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More Political stuff.. But this time it is about love! ALL LOVE!
Hundreds of Same Sex Couples Share Vows Across California
Updated: June 17, 2008 02:37 PM PDT
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Serenaded by a gay men's chorus, showered
with rose petals and toasted with champagne, hundreds of tearful
same-sex couples got married across the state Tuesday in what some
are calling California's new Summer of Love.
Wearing everything from T-shirts to tuxedos and lavish gowns,
they rushed down to county clerks' offices to obtain marriage
licenses and exchange vows on the first full day that gay marriage
became legal in California by order of the state's highest court.
They were joined by jubilant crowds that came to witness the event.
George Takei, who played Sulu on the original "Star Trek,"
beamed as he and his partner of 21 years, Brad Altman, obtained one
of the new gender-neutral marriage licenses - with the words
"Party A" and "Party B" instead of "bride" and "groom" - at
the West Hollywood City Hall. They are planning a September
wedding.
"I see before me people who personify love and commitment," a
grinning Takei told the crowd. He flashed the Vulcan hand salute
from "Star Trek" and, in a twist on the Vulcan greeting from the
TV series, said: "May equality live long and prosper."
The burst of gay weddings actually began on Monday evening, when
a few counties extended their office hours past 5 p.m., the moment
the May 15 California Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex
marriage took effect. On Tuesday morning, though, all 58 counties
began issuing licenses, and the rush was on.
There were scattered demonstrations outside some offices and
courthouses. About a dozen protesters stood across the street from
the Sacramento County recorder's office, carrying signs that read,
"Marriage 1 man + 1 woman" and "Resist Judicial Tyranny."
"It's something to just pray about. It's not a time to be
joyful," 16-year-old demonstrator Juliya Lyubezhanina said as she
watched dozens of balloon- and rainbow flag-carrying couples.
Still, around the state, protesters were outnumbered by
well-wishers. One conservative activist said that the effort to
pass a constitutional amendment in the fall that would outlaw gay
marriage again in California could fail if the opponents came on
too strong.
"The major media would love to see us engage in fierce protests
and hostile demonstrations of outrage against the licensing of
same-sex 'marriages,"' Ronald Prentice, chairman of the
ProtectMarriage.com coalition. "Our battle is not against the
same-sex couples who are pursuing the opportunity to `marry'
granted them by the activist judges on the California Supreme
Court."
Some couples came from out of state. Unlike Massachusetts, the
only other state to legalize gay marriage, California has no
residency requirement for a marriage license. Many gay activists
are likening the moment to the 1967 Summer of Love, when young
people from across the country converged on California in what came
to be regarded as the birth of the counterculture.
In a shady plaza in Bakersfield, where the county clerk stopped
officiating at marriages altogether rather than preside over
same-sex ceremonies, newlyweds wearing Cinderella-style gowns and
matching tuxedos were showered with rose petals while a
photographer who set up on a park bench offered to snap wedding
portraits.
Although some couples said they preferred to wait until after
the election because they feared their marriages would nullified at
the ballot box, others said they wanted to make history, especially
if the opportunity to get married could be lost.
"There's a window, and we want to take advantage of that
window, because who knows what's going to happen in November,"
said Jay Mendes, 40, as he and his partner of three years, Bantha
Sao, 22, waited to obtain a marriage license in West Hollywood.
A recent Field Poll showed that Californians favor granting gays
the right to marry 51 percent to 42 percent. It was the first time
in 30 years of California polling that the scales tipped in that
direction.
In Orange County, newlyweds Alfonso Guerrero, 48, and Manuel
Chavez, 43, posed for a picture while deliberately standing in
front of a protester wearing a "Jesus or Hell" cap and holding a
large "Homo Sex is Sin" sign.
"It's another moment that we would conserve for history,"
Guerrero said. "They have the right to protest, but we have the
right to marry. God loves everybody."
In a sign of the growing political support for same-sex
marriage, the Los Angeles City Council president, the mayor of
Sacramento and at least two state lawmakers agreed to officiate at
the weddings of staff members and friends.
San Diego County, typically a Republican stronghold, added four
walk-up windows and assigned 78 employees to issue marriage
licenses Tuesday, up from the usual 19. More than 200 ceremonies
were scheduled, better than double the average daily load.
The moment he heard the ruling last month, Mike Bray, 44, a
computer network engineer from Oceanside, proposed over the
telephone to his partner of five years, Tom Siemar, a 42-year-old
interior designer. The couple wed Tuesday.
"We didn't think it would happen in our lifetimes," Bray said.
In West Hollywood, an auditorium was turned into a licensing
center in the park. Six white cabanas with chandeliers and silk
flowers were set up for weddings.
On the steps of San Francisco City Hall, a gay men's chorus sang
while supporters handed out cupcakes. Inside, Helen Zia, 55, and
Lia Shigemura, 50, of Oakland, sang "The Chapel of Love," their
voices echoing through the marble halls. They wore orchid leis from
Shigemura's home state of Hawaii.
