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   San Francisco weds first gay couple

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Topic: San Francisco weds first gay couple (Read 384 times)

Rhune
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San Francisco weds first gay couple
« on: Feb 12^th, 2004, 4:54pm »

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San Francisco weds first gay couple
Thursday, February 12, 2004 Posted: 4:05 PM EST (2105 GMT)

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- In a bold political and legal challenge to California law, city authorities officiated at the marriage of a lesbian couple Thursday and said they will issue more gay marriage licenses.

The act of civil disobedience was coordinated by Mayor Gavin Newsom and top city officials and was intended to beat a conservative group to the punch.

The group, Campaign for California Families, had planned to go to court on Friday to get an injunction preventing the city from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

Longtime lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon, 79, and Del Martin, 83, were hurriedly issued a license and were married just before noon by City Assessor Mabel Teng in a closed-door civil ceremony at City Hall, mayor's spokesman Peter Ragone said. The two have been a couple for 51 years.

Ragone said that beginning at noon, officials would begin issuing marriage licenses to any gay couples applying for one. One lesbian couple had already lined up outside City Hall, one of the women wearing a white wedding dress.

Lyon and Martin said after the brief ceremony that they were going home to rest and did not plan anything to celebrate. The couple seemed proud of what they had done.

"Why shouldn't we" be able to marry? Lyon asked.

Thursday's marriage runs counter to a ballot measure California voters approved in 2000 that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

No state legally sanctions gay marriage, though Massachusetts could become the first this spring. The Massachusetts high court has ruled that gays are entitled under the state constitution to marry.

State lawmakers later passed a domestic partner law that, when it goes into effect in 2005, will offer the most generous protections to gays outside Vermont.

Mayor Newsom was not present for the wedding Thursday. The two official witnesses were Kate Kendell, director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and former city official Roberta Achtenberg.

The Campaign for California Families did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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BlankWillWin
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Re: San Francisco weds first gay couple
« Reply #1 on: Feb 13^th, 2004, 5:24am »

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February 13, 2004
More Than 50 Gay Couples Are Married in San Francisco
By CAROLYN MARSHALL

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 12 Two lesbians who have been living together for more than 50 years were the first to marry at city hall Thursday under a new city directive, leading the way for a host of other same-sex marriages and setting the stage for a heated debate over the legality of the ceremony.

California family law states that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Nonetheless, the San Francisco county clerk issued the women, Phyllis Lyon, 79, and Del Martin, 83, an official marriage certificate and said the act was legal. They were married by the county assessor.

By late Thursday afternoon, at least 50 other gay couples had been married and others, some dressed in wedding gowns and dark suits, were waiting their turn.

"The marriages will be recognized in San Francisco, but I can't say how they will be viewed anywhere else," said the county clerk, Nancy Alfaro.

Mayor Gavin Newsom had urged the county clerk's office this week to begin issuing the marriage certificates, asserting that the state Constitution prohibits discrimination in such matters.

The clerk had not been expected to act on the request until next week, but the schedule was moved forward when the Campaign for California Families, a group that opposes gay marriage, announced it would file a lawsuit against the city and county on Friday.

Ms. Lyon said "it was exciting" to get married, even though the couple had no rings, had not written vows and just found out Wednesday night that the ceremony could take place.

Although Ms. Lyon, who met Ms. Martin in 1953, said she opposed marriage for straight and gay couples during the women's movement, she said it had become an increasingly important political issue for gay men and lesbians in the last two years.

"It's of crucial importance for the movement," Ms. Lyon said. "We are fairly well united behind this because it's being fought against so hard by the other side. If we let them beat us down on this one, it will be a long time before we make other advances."

Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, the lawyers for the group that plans to sue, said the marriage certificates issued Thursday were "not worth the paper they are written on."

He added that Mr. Newsom was "giving the impression that mayors are above the law."

Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for the California attorney general, Bill Lockyer, said Mr. Lockyer had not been asked to render an opinion on the matter, but that he was investigating the constitutional issues surrounding gay marriage.

Asked if the marriage certificates issued in San Francisco were legal, Ms. Jordan said, "We don't know."

Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, served as a witness to the Lyon-Martin marriage.

