didn't, but everyone — whether they knew me or not — felt they had the right to get in my face and talk to me and it was right then it was hitting me how serious this was," Miller said.

The new couple received nothing but praise from the GLBT community with an underwhelming amount of negative reaction.

"Some people were stunned, others thought it was courageous and there were the few who were disinterested," Feldman said. "Overwhelmingly, the feedback for the marriage project has been positive."

Michael Freeman of the UCF Office of Diversity Initiatives works alongside GLBT groups on campus and has seen marriages similar to Miller and Feldman's.

"I am aware of other heterosexual couples creating such a peaceful protest to illustrate a point of inconsistency between the notion of marriage being ‘a sacred bond between a man and a woman' and it being a privilege and civil opportunity to share in nearly 1,050 benefits and entitlements that accompany marital status at the federal levels," Freeman said.

Freeman finds these "peaceful protests" not as effective on the macro level. He thinks they are effective in pointing out that marriage is defined by many in terms of "sanctity" or "sacred bond" before God and it has much more to do with the entitlements provided because a license has been given to you by a municipality and ceremony performed by some official, clergy or non-clergy.

"The fight for same-sex marriage is about two issues," Freeman said. "Validation of the relationships two people have built and entitlement to the nearly 1,050 benefits. Those opposed to granting such opportunities see this issue as one of ‘destroying the traditional family.' "

According to Miller, the only negative aspect of the entire ordeal was the recent annulment of the marriage.

On Jan. 19, 2011, their marriage was terminated by the state of Florida after being married for less than a year.

"It's a sad thing for me because I do believe that marriage should be for life," Miller said. "It is something that is very personal to me and it does make me sad to think about it and it does feel like a negative action instead of a positive action like the marriage was, but it was something that needed to be done."

Feldman had similar things to say.

"I strongly believe in marriage and always have. I believe in a person's right and choice to marry the person they love. It is absurd to me that anyone be denied that right," Feldman said. "This project was a personal sacrifice on both mine and Hannah's parts, but it is the people who are waiting their turn for the right to marry, who are the true heroes."

With that sacrifice, both Feldman and Miller vow to continue the fight for equality. Miller is currently working on a lesbian love-story puppet show.

"I accept that I will continue to fight for equal rights for everyone regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, race or any kind of arbitrary defining factor like that," Miller said. "I will continue to speak out on behalf of equality for all."