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Atlanta couple plan to legally wed after ruling

Suzanne Baugh, president of the Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, has been with her partner Colleen Wogan for 14 years.

They held a commitment ceremony in the backyard of their East Point home in 2005, but now plan to become legally married in another state by the end of the year in light of the Supreme Court’s decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act.

“We know we’re blessed to be able to be out in our community, it would just be nice to be able to realize the same rights that other heterosexual couples get to realize,” Baugh tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.

Among those rights is the ability to file joint federal tax returns.

“We’ll be able to have the same deductions that heterosexual married couples...  currently get to enjoy,” she says.

But because the Supreme Court decision does not address gay marriage bans in other states, the two will still have to file separate Georgia returns.

“We’re going to celebrate for those folks in California and the 12 other states that have this right currently, and I hope they will pick up the baton with us and the other states that do not have the right and we’ll be able to fight and get that right sooner rather than later,” says Baugh.

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