ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) —

It has been almost ten years already.

The first marriage licenses were issued to same-sex couples in Buncombe County on Oct.10, 2014.

“It was a historic moment. It was incredible,” Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger said of the night a federal judge in Asheville struck down the state’s gay marriage ban. “It was absolutely an emotionally charged moment.”

Reisinger said he had been denying same-sex marriage licenses for about a year before the court ruling.

“Leading up to that ruling, I’d had the awful duty of upholding the state’s bigoted law, knowing it was immoral and unjust,” Reisinger said in a news release.

He remembers the first couple, who, sadly, are no longer together.

“That has to be part of the conversation. So many couples had this thing pushed upon them,” he said. “Unlike my wife and I, they didn’t have time to plan. They were not confident the Supreme Court would uphold this decision. They had this fear that this right would be taken away. So, they rushed into it.”

But, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision, striking down all state bans on same-sex marriage on June 26, 2015.

On the night of the North Carolina ruling, Reisinger kept his office open late for the crowd that had gathered in the lobby.

The Buncombe County Register of Deeds Office is commemorating that night with a photography display honoring couples who protested for equal protections under the law.

“We quickly earned the reputation as a welcoming, friendly place where same-sex couples could obtain their marriage license. The love and joy evident in that lobby was one of the most beautiful scenes no one in that room will ever forget,” Reisinger said in the news release.

Photographer Max Cooper, who had been covering protests, was there to document the moment the law changed. The exhibit will be on display in the hallway of the Register of Deeds office (205 College St., Asheville) through the end of 2024. There will be a public reception for the exhibit’s opening at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, June 12.

“We wanted to put it out for Pride Month, but the actual anniversary is not until October,” Reisinger said.