October 24th Ceremony Marks First Same-Sex Marriage at County Clerk's Office

Two New Brunswick men became the first same-sex couple to unite in marriage in the office of the Middlesex County Clerk on October 24. 

Daniel Horne and Jeffrey Matthew Tortora, a Middlesex County native and Rutgers University graduate, were married in a modest ceremony after 13 years of being together. 

The ceremony was witnessed by their neighbors, mother and daughter Eudora and Jane Mason, neighbors of the couple.

Horne and Tortora met in Manhattan, according to the release. 

The ceremony was officiated by county clerk Elaine M. Flynn, for whom it was also the first same-sex marriage over which she officiated, according to a press release from the clerk's office. 

She has officiated over 3,000 weddings in her career as clerk, the release said

“It’s history in the making,” she said. 

Horne and Tortora previously had a civil union ceremony on Oct. 14, 2010, where they exchanged rings. At the October 24 ceremony, they exchanged watches "as a sign of the time they have spent together and the time they will have in the future," according to the couple.

“My most important work is done representing the rights of severely mentally ill maximum security prisoners against cruel and unusual punishment and the right to receive psychological care and medication," said Horne, who handles a lot of pro-bono cases for death penalty appeals and asylum for refugees of genocide for a law firm in New York City, according to the release. "These civil rights issues dovetail nicely with the civil rights issue of same sex marriage.”