My college roommate David got married in California to his husband Rich on Tuesday, June 17th. They were the first same-sex marriage in Santa Clara county.
Here is David’s blog post about their marriage, and here’s a video of the vows…
Yay!
As of yesterday at 5:01 p.m., same-sex couples can get legally married in the state of California. (Yay!) One of the first in San Francisco city hall was the Marriage of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.
Phyllis and Del are pioneers of the feminist and gay rights movements and have been a couple since 1952. They are in essence, the spiritual grandmothers of all gay people.
Four years ago, when they were married in San Francisco by renegade mayor Gavin Newsom, who just decided to issue licenses because he got tired of saying no when he really wanted to say yes, I blogged about how happy it made me.
I couldn’t imagine being happier than then, but I have to say, I was on May 31st, and it’s quite awesome to see photos from California now. The San Francisco Gate has more great pictures of the events, and The Bilerico Project has a flickr photo pool of creative commons images of the California marriages going on; – check it out.
That’s an interesting thing you never see in most wedding photos — people showing off their marriage certificate (except at Quaker weddings, where it’s a work of art that everyone attending the ceremony signs). But you see that in every same-sex marriage photo album.
Apparently, the will of the people won’t prevail after all. Governor Schwarzenegger is promising to veto the equal marriage rights bill that was just passed in the California legislature.
So let me get this straight… we can’t take our civil rights issues to court, because when the courts make a ruling, they’re called “activist judges” and we’re told that we have to refer to the legislatures to make the laws.
When we go through the legislatures to make the laws, we’re vetoed by activist governors who defy the will of the people.
So basically, there’s no civil rights justice for gay people in America, at all.
I was saying last night that I don’t want to live in America anymore. I don’t feel safe here, either from natural or man-made disaster, or anti-gay attack.
Sacramento — The state Assembly, in a stunning victory for the gay rights movement, approved a landmark bill allowing same-sex marriage Tuesday night and sent it to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The measure, which passed with no votes to spare, marks the first time that a legislative body in the United States has approved a bill that legalizes gay marriage. Schwarzenegger has not taken an official position on the legislation but has hinted that he would veto it.
Let me point out that this is not an “activist judge” making a decision — this is actually a state legislature, elected by the people, creating the law. This is exactly the will of the people — and the right wing is frothing at the mouth over it. Because when it comes right down to it, they don’t want a democracy, they want a theocracy ruled by religion, and they want to overthrow the American government.
Just a reminder of what was going on last year at this time…
In S.F., debate on gay nuptials marked by joy
“Boston and San Francisco are often compared for their similarities. But of the two cities that bookended a historic week in the debate on gay marriage, I know which place I’d rather have been this holiday. I’d choose the city of joy. Infectious, unadulterated joy, sparked by this unprecedented five-day run of gay-marriage ceremonies that was part civil disobedience, part political statement, part Woodstock Nation. In San Francisco… volunteers smiled through the night Sunday, brought hot cocoa and food to couples and families who were wrapped around the block, braving cold and downpour to wait their turn to exchange vows. As word spread Friday the exultant crowds kept coming — by car, by taxi, by bus, by plane. People took photographs, flashed peace signs and knew they were at the heart of something historic. Children — toddlers, babes-in-arms, schoolchildren — were everywhere.”
The Joy of Gay Marriage
“Whatever their short-term legal fate, the San Francisco weddings mark a new high-water mark in one of the most fast-paced cultural tsunamis America has seen. As Evan Wolfson, the civil rights lawyer who founded Freedom to Marry, says, “An act as unremarkable as getting a wedding license” has been transformed by the people embracing it, much as the unremarkable act of sitting at a Formica lunch counter was transformed by an act of civil disobedience at a Woolworth’s in North Carolina 44 years ago this month.”
For Children of Gays, Marriage Brings Joy
“It was so cool,” said Gabriel, 13, who served as the ringbearer, after standing in line overnight with his parents. “I always accepted that ‘Yeah, they’re my moms,’ but they were actually getting married. I felt thick inside with happiness. Just thick.”
Speaking of his mothers’ marriage, Alex said: “It is something I always wanted. I’ve always been around people saying, ‘Oh, my parents anniversary is this week.’ It’s always been the sight of two parents, married, with rings. And knowing I’d probably never experience it ever.” That changed in the City Hall rotunda as his mothers exchanged vows. “The atmosphere was just springing with life,” Alex recalled. “I just couldn’t hold myself in. It was oh my god oh my god oh my god. I felt so happy I wanted to scream.”
Lesbian couple wedded at SF City Hall Women had been together for five decades
History was made at 11:06 a.m. today at San Francisco City Hall when Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon took their wedding vows, becoming the first same-sex couple to be officially married in the United States. About 20 people witnessed the ceremony; many of them were moved to tears as the couple, who have been together for five decades, were wed.
Photos of Phyllis and Del
More Wedding Photos
More Wedding Photos
More Wedding Photos
More Wedding Photos