Ms. Kendell acknowledged that under California law marriage must be between people of opposite sex, but she said the requirement was unconstitutional.

"It is in the highest order of civic responsibility when you see a law that does not treat your citizens equally," Ms. Kendell said, "to make a stand."

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
--
Eric.

« Last Edit: Feb 13^th, 2004, 5:24am by BlankWillWin »

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avsfanbuck
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Re: San Francisco weds first gay couple
« Reply #2 on: Feb 13^th, 2004, 10:15am »

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Is it just me or am I the only one that doesn't support gay weddings?

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BlankWillWin
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Re: San Francisco weds first gay couple
« Reply #3 on: Feb 13^th, 2004, 10:25am »

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Well, that's a topic for All Things Political, rather than In the News.

Eric.

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avsfanbuck
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Re: San Francisco weds first gay couple
« Reply #4 on: Feb 13^th, 2004, 11:02am »

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But as long as we are here why don't we talk about it?

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BlankWillWin
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Re: San Francisco weds first gay couple
« Reply #5 on: Feb 13^th, 2004, 11:15am »

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I created a thread in All Things Political. www.forumsnet.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=politics;action=display;nu m=1076692455

Eric.

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Rhune
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Re: San Francisco weds first gay couple
« Reply #6 on: Feb 13^th, 2004, 12:17pm »

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I'm sure you're not the only one, but you're probably in the minority here, but like Eric says, that can be discussed in the other thread... Wink

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Addams
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Re: San Francisco weds first gay couple
« Reply #7 on: Feb 13^th, 2004, 12:20pm »

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This Sunday, our church will be having a Vestry Meeting to vote on whether we will permit Gay Marriages in our parish. It's been controversial. I am in favour of the motion. We are an Anglican church congregation.

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Rhune
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Re: San Francisco weds first gay couple
« Reply #8 on: Feb 13^th, 2004, 2:16pm »

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Let us know how it goes.

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Rhune
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Re: San Francisco weds first gay couple
« Reply #9 on: Feb 16^th, 2004, 5:31am »

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More than 1,600 same-sex marriages performed
San Francisco forced to turn away hundreds Sunday
Sunday, February 15, 2004 Posted: 11:01 PM EST (0401 GMT)

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- Officials at San Francisco City Hall had to turn away hundreds of people hoping to marry their same-sex partners Sunday as huge crowds of gay and lesbian couples lined up to exchange vows.

In all, 469 couples were married Sunday, bringing the total to more than 1,600 since Thursday.

More than 300 couples were given numbers Saturday to return Sunday, and officials handed out tickets to an additional 80 couples waiting in line Sunday morning, saying no more marriages could be processed by the end of the day.

That left more than 150 couples in line hoping to return and wed Monday, which could be the final day before the city is forced to stop offering such unions.

The marrying mania began Thursday, when Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the county clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses for lesbian and gay couples. He directed that City Hall be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. over the weekend and Monday, which is President's Day, a federal holiday.

Marriage licenses were being doled out at the rate of one per minute. Each couple paid $82 for a marriage application and a $13 license fee. San Francisco does not require a blood test or proof of residency.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge James Warren is scheduled to hear a legal challenge from two groups opposed to same-sex marriage. Warren rejected a motion Friday to issue a temporary restraining order against the city, saying the group requesting it -- the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund -- had given insufficient notice of the request.

The Alliance Defense Fund and the Campaign for California Families argue Newsom's action violates California law. But the mayor said he is obeying the state's mandate against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

California voters approved a ballot initiative in 2000 that said the state would recognize marriages between a man and a woman only, The Associated Press reported.

The first of 90 couples to be married on Thursday were Phyllis Lyon, 80, and Del Martin, 83, who have been together 51 years and founded the nation's first lesbian organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, in 1955.

Former President Clinton appointed both to be delegates to the White House Conference on Aging in 1995.

"We have a right just like anyone else to get married to the person we want to get married to," Lyon said.

The issuing of the licenses in San Francisco came as lawmakers in Massachusetts debated a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. After a third attempt to pass the measure failed late Thursday, the legislature recessed its constitutional convention until March 11, when it is expected to take up the issue again.

CNN's Miguel Marquez contributed to this report.

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