Opponents, gays rush to San Francisco
By LISA LEFF
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2/13/2004 02:02 pm
SAN FRANCISCO — Opponents of gay marriage filed suit Friday to stop an extraordinary act of ongoing civil disobedience in San Francisco, where under the direction of newly elected Mayor Gavin Newsom, the city has begun issuing marriage licenses to gay couples in defiance of state law.
Weddings were continuing Friday and over the long holiday weekend, and despite the effort by the Campaign for California Families to obtain a restraining order from a judge that would prevent the city from issuing more licenses or officiating at more ceremonies inside the ornate City Hall.
But under normal legal procedures and because of MondayÂ’s PresidentÂ’s Day court holiday, it appeared unlikely that anyone would succeed in blocking the gay marriages before Tuesday.
“Frankly it was a brilliant strategy. They got it done. The unfortunate fact is that these people who think they are married may find out Tuesday they are not,” Richard Ackerman, an attorney for the conservative group, said Friday.
Around the country, gays and lesbians emboldened by San Francisco’s move and by the constitutional debate over gay marriage in Massachusetts went to courthouses Thursday and Friday demanding their own marriage licenses — and getting summarily rejected, since every state in the nation bans gay marriage.
But in San Francisco, with the mayorÂ’s blessing, the county clerk has issued nearly 100 marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and counting. Many of the weddings have taken in place in quick civil ceremonies inside the ornate City Hall, and the clerkÂ’s office planned to remain open Saturday in observance of ValentineÂ’s Day.
“I’m not interested as a mayor in moving forward with a separate but unequal process for people to engage in marriages,” Newsom said in an interview Friday on ABC News’ “Good Morning America.” “I think the people of this city and certainly around the state are feeling that separate but unequal doesn’t make sense.”
In all, 87 couples took their vows on the spot Thursday. By Friday morning, 300 more had lined up to get their licenses, many of them driving into town from as far as Los Angeles for the chance to marry.
“Even people who are anti-gay marriage might shift their thinking now and realize it’s most harmful to take something away when someone already has it,” said Virginia Garcia, 40, after wedding Sheila Sernovitz, 50, her partner of 14 years.
They cityÂ’s bold move, however, caused an outcry from elected officials and groups opposed to marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Campaign for California Families asked that a Superior Court judge issue a restraining order that would prevent the issuance of any more licenses to the same-sex couples, to void any licenses that have been granted, and to require city officials to abide by the rules that govern changes in law.
“Apparently, Mayor Newsom felt he’s above the law and like a dictator, could simply dictate what the law should be. And he has no authority to do that, either under the city charter or state law,” Ackerman said.
While it remains unclear what practical value the marriage licenses will carry, their symbolism was self-evident as lawmakers in Massachusetts debate a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but legalize civil unions.
City officials tried to keep the first marriage — between longtime lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon, 79, and Del Martin, 83 — confidential so they could complete it before any court intervention. The pair, who will celebrate 51 years together on Valentine’s Day, were wed by San Francisco Assessor Mabel Teng at 11:10 a.m. in a closed-door ceremony.
Afterward, Lyon said she “never dreamed” that she and Martin would be wed within their lifetimes, but that she was excited “to make it legal.” Newsom wasn’t present at that ceremony, but later presented the couple with a signed copy of the state constitution with sections related to equal rights highlighted.
“I don’t think there is anyone in good conscience who can tell me that denying the same rights my wife Kimberly and I have to same-sex couples is anything but discrimination,” said Newsom, who maintains the equal protection clause of the California Constitution obliges the city to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
The secrecy that surrounded the Lyon-Martin wedding ended up being unnecessary since California courts were closed in observance of LincolnÂ’s Birthday. It also meant that many couples started their days with no idea they would wed by evening.
As word spread, they rushed to City Hall, most dressed casually in jeans with hastily assembled witnesses, and holding hands as they waited in a long line to pay their $82 license fee. The marble passages beneath City Hall’s ornate golden dome echoed with applause as jubilant couples breezed through brief ceremonies, promising to be “spouses for life” instead of husband and wife.
“There is a part that doesn’t feel romantic at all, but obviously it feels historic,” said Guillermo Guerra, 29, who married Andrew Parsons, 39, his partner of eight years.
San Francisco officials acknowledged they might have a long court fight ahead of them, but insisted that the licenses were legally binding, saying they would immediately confer new benefits in areas ranging from health coverage to funeral arrangements. At the same time, the freshly revised marriage applications they issued encouraged “same-gender couples” to “seek legal advice regarding the effect of entering into marriage.”
“Marriage of lesbian and gay couples may not be recognized as valid by any jurisdiction other than San Francisco, and may not be recognized as valid by any employer,” the disclaimer said.
Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who shared officiating duties at City Hall with the assessor and four of her deputies, formally introduced legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage throughout California. “It is a tandem challenge,” Leno said. “One will be heard in a judicial setting, and the other in a legislative setting.”
Other state officials, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, shied away from commenting on the events. Attorney General Bill Lockyer said through a spokeswoman he hasnÂ’t been asked to issue an opinion on the legality of same-sex marriages under California law.
But Lockyer has asked his civil rights enforcement section to review how Massachusetts’ legal debate might apply to California law. “California’s constitution provides broader equal protection rights than other states,” spokeswoman Hallye Jordan said.
