A FORMER US senator is set to marry his same-sex partner at the age of 90 this week.
On Saturday Harris Wofford wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times, discussing his first marriage and how he never expected to fall in love again.
Wofford was married to his wife Clare for 48 years, until her death from leukemia in 1996.
He served as a Democratic senator in Pennsylvania in the 1990s, and later worked with presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
In the article, he wrote: “Clare and I fell in love trying to save the world during World War II … Our romance and adventure continued for five decades.”
They were both about to turn 70 when she died, and Wofford said he thought he was “too old to seek or expect another romance”.
‘Love blossomed’
However, this changed when he met Matthew Charlton (now 40) five years after Clare’s death.
“We took trips around the country and later to Europe together, becoming great friends. We both felt the immediate spark, and as time went on, we realized that our bond had grown into love. Other than with Clare, I had never felt love blossom this way before,” he wrote.
To some, our bond is entirely natural, to others it comes as a strange surprise, but most soon see the strength of our feelings and our devotion to each other. We have now been together for 15 years.
Both of the men’s families have “over time” accepted their relationship, Wofford said.
In June 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that same same-sex couples have the right to marry in all 50 states.
At age 90, I am lucky to be in an era where the Supreme Court has strengthened what President Obama calls “the dignity of marriage” by recognizing that matrimony is not based on anyone’s sexual nature, choices or dreams. It is based on love.
“Too often, our society seeks to label people by pinning them on the wall — straight, gay or in between … I had a half-century of marriage with a wonderful woman, and now am lucky for a second time to have found happiness,” he wrote.
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