San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings
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The San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings took place between February 12 and March 11, 2004. Newly-elected San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom gained international attention, and attracted controversy when he issued a directive to the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Newsom claimed the California Constitution's equal protection clause as his authority to do so, and decided to perform the marriages after hearing President Bush's State of the Union address. The weddings were halted by the California Supreme Court on March 11, by which time about 4,000 same-sex couples had been issued marriage licenses. On August 12, 2004, the California Supreme Court voided all of these marriages.
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[edit] Political Analysis
Some analysts thought scenes from these marriages helped recruit Republican voters to the polls in the 2004 election. On the other hand, Newsom and San Francisco succesfully upstaged the Massachusetts marriages that occurred two months later, which would have reflected even more strongly on the Democratic presidential candidate that year, John Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts.
[edit] Some of the couples married
- Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, a couple then for 51 years[1].
- Alison Bechdel and Amy Rubin, a couple then for 12 years.
- Jackie Goldberg, State Assemblywoman and Sharon Sticker.
- Rosie O'Donnell, Ex-TV Host, and Kelli Carpenter
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Carolyn Lochhead, S.F.'s gay marriages trouble president: 'I'm watching,' Bush says, as he weighs support of a U.S. ban, San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 2004
