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Mad rush to the altar
14/02/2004 13:30 - (SA)
San Francisco - San Francisco city officials planned to keep marrying gay couples through the weekend after a legal bid by opponents failed to halt the first officially-sanctioned same-sex weddings.
More than 480 gay couples have been married by the liberal city government since Thursday, when Mayor Gavin Newsom began openly defying California laws barring same-sex marriages and issuing licenses to gay couples.
The mayor's spokesperson, Francisco Castillo, vowed the city - home to the largest gay community in the United States - would keep marrying gays and lesbians over the Valentine's Day weekend.
"We will be open tomorrow and celebrating weddings until Tuesday at least," he said on Friday, as San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren denied injunctions sought by two conservative groups to block further same-sex unions.
The Campaign for California Families and the Alliance Defence Fund sued to block the first officially-recognised US gay marriages and to declare those that have already been carried out void.
But the judge told the Alliance Defence Fund to refile its petition against the landmark marriages Tuesday after the long weekend, leaving the city free to continue issue marriage licenses and blessing couples' unions.
"Today a lawsuit is being filed that will void every single one of the marriage licences issued within the last 24 hours and any licenses that may be issued between now and next Tuesday," said Richard Ackerman of the Campaign for California Families.
The groups vowed to eradicate official gay marriages and took personal aim at Newsom, the city's young and newly-installed leader.
'Illogical, unconstitutional and immoral'
"You do not have a marriage if you do not have a man and a woman," said CCF director Randy Thomasson, slamming same-sex marriages as "illogical, unconstitutional and immoral."
San Francisco's gay marriages, described by Newsom as a campaign of civil disobedience aimed at ending discrimination, was "beyond outrageous," Thomasson said.
"This isnt civil disobedience on the mayors part; its sheer unfettered anarchy and complete disdain for the rule of law," said said Benjamin Bull of the ADF.
Gay-friendly groups praised the city's groundbreaking move and the court's refusal to grant an immediate injunction, saying they had long been waiting for such a chance.
"This is a Valentine's Day weekend for the history books," said Jon Davidson of the gay lobby group Lambda Legal.
"The long lines outside city offices all day today show that lesbian and gay couples need the protections marriage provides."
But the city's action may prove to have little more than symbolic value. State health officials, who are responsible for recording all nuptials after checking that the paperwork is in order, said Friday they will accept only standard license forms, which mention "an unmarried man" and an "unmarried woman."
- AFP
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