SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Dozens of gay couples planned to rush down to their county clerk's office Monday evening to be among the very first to say "I do" under the historic court ruling making California the second state to allow same-sex “marriages.”
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(Photo: AP Images / Eric Risberg)Drinks are laid out by Hornblower Cruises for visitors to a special wedding pavilion at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Business Expo in San Francisco, Tuesday, June 10, 2008. The ruling by the California Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage in the state could give a big, sudden boost to California's sputtering economy. Thousands of same-sex couples from across the nation expected to converge on the state when the decision takes effect June 16. Hotels, restaurants, florists and other wedding services are reporting a flurry of business.
The May 15 decision by the California Supreme Court was set to take effect at 5 p.m.
While Mondays are not exactly a big day for weddings, at least five county clerks around the state agreed to extend their hours to issue marriage licenses, and many gay couples planned to get married on the spot.
The really big rush to the altar in the nation's most populous state is not expected to take place until Tuesday, which is when most counties plan to start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of couples from around the country are expected to seize the opportunity to make their unions official in the eyes of the law.
Local officials will be required to issue licenses that have the words "Party A" and "Party B" where "bride" and "groom" used to be.
A conservative Christian legal group asked a state appeals court to block the weddings, but the move was given little chance of success. California's high court rejected a previous request for a postponement.
In San Francisco, where Mayor Gavin Newsom helped launch the series of lawsuits that led the court to strike down California's one-man-one-woman marriage laws, workers got ready for the crush of couples by setting up a satellite office in the lobby of City Hall.
Newsom planned to preside at the wedding of lesbian rights activists Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 84, the only couple scheduled to receive a marriage license in the city on Monday. As of Friday, nearly 620 couples had booked appointments to obtain licenses at San Francisco City Hall over the next 10 days.
Clerks elsewhere around the state reported nowhere near as high a demand but said they were training volunteer marriage commissioners to officiate at civil ceremonies in anticipation of a surge in business.
Unlike Massachusetts, which legalized gay “marriage” in 2004, California has no residency requirement for marriage licenses, and that is expected to draw a great number of out-of-state couples. The turnout could also be boosted by New York state's recent announcement that it will recognize gay “marriages” performed in other jurisdictions.
A UCLA study issued last week estimated that half of California's more than 100,000 same-sex couples will get married over the next three years, and an additional 68,000 out-of-state couples will travel here to exchange vows. The study estimated that over that period, gay weddings will generate some 2,200 jobs and $64 million in badly needed tax revenue for the state, which is ailing financially.
Some of those out-of-state couples are likely to demand legal recognition in their home states, setting the stage for numerous court battles.
However, some couples may wait to tie the knot because of a proposed constitutional amendment on the California ballot in November that would undo the Supreme Court ruling and ban gay “marriage.”
Amid the preparations, some religious leaders and conservative activists objected to the social change unfolding around them. The seven bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles issued a statement Monday reiterating the Roman Catholic Church's position on same-sex “marriage.” Continue >>
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"A UCLA study issued last week estimated that half of California's more than 100,000 same-sex couples will get married over the next three years, and an additional 68,000 out-of-state couples will travel here to exchange vows." Icky poo. Nasty. They think playin house makes em normal and acceptable?
yeah, I noticd that. Luckily, their links from the various categories do have have links to recent articles.
Yeah, and I had a number of CP articles bookmarked, but now I can't access them through my bookmarks. I have to go to the main page and do a search for them through the archives.
hlerwin, No, I don't recall you joking about abortion.
True! And the loading up of the page is way too long. There are obviously some bugs in their new structure
The delete function is fine, rolln4, but "November 30, 1999?!?"
Congrats to CP on putting a new "delete" feature for posting. Now we don't have to "flag ourselves when we find mistakes in our posts.
Thank you, Prophet and wbmoore. I will try your tips. I don't cut and paste my own text, though I sometimes will do that from some other source, but I use the double dash a lot. I will avoid that. Also, wb, I hope I was not the one who tried to be "amusing" about abortion. I would never try that with a topic that I consider among the very most serious (much more serious than same-sex marriage, for instance). If I made some sort of remark that seem an attempt to be amusing, I apologize.
hlerwin,
I've noticed that when I try to post a message that has like a double dash in it, it will come up as forbidden.
hlerwin,
Maybe the editor you use puts in some characters for the newline/line-break that is not translated properly upon cut and paste. Try it without hitting enter (all in the same paragraph). that might help.
As for "baiting", I suppose I should have expounded further upon my use of the term. I do not like reading posts intended to upset people. Baiting in terms of trying to elicit a specific reaction is not in itself something I dislike - in fact, I use it sometimes when I teach. But baiting to elicit what appears to be for the sole purpose of getting under someone's skin, to offend, or to hurt, IS something I find offensive. Also as I age, and as my children age, I find I care more and more about the topic of abortion - I do not find the topic amusing in any way. And when it is used to bait someone in a negative way, I find it offensive.
rolling4him,
Hey, it's great to see you too. Sorry I didn't respond to your post. I got sidetracked, and then ended up going to bed. I work long days with little sleep so sometimes it happens. LOL. I hope to talk to you some more. TTYL
That's THREE messages w/o "Fobidden" (four if this one goes through). I think I'll go mow the grass anyway. I'm not going to fall for this! After all, I've got my spiritual armor on. (kidding)
Would you guys say that is Satan? (kidding......) But it IS tempting to make more -- and LONGER -- posts now!
Hmmmmmmm.......My longer message went through. That's how we are lured in, isn't it?
So......my 2nd message was also cut in fourths. What gives? My laptop is new, and my DSL(?) is OK, far as I know. I even changed from Explorer to Mozilla. I bet CP can do nothing about this. If this post does not go through, I am going to to some mowing for a while! Speaking of "offensive!" Technology is more offensive that you fellows.