Another Trip to City Hall

Four years ago, on February 13, 2004, I was working at home, Dick was in jury duty, and Pete called me called to see what I was doing. He told me that he and Richard were on their way to City Hall to be married, and wanted to know if we were able to come along to act as their witnesses.

I dropped everything I was doing, and was able to meet them there quickly. Dick, who was just released from Jury Duty from the building across the street from SF City Hall, was able to meet us there, and actually saved our place in line.

It was a momentous and amazing day. It was truly one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The four of us waited in line for over 4 hours with hundreds of other gay couples - it's so hard to put into words what the atmosphere was like.

Sadly, those marriages were annulled 6 months later.

On May 15th of this year, The California Supreme Court rejected the Gay Marriage Ban, and started on Tuesday of this week, June 17, same sex couples were able to marry again.

Late this morning, I was working at home, Dick was in jury duty, and Pete called me called to see what I was doing. He told me that he and Richard were at City Hall to be married, and wanted to know if we were able to come along to act as their witnesses.

I dropped everything I was doing, and was able to meet them there quickly. Dick, sadly, was still serving jury duty, and was unable to join us this time.

The atmosphere was very different this time around. First of all, we didn't come on the first day, and secondly, gay couples don't have the same need to rush as they did last time. This time around, couples know that this window will extend at least through Nov. 4 when CA voters vote on an initiative that would write a ban on same-sex marriage into the state Constitution.

What really surprised me today was the amount of couples, gay and straight, waiting to get married in City Hall today. Apparently, June is the most popular month to get married, and City Hall only has so many spaces per day. However, with all of the gay marriages, several dozen people are volunteering their time to allow many more marriages per day. This means that gay couples, as well as straight couples who weren't able to snag a time slot before were able to get married immediately.

The temperature in SF is easily in the high 80s today. That's sweltering for us. :) Pete and Richard weren't sure if they would be able to get married today, and didn't want to dress up (too hot) in case they were turned away. Likewise, I was called at the last minute when they realized they could get married today, so I ran over there in shorts and a t-shirt. :)


Congratulations (again) Pete & Richard!!

One of my favorite things that I saw in City Hall today were these boards that were displayed around the tables where the volunteers issued the marriage licenses. There were several of these boards which read:

We wish to recognize and honor the courageous couples and their families who came before us in their pursuit of equality. Below are some of the historic marriage certificates from February of 2004.



I loved this. It was a reminder of what so many couples went through four years ago, and what was taken away from them. We looked through the boards to see, if by chance, Pete & Richard's marriage license from 2004 was included, but alas, we didn't see it.

It was so interesting to go through this experience with my friends; Having been with them 4 years ago, and being there with them again today. I was so grateful for the opportunity to share this special day with them.... again.