A couple in D.C. after getting their marriage license in 2010. Photo by erin m

Maryland yesterday issued its first same-sex marriage licenses, making a law that passed the General Assembly last year and was endorsed by 52 percent voters on Election Day a reality.

A recent legal opinion by state Attorney General Doug Gansler allowed courthouses to start processing the license applications as soon as the results from the November 6 referendum were certified, though the marriages themselves will only become valid in the New Year. The Post spoke to one of the first applicants, in Anne Arundel County:

Among the first to receive one was Kim Hinken, 52, in Anne Arundel County, one of seven jurisdictions that began offering the postdated licenses Thursday after Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) signed a proclamation formally declaring that Question 6 had been passed.

“It was awesome to hold that license in my hand,” said Hinken, her voice solemn.

A Virginia native who lives in Edgewater, Hinken has been with her fiancee, Adri Eathorne, for almost 10 years, and said she moved to Maryland in part because of more favorable views there toward gay marriage.

Still, she said, “I’ve been a lesbian all my life and I honestly thought I’d never be able to legally marry anybody. . . . It feels like society is really starting to treat us like everybody else.”

While state officials expect a healthy number of same-sex marriage license requests, they say that they won’t likely see a flood of applicants since many same-sex couple got marriage licenses in D.C. when it legalized same-sex marriage in 2010.