Seven same-sex couples wed at City Hall on New Year's morning

Shortly after 12:30 a.m. New Year's Day, not long after fireworks had erupted at the Inner Harbor, James Scales and William Tasker kissed in the ceremonial room of Baltimore City Hall -- sealing their new marriage as Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who'd just officiated the ceremony, looked on. Then Scales, a manager in the mayor's office since William Donald Schaefer was in charge, threw up his right hand, Tasker beamed, and the room erupted in cheers.

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