Heather loves Crystal.

Crystal loves Heather.And their love will be expressed publicly on Saturday, June 28, when Lansford hosts its first same-sex wedding, to take place at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park.The event may be the first legal wedding ceremony of female partners in Carbon County.Two Palmerton men reportedly married two weeks ago but chose to keep details private.The Lansford women, however, are pleased to be open about their love. Last week, they checked out the gazebo where the ceremony will take place and spoke of equality and the advantages that come with legal marriage."I want the rights everyone else has," says Crystal McLean Heffelfinger, former Philadelphia resident who moved to Carbon County five years ago with her son, who is entering second grade at Panther Valley Elementary School.Crystal says she fell head-over-heels for Lansford native Heather Heffelfinger and already has taken Heffelfinger's last name. That change was made possible when the women, both 33, entered into a civil union in Camden, N.J., on June 24, 2010.Heather is equally smitten by the charms of Crystal, employed at Presto Products of Tamaqua."She's my queen," says Heather, a graduate of Panther Valley High School.Met via social mediaTheirs is an arrangement that originated in the sometimes-mysterious world of cyberspace.Truth is, the women got to know each other via computer. They know why they met. But they can't figure out how it happened.It began five years ago."I noticed she was listed as a friend on MySpace," Heather says. MySpace was a forerunner to Facebook, social media in which people can befriend others they've never actually met.Heather contacted Crystal, asking who she is and why her name appears on the friend list.Crystal didn't know the answer. The two began to chat online and started to text each other, eventually every day. They realized they had some things in common and a bond formed.Heather, who worked at UPS at the time, traveled to Philadelphia to spend a weekend with Crystal.It was love at first sight. In fact, Crystal didn't want Heather to leave. Heather felt the same way."I was infatuated and said to myself I can picture this for the rest of my life," says Heather, who returned to Lansford.Crystal began driving to Lansford, eventually moving there.One of the biggest surprises, Crystal says, is when her son, then 2, looked at Heather and immediately called her "Mom."Today, he continues to call Heather "Mom" and refers to Crystal as "Mommy" to distinguish between the two.They hope to eventually buy a house in the country.But in the meantime, Crystal and Heather are excited that Pennsylvania will finally recognize their relationship and bestow on their family the protections and advantages of legal marriage.Like other soul mates, the women love each other. They sometimes wonder why anyone would have a desire or agenda to oppose their marriage."There's not a lot of love in the world," admits Heather.Attitudes evolvePublic attitudes are slowly changing, according to poll results tabulated on May 30 and June 1.Public Policy Polling found that a plurality of Pennsylvania voters approve of the recent legalization of gay marriage.Results reveal 48 percent of respondents are in favor, while 44 percent claimed they're not in favor. Another 9 percent were unsure.Two years ago, a similar PPP poll found that only 36 percent of Pennsylvania voters approved, while 52 percent opposed.Those results indicate a 20-point increase in approval, confirming a substantial attitudinal shift in opinion.Same-sex marriage became legal in Pennsylvania on May 20 when Judge John E. Jones III, Federal District Court,overturned an earlier ban, declaring: "We're a better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history."Pennsylvania was the sole holdout, the final state in the Northeast with a ban on same-sex marriage.On Friday, Theresa Santai-Gaffney, clerk of Orphan's Court of Schuylkill County, filed a motion to intervene in the case that prompted Jones' decision, hoping the ruling can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.In response, Ted Martin, executive director of Equality PA, said some in the state would still deny fellow citizens their rights."It saddens me, as I am sure it saddens many Pennsylvanians, that some individuals are having such a hard time accepting that all people deserve to be treated equally regardless of our differences," Martin said."We have branches of government for a reason, and the judicial branch has a legitimate right to interpret whether laws meet the constitutional standards that our nation's founders created."For the Heffelfingers, what matters most is what they feel inside. And what they feel inside is the pursuit of matrimony.They have advice for others in similar situations."Don't hide," Crystal says. "It doesn't matter what other people think."Heather agrees wholeheartedly. When you find your soul mate, be proud."Be who you are," says Heather. "Life is too short. Don't let anyone deter you from what you want."