Ten same-sex couples in Thurston County will be among the first to receive their marriage licenses right as the new law allowing gay marriage in Washington takes effect on Thursday morning.

Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman held a lottery on Monday to pick from 15 couples that had sent in a request to receive their license at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. King County, home to Seattle, already planned to start issuing licenses at that time.

Last month, 54 percent of voters approved Referendum 74, which asked people to approve or reject a state law legalizing same-sex marriage that legislators passed earlier this year. That law was signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire but was on hold pending the outcome of the election.