After marriage ruling, rejoicing as Virginia issues licenses to same-sex couples

Virginia began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Monday, hours after the Supreme Court's surprise decision letting such marriages stand in five states.

Same-sex couples and other gay marriage advocates gathered in front of the Arlington courthouse and in Richmond and declared themselves pleased and stunned.

"The excitement, I don't think can be put into words," Tony London of Norfolk, one of the plaintiffs in the Virginia case, said in a telephone news conference.