Gay couples caught off guard by Friday's surprise announcement that same-sex marriage was once again legal in California headed to courthouses Monday morning to get their licenses.
Outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa performed Southern California's first same-sex ceremony since 2008 on Friday evening, marrying two of the plaintiffs from a case the U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule on, paving the way for the change in law. But for most local gay couples, Monday was the first chance to tie the knot.
And they arrived in happy pairs at county recorder's offices and courthouses across the Southland.
Lee Conger, 56, and John Wingler, 66, of Silver Lake, said they "dallied" when gay marriage was briefly legal in the state in 2008. So when they heard the news late Friday afternoon that a California appeals court had reinstated same-sex marriage, weeks before anyone anticipated, "we freaked out and realized we'd better get ourselves down" to the courthouse, Conger said.
When they arrived at the county registrar-recorder's office at 7:20 a.m. Monday, it was "like a party," Wingler said, with other couples showing up with the same sense of hope and urgency. Standing in line together, listening to everyone else's stories, was "heartwarming and encouraging," Conger said.
The rush to marry came after two U.S. Supreme Court actions last week.
First, the high court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, thereby requiring the federal government to recognize gay marriages approved by states. Then the justices declined to rule on an appeal of a California court decision striking down Proposition 8, the 2008 state ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage.
Initially, the appeals court that ruled on Proposition 8 indicated it would be weeks until the marriages could resume. But on Friday, the court announced that the ban was lifted immediately.
Rey Ramos, 43, and Rob Larsen, 53, headed from Pasadena to the Beverly Hills courthouse to get their license. In line, they met a rabbi who offered to marry them on the spot.
"All of these years of marching in the street and writing to Assembly people — it's finally done," said Larsen, a retired California Highway Patrol officer.
In West Hollywood, road signs along Santa Monica and Robertson boulevards directed drivers to "wedding parking." City staffers set up awnings and tested wedding music over loud speakers, and members of the City Council were deputized to officiate marriages by county Recorder-Registrar Dean Logan.
After the swearing-in, a woman in the audience stood up and shouted in protest, "What about the people of California who went to the polls and voted" for Proposition 8?
Someone responded: "They lost!"
As a sheriff's deputy escorted the protester out of the room, she continued shouting: "Jesus Christ is not pleased! What about the people's votes?"
City Councilman John Duran shouted back at her: "Thank God for the Supreme Court!"
West Hollywood, which has the highest concentration of gay residents in Los Angeles County, offered free wedding ceremonies outside its City Council chambers for much of the day.
Northridge residents Pat Joyce and Anne Morrison arrived in West Hollywood early Monday. Morrison clutched the yellow folder containing their wedding license, which they had just gotten from the registrar-recorder branch in Beverly Hills.
The couple has been together for 26 years. "It was a long engagement," said Morrison, 61, a retired teacher.
"We talked about marriage many times," said Joyce, 60, who works on the support staff at UCLA.
The couple said they didn't think they'd ever see legal gay marriage. "Not in our lifetime," Joyce said.
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