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CNN Live Today
San Francisco City Hall Overflows with Same-Sex Couples Who Want to Wed
Aired February 13, 2004 - 11:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Want to go back to our other top story, and that is the situation of gay marriage in San Francisco and bring in reporter Rachel Gordon from the "San Francisco Chronicle."
Good morning.
RACHEL GORDON, "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE": Good morning.
KAGAN: You were downtown as this was all taking place at city hall?
GORDON: I was. My office actually is in city hall, and it was really an amazing sight. Really amazing sounds all day.
Throughout the day you kept hearing cheers and whoops and hollers going up every five minutes as more and more couples trickled into city hall to get their marriage licenses for the first time.
KAGAN: Now, this took a lot of people by surprise, not just the gays and lesbians who showed up to get married, but also many conservatives who have a problem with gay marriage.
It looks like the mayor, Gavin Newsom, kind of worked the calendar a little bit to get around the court system.
GORDON: Yes, he absolutely did.
Now Gavin Newsom has only been in office for a little more than a month. He didn't really campaign on a pro-gay rights platform, but it's one of the first major things he did in San Francisco.
And the courts in California were closed on Thursday in observance of Lincoln's day. That way the opponents of the same-sex marriage licenses that were being issued couldn't go into court and try to get an emergency injunction to stop them.
So it gave the city a little bit of breathing room to keep issuing the licenses. And it looks like they'll be doing it at least through Friday. The next time that -- the court hearing will go into full effect when the injunction, if there is one, can be issued is going to be Tuesday, it looks like.
KAGAN: And some people having a problem, again, no matter which way you fall on gay marriage here, with how the mayor's handling this, calling him -- he thinks he's king that he can just do this.
That really he doesn't have jurisdiction. This is an issue for the courts, for the state legislature. And also, there was that proposition, that initiative on the ballot back in 2000 which banned gay marriage.
GORDON: Right, and what the mayor is saying, what the gay rights activists are saying -- he's got a couple of legal groups already lined up to help San Francisco -- is that under the state constitution, very much like the Massachusetts debate that's going on, in California the state constitution, they're arguing, bans discrimination against gays and lesbians. And they're going to go to court on that reason.
Now, yes, there is a law on the books in California that says marriage is between one man and one woman, although a state assemblyman on Thursday also tried to -- well, he introduced a bill that will try to overturn that law as well and make it gender neutral.
So really, when the mayor did this and took the action to move forward on it, it really was to put this issue in the court and test it legally.
KAGAN: And so as this plays out, let's look in the immediate future, today. You expect many more couples to show up at city hall?
GORDON: I would expect so. As the word started to spread on the Internet, by phone calls from people yesterday, it was really, you know, people got off of their lunch hour, jumping off the Muni (ph) rail system and saying, "Can we still get married? Can we still get licenses?"
I have not been down to city hall yet today, but I expect there are going to be major crowds. Don't forget, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. A lot of people are going to try to tie the knot before then.
KAGAN: Again, do you have to be a California resident or are people flying in for this?
GORDON: I would assume that people are flying in for it. Maybe he just did this as a tourist attracting ploy. I don't know. I doubt that's why he did it. But city hall in San Francisco, it's a beautiful, ornate, Beaux Arts building. A lot of people come from all over, not just San Francisco, California, and the country but the world to get married in there.
KAGAN: Rachel Gordon from the "San Francisco Chronicle," go out and cover a little bit more history.
GORDON: Will do.
KAGAN: Thanks for giving a little local perspective.
GORDON: Thank you.
KAGAN: We appreciate that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Who Want to Wed>
Aired February 13, 2004 - 11:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Want to go back to our other top story, and that is the situation of gay marriage in San Francisco and bring in reporter Rachel Gordon from the "San Francisco Chronicle."
Good morning.
RACHEL GORDON, "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE": Good morning.
KAGAN: You were downtown as this was all taking place at city hall?
GORDON: I was. My office actually is in city hall, and it was really an amazing sight. Really amazing sounds all day.
Throughout the day you kept hearing cheers and whoops and hollers going up every five minutes as more and more couples trickled into city hall to get their marriage licenses for the first time.
KAGAN: Now, this took a lot of people by surprise, not just the gays and lesbians who showed up to get married, but also many conservatives who have a problem with gay marriage.
It looks like the mayor, Gavin Newsom, kind of worked the calendar a little bit to get around the court system.
GORDON: Yes, he absolutely did.
Now Gavin Newsom has only been in office for a little more than a month. He didn't really campaign on a pro-gay rights platform, but it's one of the first major things he did in San Francisco.
And the courts in California were closed on Thursday in observance of Lincoln's day. That way the opponents of the same-sex marriage licenses that were being issued couldn't go into court and try to get an emergency injunction to stop them.
So it gave the city a little bit of breathing room to keep issuing the licenses. And it looks like they'll be doing it at least through Friday. The next time that -- the court hearing will go into full effect when the injunction, if there is one, can be issued is going to be Tuesday, it looks like.
KAGAN: And some people having a problem, again, no matter which way you fall on gay marriage here, with how the mayor's handling this, calling him -- he thinks he's king that he can just do this.
That really he doesn't have jurisdiction. This is an issue for the courts, for the state legislature. And also, there was that proposition, that initiative on the ballot back in 2000 which banned gay marriage.
GORDON: Right, and what the mayor is saying, what the gay rights activists are saying -- he's got a couple of legal groups already lined up to help San Francisco -- is that under the state constitution, very much like the Massachusetts debate that's going on, in California the state constitution, they're arguing, bans discrimination against gays and lesbians. And they're going to go to court on that reason.
Now, yes, there is a law on the books in California that says marriage is between one man and one woman, although a state assemblyman on Thursday also tried to -- well, he introduced a bill that will try to overturn that law as well and make it gender neutral.
So really, when the mayor did this and took the action to move forward on it, it really was to put this issue in the court and test it legally.
KAGAN: And so as this plays out, let's look in the immediate future, today. You expect many more couples to show up at city hall?
GORDON: I would expect so. As the word started to spread on the Internet, by phone calls from people yesterday, it was really, you know, people got off of their lunch hour, jumping off the Muni (ph) rail system and saying, "Can we still get married? Can we still get licenses?"
I have not been down to city hall yet today, but I expect there are going to be major crowds. Don't forget, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. A lot of people are going to try to tie the knot before then.
KAGAN: Again, do you have to be a California resident or are people flying in for this?
GORDON: I would assume that people are flying in for it. Maybe he just did this as a tourist attracting ploy. I don't know. I doubt that's why he did it. But city hall in San Francisco, it's a beautiful, ornate, Beaux Arts building. A lot of people come from all over, not just San Francisco, California, and the country but the world to get married in there.
KAGAN: Rachel Gordon from the "San Francisco Chronicle," go out and cover a little bit more history.
GORDON: Will do.
KAGAN: Thanks for giving a little local perspective.
GORDON: Thank you.
KAGAN: We appreciate that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Who Want to Wed>
