LAX courthouse: Disneyland, Universal, gay marriage

Adriana Hinojosa, 34, and Benigna Huerta, 40, did the kind of things that any tourists from Omaha would do when they visit L.A. They hit Disneyland and Universal Studios, strolled around Santa Monica -- and, this morning, they got married.

Of course, that was the main reason for their trip -- even if their home state does not acknowledge their union as legal. "It's just a way to make it official," said Hinojosa, a Spanish interpreter at the county courthouse in Omaha.

The women have been together five years and had a religious ceremony to mark their commitment in 2003 at the Metropolitan Community Church in Omaha. Both their families came, from Kansas and Puebla, Mexico.

This morning, they stood in line, wearing matching blue dress shirts and black pants, readying themselves to get their license and then get married in the chapel at the clerk's office.

Celia Rodriguez, 30, a medical receptionist form Inglewood, was in front of them in line, getting a birth certificate for her daughter. She congratulated the couple, saying "Felicidades." "I say, why not?" Rodriguez said, adding that she would support gay marriage at the polls in November.

Hinojosa and Huerta, who was trained as a doctor in Mexico, say they consider themselves activists and plan to tell people about their marriage at a gay pride parade in Omaha next weekend. But they're not sure if they want to go further by, for example, suing their state to force recognition of their marriage. "Well, Nebraska is a very conservative state," Hinojosa said.

--Molly Hennessy-Fiske