Nov. 21, 1976 – Non-Church Sanctioned Gay Wedding Makes News

“Back on Nov. 21, 1976, in Northwest Washington, [Wayne] Schwandt and [John] Fortunato walked down the aisle side by side, wearing matching embroidered tunics…

Reporters wrote about what Fortunato and Schwandt called a holy union, which was controversial not because there was talk of legalizing gay marriage but because the two men publicly ask for — and were denied — the blessing of the Episcopal Church.”