The half-century engagement: First same-sex couple to marry in Dallas is two men, aged 85 and 82, who have been together for 54 years
Jack Evans, 85, and George Harris, 82, were the first of 170 same-sex couples to wed in Dallas County after Supreme Court ruling
On Friday the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states
Evans and Harris have been together since the 1960s, when they met at a mutual friend's house party
The couple said that Friday was the best day of their lives
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3143431/First-sex-couple-marry-Dallas-two-men-aged-85-82-54-years.html
Jack Evans, 85, and George Harris, 82, became the first couple to wed in Dallas after the Supreme Court's landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage across all 50 states on Friday.
And for these men, the wait has been a long one. They've been together for 54 years.
Donning matching red ties, Evans carrying a cane and Harris with three red roses in his hands, walked from the county clerk desk into a courtroom where a judge and a group of supporters welcomed them with a standing ovation.
After a judge officially pronounced them 'spouses for life', the couple kissed and then each removed their glasses to wipe tears from their eyes.
Dozens of other couples waited for their marriage licenses in Dallas County after judges in the county waived the required 72-hour waiting period between license issuing and ceremonies after the Supreme Court ruling.
'You would have been blown away by the crowd there, there must have been 450 people there, people waiting to get married, reporters. It was amazing. Just amazing,' Evans told PEOPLE.
He said he and Harris were 'worn out' because it's 'a lot of work to have a wedding in one day', but he insisted that the couple were 'having a blast'.
Friday was the best day of their lives, Harris told CBS. He and Evans met in the 1960s at a mutual friend's house party and have been together ever since.
Though they kept their relationship secret for the first 20 years, they had a celebration to commemorate their love last year at a ceremony in a Dallas church.
Harris and Evans worked side-by-side in a real estate business in Dallas for 38 years. They later founded the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce.
Being advocates for the LGBT community, the men later started The Dallas Way, a project created to map the history of the LGBT community in Dallas, Dallas magazine reported.
They were the first of 170 same-sex couples to receive their marriage licenses on Friday in Dallas County, according to NBC.
Texas was one of the 14 states across the United States where gay marriage was banned until Friday's ruling.
'A lot of our friends went out of state or Canada to get married, but we being Texans we wanted to hold out for Texas,' Harris, who tucked a gay pride flag into his lapel for the ceremony, told FOX. 'I said, well, I hope we live long enough.'
The marriage license bought before their ceremony on Friday cost the couple $91. They jokingly asked for a senior discount, but they didn't seem too worried about the cost.
'Best $90 we ever spent,' Harris said.
