Life and business partners Carl Minster and David Facciolo added another dimension to their relationship this month, as they were joined in a civil union just 10 days after Delaware’s new law went into effect.
The Hon. Jan Jurden presided over the ceremony at the New Castle County Courthouse Jan. 11, the 20th anniversary of the couple’s first date.
The pair was introduced through a mutual friend with whom Minster volunteered at the Lesbian and Gay Task Force.
However, getting to the first date was a feat — as, for six months, each of them happened to be dating someone else whenever one would pursue the other.
But after their first meetup at Last Drop Coffee, 13th and Pine streets, on Jan. 11, 1992, their relationship jumpstarted.
Facciolo, 56, got his law degree in 1980 and, while Minster, 53, was working as a bank teller when the couple started dating, he decided to pursue his own career in law at Facciolo’s suggestion.
In 1999, the couple opened their firm, Minster & Facciolo LLP, which now has two offices, in Philadelphia and Wilmington.
Minster operates the local office, while Facciolo works out of the Delaware location — which Minster said makes the fusion of their personal and business lives easier to handle.
“It’s good that we have two separate offices,” Minster said. “We’re able to work where we’re not in each other’s faces all day. If we get mad at one another, we can just hang up the phone and calm down and call back.”
Learning how to handle disagreements by focusing on the larger issues has been key to the longevity of their relationship, Minster said.
“It’s constant work,” he said. “You’re going to fight and if you don’t, there’s something wrong. But you just have to remember tomorrow’s another day and always remember why you’re together: to take care of and love one another.”
While Minster works in Philadelphia, the couple lives in Delaware, Facciolo’s home state, in part because of the pro-LGBT laws in the state, such as a lack of inheritance tax for same-sex partners, as well as the new civil-union law.
Minster and Facciolo were joined in their union before about 30 of their close family members and friends, and celebrated afterward at the Union City Grill in Wilmington before setting off for a honeymoon in Palm Springs, Calif.
“It was a very nice day,” Minster said. “The judge wrote a wonderful ceremony talking about our life together and how the court cases have evolved over the years to give us the rights we deserve. It was a really nice ceremony.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].