Jun 17, 2008 7:10 pm US/Pacific
Hundreds Of Same-Sex Couples Wed At SF City Hall
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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A same-sex couple exchange vows at a marriage ceremony in San Francisco City Hall Tuesday.
CBS
The crowds and celebrations started early in San Francisco, even before City Hall opened its doors to the couples and their parties at 8 a.m. Tuesday, and the festivities filled the Beaux Arts building, rendering most regular city government business impossible.
The first full day of legal weddings for same sex couples in California was an extraordinary event in San Francisco, the city that started it all four years ago.
Over 200 couples headed to City Hall to marry and many more came to
pick up marriage licenses, while supporters crowded along the Polk Street steps to celebrate the historic day.
City Hall was heavily staffed with volunteers to accommodate the increase in couples who arrived with family, friends and professional photographers.
But like the first time in 2004, the City Hall rotunda felt like a twelve-ring circus: couples having their photos taken at every turn, camera crews bumping up against each other, spectators standing in the middle of scenes, dumbfounded, and bureaucrats coming out of their offices to enjoy the spectacle.
Catherine Chevalier, a 48-year-old Dublin resident, volunteered through the clerk's office and provided information to arriving couples.
She said she volunteered for "equal rights'' and "just to celebrate.''
Newlyweds Anne Mary Franks and Lorie Franks, both 43, brought their three daughters, who in matching pink gowns attracted so much attention that their heads were spinning.
"I think it's really great that gays and lesbians are finally getting noticed," daughter Maggie, 13, said. "And I'm just so happy that the state has finally come around. And the attention is cool, too."
Mark Hodgson, 42, and Sydney Levy, 44, residents of San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood, came to obtain a marriage license, even though they don't plan to wed until early August.
The couple of 18 years were also married in 2004 before the state Supreme Court halted the ceremonies.
"It's always an emotional experience,'' said Hodgson.
Despite plans for an Aug. 8 wedding, Levy said they came to City Hall Tuesday so that they could be among other couples.
Anu Menon, a policy analyst of the San Francisco Department of the Status of Women, volunteered to officiate weddings Tuesday and awaited couples in the North Light Court.
The 31-year-old San Francisco resident said, "I was really moved by the cause and proud to be in the city that started it all.''
Menon officiated one morning ceremony in which the couple, who had been together for 20 years and brought their two children along, traveled from Texas to wed.
San Francisco City Hall will be open weekdays between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. indefinitely to accommodate the increase in wedding license requests and ceremonies.
The city hosted its first same-sex marriage Monday night, involving Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, a couple of 55 years and the first to marry in 2004. Following a May 15 ruling by the state Supreme Court that found same-sex couples have a right to marry under the state constitution, California became the second state to permit the ceremonies.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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