Today is a day many in Alabama thought would never come.

For some, anticipation has turned to the joy of a dream realized -- families made whole under law, couples who now claim equal standing with all who choose to pledge themselves to one another for life. They have been cheered by strangers, congratulated by family and friends, saluted on social media. #Lovewins indeed.

Others protest even now, whether honoring deeply held religious beliefs or vying for political points.

Many probate judges are opting out of the marriage business, others have closed windows and doors and refused to issue any licenses at all.

Unfortunately Alabama remains a state where an obstructionist Supreme Court judge can delay action directed by a federal court. When he told probate judges to ignore a federal judge's order legalizing same-sex marriage, Roy Moore unnecessarily blocked the doors of some Alabama courthouses and reinforced every national stereotype of an obstructionist Alabama that some here have worked for decades to overcome.

But despite these pockets of resistance, some probate judges took applications and granted licenses. Some pastors performed ceremonies on courthouse steps.

And in addition to sharing the same unalienable right to marry enjoyed by others in Alabama, Adrian Thomas and Yashinari Effinger, Lara Bailey and Julia Duke, Olanda Smith and Dianah McCaryer, Jessie and Cooper Odell, Tori Sisson and Shante Wolfe, Don Wright and Eli Borges, Kelli McDaniel Day and Lisa Day now share the same wedding anniversary -- February 9, 2015.

There are same-sex couples married in Alabama just this morning. Which makes this an extraordinary day.