They’ve been a couple for **51 ** years. And they still wanted to get married!!
I just think that’s beautiful.
I got goosebumps when I heard this. I’m thrilled beyond belief. It’s not over, of course, this is just one salvo in this ongoing battle. But it’s kindled a spark of hope in me. I can hope that someday, I can solemnize my relationship with my boyfriend, I can get legal recognitions that protect us in times of need, and we can be better able to build a good, long, healthy relationship together.
February 12th, 2004. It’s a good day.
My town rules
I can’t think of anyone left alive who deserves the honor of being the first more than these two. These women have been active in the gay community for decades. Hell, these women were among those who pretty much invented the gay community.
Do they get the Legal Rights of a state marrage? Tax filing, etc. (I hope so)
I wish Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin a long and happy marriage.
It’s pretty sad, though, how I hear good news like this and wonder to myself how long it will be before the inevitable social conservative legislative backlash. Sometimes it really sucks living in a country filled with religious fanatics.
Unknown. California doesn’t currently recognize SSM on the state level. Proposition 22, a voter-approved initiative that passed a few years back, defines marriage as being man-woman, one each. Some claim that because of the section of the CA family code Prop 22 modified, it only prevents CA from recognizing SSM from other states. There’s a bill pending to legalize SSM in CA but even if it passes it’s unlikely that Arnie would sign it.
At some point this couple is going to attempt to assert a state marital right and the state will have to decide to allow it or not. Eventually courts will become involved.
Interesting times indeed.
NOOOOOOOOO!
Now an asteroid is going to hit and California will drop into the sea!!!
Ahem.
Okay,marriage really is different. I lived with my husband 6 months before we married, and it took on new commitment when we were official.
I thought Arnie was pro-SSM?
Arnold thinks that “gay marriage should be between a man and a woman.”
I just realized they’re the couple on the May-June 2003 cover of The Gay and Lesbian Review, doing the American Gothic painting!
(Looked for an online picture, but couldn’t find it – it’s a really neat cartoon)
I really hope this is the spark that is needed to take this all the way. Woo San Francisco! I wonder if Santa Cruz will follow suit.
In other news, President Bush is deeply, deeply disturbed.
He’s also worried about what this marriage will mean to the “will of the people”, since of course the issue of gay marriage is coming up for a national vote, just like other issues of civil rights. How Brown was able to coax Americans to vote for him instead of the Topeka Board of Education is beyond me…
There are now 15 married couples in San Francisco. Two couples who applied for licenses in Los Angeles were denied (the linked story incorrectly says SF instead of LA). The radical right has vowed to battle the “unlawful certificates” and Lambda Legal has promised to meet them at every challenge.
Any SF Dopers? Can y’all explain how the mayor of the city of San Francisco has authority over the San Francisco County Clerk’s office?
Relax. They legalised same-sex marriage here last year and nothing happ–
.
.
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CARRIER LOST
( Serious congratulations are in order. 
)
Sorry, it’s actually 87 couples who have married. Another eight licenses were issued.
Would they be allowed where You live?
and where is that, anyway?
San Francisco City and County are the same thing - the borders are identical. As a result, the city/county has an unusual set-up. For instance, there isn’t a city council; instead, there’s a county board of supervisors, run by the mayor.
I’ve never been prouder to be a San Franciscan than I am right now.
Legally, the City and County of San Francisco are the same entity. From the charter:
*SEC. 1.100. NAME AND BOUNDARIES.
The City and County of San Francisco shall continue as a consolidated city and county with such boundaries as are prescribed by law, pursuant to this Charter and the laws of the State of California.
*
I’ll leave it to the ambitious to read through the rest of the charter. (Give it a moment to appear on the left)