The mood was electric that crisp, clear February day as couples lined up at San Francisco City Hall to be among the first to get licenses for same-sex marriages in California.
Nine tortuous years followed: The state high court halted and invalidated the San Francisco licenses, then later ruled gays and lesbians could marry. Some 18,000 couples rushed to do so before voters put a stop to the ceremonies by passing Proposition 8 in 2008. Then a federal judge and an appeals court threw that ballot initiative out.
On Tuesday, the two sides rested. The fate of one of the nation's most divisive issues was now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The nine justices will decide whether Proposition 8 — which amended the state Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman — will stand as law in California.
Californians on both sides listened to Tuesday morning's oral arguments and were handicapping how the court would rule based on the justices' queries. They held rallies and vigils, and talked it over in taverns, coffeehouses and law offices.
Andy Pugno, a lawyer in Folsom who has fought against same-sex marriage for 17 years, recalled his "long and difficult journey getting to this point."
Hearing Tuesday's arguments was "a surreal experience, having started out with this issue at a time when very few people realized that it would become an intense debate.
"And then fast forward 17 years to where it is perhaps the most intense social issue in the country."
Pugno was a legislative aide who worked on Proposition 22, the 2000 ballot measure that defined marriage as a union of one man and one woman, a law the California Supreme Court overturned. Pugno served as legal counsel for the sponsors of Prop. 8.
"It has been very difficult on me, my family and my business," Pugno said. "I have received an awful lot of mean-spirited threats and insults from some same-sex marriage activists."
He said he remains optimistic that the court will uphold Prop. 8.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco who launched this legal odyssey, sat in on the arguments and came away with the sense that same-sex marriages would resume in June in California.
Newsom said many people, including his father, a Catholic, and some friends and political allies, condemned him for deciding to issue the marriage licenses to same-sex couples in February 2004.
"There's a lot of wounds, a lot of scars," he said. "Those were difficult years and lonely."
Still, he said, he looks back on his decision with pride. The weddings on the steps of City Hall put a human face on the issue. Elated same-sex couples with children and parents in tow popped champagne and hugged under showers of rice. Drivers honked in celebration.
"Those images of the people on the steps of City Hall had an impact," Newsom said. "They reminded people that this was not a legal brief, but civil rights."
Kate Kuykendall, 36, needs no reminder of that. When she came out to her family in her early 20s, she feared she would never be able to get married and have a family of her own.
"When I reflect on how much things have changed in 20 years, it's pretty astounding," she said.
She married Tori Wilson on the first day of the five-month period in 2008 when gay marriage was legal in California, and they live in Agoura Hills with their three children.
"We made it during that limited-time offer," she said.
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