Joe Biden ‘proud’ to officiate first same-sex wedding in his own house
The VP obtained a temporary marriage licence in order to marry two longtime White House employees.
Vice President Joe Biden presided over his first wedding ceremony yesterday, which saw him officiating the marriage of two longtime gay White House employees.
Mr Biden posted a photo of the ceremony on Twitter, with the message: “Proud to marry Brian and Joe at my house. Couldn’t be happier, two longtime White House staffers, two great guys.”
His wife Jill later echoed his sentiments, retweeting the photo with caption, “Love is love!”
The happy couple – Brian Mosteller and Joe Mahshie, who work closely with President Obama and his family – wed in an intimate ceremony attended by their families in Mr Biden’s residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory, CNN reports.
The lucky grooms asked Mr Biden to preside over the ceremony at his Washington DC residence and he happily obliged, obtaining a temporary certificate from the District of Columbia in order to perform the wedding.
A long-time supporter of LGBT rights, the VP has won acclaim during his time in the White House for his willingness to champion equality issues – even by stepping on the toes of President Obama
He famously forced the President’s hand on same-sex marriage in May 2012, by backing it while the President was still officially ‘evolving’ on the issue.
A book later claimed that “chaos erupted inside the West Wing” after news of Biden’s comments broke – and within days Obama had also come out in favour of same-sex marriage.
Lightning struck again when the VP backed an executive order banning anti-LGBT workplace discrimination in 2014, when the President had already rebuffed calls for executive action.
Mr Biden got his way on that occasion as well, with Obama reversing his position again and signing an order just two months later.
