Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) married his longtime partner Marlon Reis on Wednesday becoming the first LGBTQ+ U.S. governor to get married while in office.
The greatest lesson we have learned over the past 18 months is that life as we know it can change in an instant. We are thankful for the opportunity to celebrate our life together as a married couple.
After 18 years together, we couldn't be happier to be married at last. pic.twitter.com/psBhfEoEny
— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) September 15, 2021
“The greatest lesson we have learned over the past 18 months is that life as we know it can change in an instant,” Polis shared via Twitter. “We are thankful for the opportunity to celebrate our life together as a married couple.
“After 18 years together, we couldn’t be happier to be married at last,” he added. The couple are proud parents of two children ages 7 and 9.
Ries shared news of the engagement with The Colorado Sun last March. It turns out Polis knew just how to bring peace to a chaotic situation.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wed his longtime partner on Wednesday, marking the first same-sex marriage of a sitting United States governor.
The couple was married in a traditional Jewish ceremony in Boulder. https://t.co/xxBpmnjcd4
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) September 16, 2021
Reis was preparing to head to the hospital for treatment for a COVID-19 infection after his oxygen levels had dropped to a concerning level.
“I was getting my things ready. My daughter was crying in the corner — she didn’t want me to go,” Reis told the Sun. “My son was asking me a lot of technical questions: ‘When are you coming back? Do they know exactly what’s wrong?’ It was a very tense moment.”
Polis entered the room, urging Reis to hurry up, which irked Reis. And then, Polis dropped to one knee.
“It was the absolute perfect time,” Reis said. “I said to him, ‘I couldn’t breathe before. Now I really can’t breathe.’”
“It put such a spring in my step,” Reis added. “When I got to the hospital I wasn’t scared anymore. I said ‘I have a great relationship, a great family that I’m going to be coming home to after this.’”