Fridae

The city of San Francisco had on Thursday issued a total of 118 marriage licenses to same-sex couples in a historic act of civil disobedience as current California state laws explicitly ban same-sex marriages.

Although the county clerk was expected to consult with the city attorney after Mayor Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday that he wanted the city to explore ways to let same-sex couples marry, city officials rushed the policy into place when they heard that conservative Christian groups were planning to file a suit on Friday to block the plan.

"A barrier to true justice has been removed," said the Democrat, who argues that state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman amounts to unconstitutional discrimination against gays and lesbians.

At 11:06 am on Thursday, long-time lesbian activists Del Martin, 83, and Phyllis Lyon, 79, took their wedding vows and became the first same-sex couple to be officially married in the United States.

The couple - who will celebrate their 51st anniversary on Saturday, Valentine's Day - had wed using borrowed rings as Lyon only got a call the day before from Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, asking her if she had wanted to be the first same-sex couple to be married.

City officials plan to issue more marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples on Friday as "it appears that the earliest a court could order an injunction to halt the marriages would be Tuesday," as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

A spokesman for the city attorney told the paper that as of Thursday night, the city had not received the required 24-hour notice from Liberty Counsel, a legal-aid group acting on behalf of Campaign for California Families, that it would seek an injunction. State courts will be closed Monday for Presidents Day.

The Counsel had planned to file for an injunction Thursday, but the state courts were closed in observance of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. City officials, however, took the opportunity to fast-tracked plans to put the same-sex marriage procedures in place before a judge had time to stop the weddings.

The litigation will hinge on whether California marriage law illegally discriminates against same-sex couples under the state constitution.

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For the moment, the marriage licenses have no legal significance unless the newlyweds try to assert their rights as married people by applying for Social Security benefits or seeking custody of property or children. Constitutional law experts added that marriages are governed by the state, not local, governments.

The move to allow same-sex couples to be married conflict with Proposition 22, where voters took to the ballot box in 2000 to ban the recognition of same-sex marriages in California.
The events have drawn criticism from conservative Christian and traditionalist groups without delay.

"The state of California must rebuff the efforts of this rogue mayor," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative group in Washington, D.C.

"His actions, and the actions of those who are attempting to redefine marriage in Massachusetts, show that homosexual activists are ready and willing to ignore the people and to ignore the law to further their agenda of normalizing homosexuality,'' reported the Chronicle.

Newsom, who believes that the equal protection clause of the California Constitution obliges the city to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, said the struggle to allow same-sex marriages was no different from the battles to eradicate laws banning marriage between people of different races and different religions.

"America has struggled since its inception to eradicate discrimination in all forms," said Newsom, who did not officiate over ceremonies Thursday. "California's Constitution leaves no doubts. It leaves no room for any form of discrimination.''

"I don't think there is anyone in good conscience who can tell me that denying the same rights my wife Kimberly and I have to same-sex couples is anything but discrimination," said Newsom.

The high court of Massachusetts had ruled earlier in the week that barring same-sex couples from marrying was unconstitutional. The weary legislature who has failed to come to a decision on a proposed gay marriage ban after two days of intense negotiations has suspended debate and will reconvene on March 11.