Actress Lily Tomlin and her partner, writer Jane Wagner, may finally get married after 42 years together now that same-sex marriage is legal.
Tomlin told E! News that she and Wagner are “thinking” about getting married now that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has been ruled unconstitutional and Proposition 8 has been struck down. The women, who met in 1971 and started dating shortly after, didn’t think they would see such a milestone in their lifetime.
“You don’t really need to get married, but marriage is awfully nice,” the 73-year-old said. “Everybody I know who got married, they say it really makes a difference. They feel very very happy about it.”
Just last year, Tomlin wasn’t so sure about marriage.
“With the concept of marriage, I’ve been a little too flippant and I’ve said things like, ‘I was hoping the gay community would come up with a better idea than imitating heterosexual marriage,'” she told Between the Lines last September.
“But no, I know plenty of people who married and who are pleased about it and are happy,” she continued. “I guess if we had any kids, it would mean something more. Neither of us is religious, so that means nothing to us. I’m proud and happy for it, for people who want to be married. I suppose symbolically it would’ve been nice if we had gotten married for anybody who’s interested.”
The “Malibu Country” actress’ sexuality is not something she has ever chosen to publicly broadcast. In 1975, Time magazine offered Tomlin a cover if she was willing to come out in the issue. Even though some fans wanted her to do it at the time, she explained to the Advocate in 2009 that she wasn’t “interested in being typed as the gay celebrity.”