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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2004)
tefaruary 20. 2004 19 I J ? r e n e w s Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, had sat in the U.S. House of Representatives as a guest when President Rush delivered his State of the Union address in January. He seethed at Bushs remarks on same-sex marriage. Back in San Francisco, on Newsom’s direc tion, the wording on marriage licenses was changed from “bride” and “groom” to “first appli cant" and “second applicant.” California had adopted model gender-neutral marriage language in the 1970s, as had many other states, hut that was changed hack when anti-gav zealots pushed through Proposition 22 in 2000 to ban same-sex marriage. The city’s lawyers believe the equal protection section of the state constitution ren ders Prop. 22 invalid and justifies their issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Shortly before n m n Feh. 12, San Francisco les bian icons Del Martin, 83, and Phyllis Lyon, 79, became the first couple granted a marriage license in City Hall. It was Just in time for the pair to cel ebrate their 51st year together, on Valentine’s Day. Thi :ir celebratory photo was splashed across the front page of ! he San Francisco Chronicle, and the flcxxlgates opened. Gay and lesbian couples, many with kids in row, rushed to City Hail to get married. Many of them had been together for decades. Two groups of homophobes went to court Feb. 1 3 seeking an injunction to stop the mar riages. judges denied both requests Feb. 17 and set later hearing dates. The mayor’s planning paid off: A window of opportunity remained open. He announced that the city bureau would stay open during the long weekend to conduct marriages, and gay couples lined up by the hundreds. “We normally do about 20 to 30 couples a day, but we’re doing about 50 to 60 an hour,” said Mabel Teng, San Francisco’s assessor-recorder, Openly gay M assachusetts state Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios cited the “ basic hum an rights” that would be denied to his family if a constitutional am endm ent passed who supervises that office. She began turning away cou ples Feb. 14 when it became apparent the office could not handle the load and asked them to come back Feb. 16. Thousands would wed before the weekend was through. Gavin Newsom “This is a Valentine’s Day weekend for the history Nxiks,” said Jon David son, an attorney with Lambda Legal, which vowed to defend the marriages in court. “The long lines outside city offices all day show that lesbian and gay couples need the protections marriage provides." Gay conservative Andrew Sullivan wrote on his blog: “Something is happening out there. Instead of begging for the basic right to marrv, gay couples are now demanding it. This will alter the debate...and when the religious right try to strip us of those marriages, and force us back into second-class status, then we will see something else: resistance.” hile most gay men and lesbians were elat ed bv scenes from the marriages being played out in San Francisco, that reaction was not universal. Openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank. D-Mass., found out about the plans ahead of time when Newsom shared them with a few California polit ical leaders. According to the Chronicle, the vet eran gay congressman called the mayor and told him to “drop the idea— the time wasn’t right.” A reported pending endorsement of the Fed eral Marriage Am endm ent by Bush again failed to materialize, as predicted by social conserva tives. The leading Democratic presidential con tender, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., contin ued to do his own shuffling on the issue, sug gesting his position on the Massachusetts amendm ent might depend on the final language that is proposed. He remains opposed to the Federal Marriage Amendment. Political talk show host Bill M aher wrote in the Feh. 14 Globe: “T he greater shame in this story goes to the Democrats, because they d o n ’t believe that homosexuality is an ‘abomi n atio n ,’ and therefore their refusal to endorse gay marriage is hyptxrisy. T he right are true believers, but the Democrats are merely pre tending that they believe gays are not entitled to the same state-sanctioned misery as the rest of us. T he Democrats’ position doesn’t come from the Bible, it’s ripped right from the latest poll, which says that most Americans are against gay marriage.’ Sweet loving wonderful male eat Blue-eyed baby, approx. 2 yrs old. A real love. Feline HIV+ (FIV+) wants home with good people. Can be with other FIV cats or only eat. Likes dogs. Is your New Year's resolution to clean up and out? Consider donating your gently used items to University Park United Methodist Church. 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