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.
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.
"These are not
folks who just met each other last week and said,
'Let's get married.' These are folks who have been together
in some cases for decades," said Kate Kendell,
executive director of the National Center for Lesbian
Rights. "They are married in their hearts and minds,
but they have never been able to have that experience of
community and common humanity."
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.
"The church
cannot approve of redefining marriage, which has a unique
place in God's creation, joining a man and a woman in a
committed relationship," the bishops said.
Although
government officials cannot legally withhold marriage
licenses from same-sex couples, the clerks in
conservative Kern, Calaveras, and Butte counties last
week stopped performing weddings altogether.
Among the reasons
they cited were alleged concerns that the increased
demand would overwhelm their staffs and endanger the
security of the election equipment they also oversee
as part of their jobs.
Robin Tyler, 66,
and Diane Olson, 54, who like Lyon and Martin were among
the two dozen couples who served as plaintiffs in the
litigation, also were scheduled to get married on
Monday afternoon. The Los Angeles County clerk agreed
to issue them a marriage license a day ahead of the general
public in recognition of their role in the case.
"The word
'marriage' is important to me this day because marriage is
a universally understood word," Olson said. "Robin is a
different relationship to me than any other
relationship I've had in my life. She's my special
person." (Lisa Leff, AP)