At 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, Bob Sullivan and Bill Slimback became the first same-sex couple to exchange their vows as gay marriage became legal in Vermont.

Dressed in suits, saying their vows under a large wall-mounted moose head, the two Whitehall, N.Y., men promised their love, exchanged rings and held hands during a modest 17-minute ceremony. Moose Meadow Lodge co-owner Greg Trulson, who’s also a Justice of the Peace, presided.

“It feels wonderful,” said Slimback, 38, an out-of-work Teamster who is taking Sullivan’s last name as his own. “It’s a day I’ve been long waiting for, and a day I truly honestly thought would never come.”

Slimback said he and Sullivan, 41, have long wanted to cement their relationship with a wedding, but since they couldn’t legally marry in New York they chose to wed even before Vermont’s gay marriage era officially dawned.

Vermont is one of five states that now allow same-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. New Hampshire’s law takes effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Vermont, which invented civil unions in 2000 after a same-sex couple challenged the inequality of state marriage statutes, was a mecca for gay couples who to that point had no way to officially recognize their relationships.

Since then, other states have allowed gay marriage, as did Vermont, which in April became the first state to legalize gay marriage through a legislative decree and not a court case.

Coverage from the local Fox affiliate below:

Our very own Rachel Maddow, who was recently out sick from her show on MSNBC, revealed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that she had that stanky flu, or what the rest of us call… swine flu. Watch:

Forever playing the victim, former Miss California and conservative darling Carrie Prejean has decided to sue her the Miss California organization for religious discrimination.

Prejean just filed the suit in L.A. County Superior Court, accusing Moakler and pageant honcho Keith Lewis of religious discrimination, defamation, public disclosure of private facts, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Prejean was dethroned/fired from her post as Miss California USA back on June 10, nearly two months after she spoke out against gay marriage at the April 19th Miss USA competition.

Prejean claims the Miss Cali people “conspired to get rid of her” beginning on April 21st — when she said on the “Today” show that she would rather be “biblically correct than politically correct.”

Prejean also will have a book out in November called “Still Standing,” detailing her experiences since coming out as a homophobe on national television. Coincidence?

Once a media whore… always a media whore.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking for feedback via Twitter on various bills including including AB 2567, which would designate May 22 Harvey Milk Day.

The bill encourages schools and other educational institutions to recognize Harvey Milk on that date through appropriate commemorative exercises. The bill however does not pressure educators to indoctrinate children into the “homosexual lifestyle,” nor does it teach cross-dressing or same-sex attraction, despite what others would have you believe.

Last year Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar measure, saying that Milk’s commemoration should be restricted to San Francisco only and not state wide. Recently however President Barack Obama awarded Harvey Milk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a national honor, which certainly ups the stakes.

If you would like to encourage Gov. Schwarzenegger to pass the AB 2567, feel free to send the tweet below, courtesy of Change.org:

@Schwarzenegger: Sign the Harvey Milk Day bill! He gave his life, the least you can do is give him a day. #p2 #LGBT