College President Anounces His Gay Wedding

College President Anounces His Gay Wedding :: EDGE Boston

College President Anounces His Gay Weddingby Kilian MelloyEDGE Boston ContributorWednesday Sep 19, 2007A college president and his male partner were married over Labor Weekend, but only announced their nuptials this week.Ralph Hexter, President of Hampshire College, married his partner of 27 years, Manfred Kollmeier, but waited until the college’s welcome back event to make news of their marriage public, according to a story at Advocate.com today.A celebration for the newlyweds is planned for Wednesday, the story said.The marriage of Hexter and Kollmeier marks the first marriage between a college president and a same-sex spouse since Massachusetts’ marriage equality law was passed in 2004.Hexter explained the delay in announcing his wedding in a press release, saying, "We wanted to announce our marriage to our community first."Continued Hexter, "This is our way of celebrating Hampshire College, which so warmly welcomed us as a couple when I was named president in 2005, and of celebrating the state of Massachusetts and all those who helped it become a pioneer in recognizing and upholding the right of gay couples to be legally married." Kollmeier also expressed himself int eh release, saying, "Ralph and I made a lifelong commitment to one another many years ago, so marrying is not about marking a new stage in our relationship."Continued Kollmeier, "We feel it is important to exercise the precious right we have here to marry. Massachusetts should be the first, not the only state where this is possible. Discrimination should end, and all couples who wish to be civilly married, wherever they live, should have the right to do so."Hexter, an alumnus of both Harvard and Yale, as well as of Oxford, became Hampshire’s fifth president in 2005, according to the Advocate article.Kollmeier, from Munich, Germany, is retired, the Advocate story said. He is on the board of directors of the Commonwealth Opera Company of Western Massachusetts.Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.