"This is the most meaningful day of my life. I've always wanted
to get married," Shigemura said. "I just never thought it'd be
possible."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Updated: June 17, 2008 02:37 PM PDT
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Serenaded by a gay men's chorus, showered
with rose petals and toasted with champagne, hundreds of tearful
same-sex couples got married across the state Tuesday in what some
are calling California's new Summer of Love.
Wearing everything from T-shirts to tuxedos and lavish gowns,
they rushed down to county clerks' offices to obtain marriage
licenses and exchange vows on the first full day that gay marriage
became legal in California by order of the state's highest court.
They were joined by jubilant crowds that came to witness the event.
George Takei, who played Sulu on the original "Star Trek,"
beamed as he and his partner of 21 years, Brad Altman, obtained one
of the new gender-neutral marriage licenses - with the words
"Party A" and "Party B" instead of "bride" and "groom" - at
the West Hollywood City Hall. They are planning a September
wedding.
"I see before me people who personify love and commitment," a
grinning Takei told the crowd. He flashed the Vulcan hand salute
from "Star Trek" and, in a twist on the Vulcan greeting from the
TV series, said: "May equality live long and prosper."
The burst of gay weddings actually began on Monday evening, when
a few counties extended their office hours past 5 p.m., the moment
the May 15 California Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex
marriage took effect. On Tuesday morning, though, all 58 counties
began issuing licenses, and the rush was on.
There were scattered demonstrations outside some offices and
courthouses. About a dozen protesters stood across the street from
the Sacramento County recorder's office, carrying signs that read,
"Marriage 1 man + 1 woman" and "Resist Judicial Tyranny."
"It's something to just pray about. It's not a time to be
joyful," 16-year-old demonstrator Juliya Lyubezhanina said as she
watched dozens of balloon- and rainbow flag-carrying couples.
Still, around the state, protesters were outnumbered by
well-wishers. One conservative activist said that the effort to
pass a constitutional amendment in the fall that would outlaw gay
marriage again in California could fail if the opponents came on
too strong.
"The major media would love to see us engage in fierce protests
and hostile demonstrations of outrage against the licensing of
same-sex 'marriages,"' Ronald Prentice, chairman of the
ProtectMarriage.com coalition. "Our battle is not against the
same-sex couples who are pursuing the opportunity to `marry'
granted them by the activist judges on the California Supreme
Court."
Some couples came from out of state. Unlike Massachusetts, the
only other state to legalize gay marriage, California has no
residency requirement for a marriage license. Many gay activists
are likening the moment to the 1967 Summer of Love, when young
people from across the country converged on California in what came
to be regarded as the birth of the counterculture.
In a shady plaza in Bakersfield, where the county clerk stopped
officiating at marriages altogether rather than preside over
same-sex ceremonies, newlyweds wearing Cinderella-style gowns and
matching tuxedos were showered with rose petals while a
photographer who set up on a park bench offered to snap wedding
portraits.
Although some couples said they preferred to wait until after
the election because they feared their marriages would nullified at
the ballot box, others said they wanted to make history, especially
if the opportunity to get married could be lost.
"There's a window, and we want to take advantage of that
window, because who knows what's going to happen in November,"
said Jay Mendes, 40, as he and his partner of three years, Bantha
Sao, 22, waited to obtain a marriage license in West Hollywood.
A recent Field Poll showed that Californians favor granting gays
the right to marry 51 percent to 42 percent. It was the first time
in 30 years of California polling that the scales tipped in that
direction.
In Orange County, newlyweds Alfonso Guerrero, 48, and Manuel
Chavez, 43, posed for a picture while deliberately standing in
front of a protester wearing a "Jesus or Hell" cap and holding a
large "Homo Sex is Sin" sign.
"It's another moment that we would conserve for history,"
Guerrero said. "They have the right to protest, but we have the
right to marry. God loves everybody."
In a sign of the growing political support for same-sex
marriage, the Los Angeles City Council president, the mayor of
Sacramento and at least two state lawmakers agreed to officiate at
the weddings of staff members and friends.
San Diego County, typically a Republican stronghold, added four
walk-up windows and assigned 78 employees to issue marriage
licenses Tuesday, up from the usual 19. More than 200 ceremonies
were scheduled, better than double the average daily load.
The moment he heard the ruling last month, Mike Bray, 44, a
computer network engineer from Oceanside, proposed over the
telephone to his partner of five years, Tom Siemar, a 42-year-old
interior designer. The couple wed Tuesday.
"We didn't think it would happen in our lifetimes," Bray said.
In West Hollywood, an auditorium was turned into a licensing
center in the park. Six white cabanas with chandeliers and silk
flowers were set up for weddings.
On the steps of San Francisco City Hall, a gay men's chorus sang
while supporters handed out cupcakes. Inside, Helen Zia, 55, and
Lia Shigemura, 50, of Oakland, sang "The Chapel of Love," their
voices echoing through the marble halls. They wore orchid leis from
Shigemura's home state of Hawaii.
"This is the most meaningful day of my life. I've always wanted
to get married," Shigemura said. "I just never thought it'd be
possible."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)