WILSONVILLE, Alabama -- A wedding in the small town of Wilsonville under normal circumstances wouldn't typically be considered big news outside of the community.
But the Washington Post featured the union that happened between a man and a woman in the rural Shelby County town in a post on the newspaper's website Sunday, just a few days after the U.S. Supreme Court supported same-sex marriage.
Noting the event celebrated "marriage as the natural, God-ordained union between a man and a woman," the story featured the wedding of Randall Jared Wilson, 24, and Amanda Joy "A.J." Horsley, 23, with the Rev. Brent Philips.
"For Randy and me, marriage is about our commitment to each other as one man and one wife," A.J. told the paper before the wedding. "Even with the decision of the Supreme Court, for us, this union is just a picture of the love God has for us. And to explain that to the world as a husband and wife, that is our heart."
"People think that I don't want people to be together because they're homosexuals, and that's not it," Randy said. "People have a right to be together -- that's fine. I just believe marriage is religious, and I want to keep my religious things sacred. I don't know if that's mean or not, but I don't want my religious beliefs to be diluted -- not by heterosexuals or homosexuals. I don't know, is that controversial?"
As of about 10 a.m. Central today, the story had generated 2,470 comments on the website.