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American Morning
Same-Sex Marriage
Aired February 13, 2004 - 07:14 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In San Francisco, a conservative family values group is expected to file a lawsuit today to block the issuing of licenses for same-sex marriages as a response to actions that started yesterday.
Rusty Dornin has this report from San Francisco.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): City Hall quickly became a mob scene as word spread the San Francisco city clerk was issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
Up to the alter first: 80-year-old Phyllis Lyon and 83-year-old Dorothy Martin, lovers for 50 years and lesbian activists for nearly that long.
PHYLLIS LYON, GAY-RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Yes, we have the right just like everybody else to get married to the person that we want to get married to.
DORNIN: It was newly-elected Mayor Gavin Newsom who gave them that right, ordering the clerk to issue licenses, after listening to President Bush's State of the Union address.
GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR: The point from my perspective is you don't take away rights by using the Constitution to restrict people's freedoms, and you don't discriminate against people. And from my perspective this is simply about discrimination. It's about perpetuating separate but unequal statutes and standards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I give you this ring.
DORNIN: Words Jim Maloney (ph) and Andrew Nann (ph) never thought they would utter in a legal ceremony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Im very proud of it, very happy. It's a very exciting day for all of America.
DORNIN: City officials say they moved quickly in anticipation of a request on Friday for an injunction against gay marriages from the conservative group, Campaign for California Families.
(on camera): By the end of the day, city officials had performed more than 20 gay marriages. The city says it does not anticipate a legal challenge from the state, but says it will take any challenge straight to the Supreme Court. Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired February 13, 2004 - 07:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In San Francisco, a conservative family values group is expected to file a lawsuit today to block the issuing of licenses for same-sex marriages as a response to actions that started yesterday.
Rusty Dornin has this report from San Francisco.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): City Hall quickly became a mob scene as word spread the San Francisco city clerk was issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
Up to the alter first: 80-year-old Phyllis Lyon and 83-year-old Dorothy Martin, lovers for 50 years and lesbian activists for nearly that long.
PHYLLIS LYON, GAY-RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Yes, we have the right just like everybody else to get married to the person that we want to get married to.
DORNIN: It was newly-elected Mayor Gavin Newsom who gave them that right, ordering the clerk to issue licenses, after listening to President Bush's State of the Union address.
GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR: The point from my perspective is you don't take away rights by using the Constitution to restrict people's freedoms, and you don't discriminate against people. And from my perspective this is simply about discrimination. It's about perpetuating separate but unequal statutes and standards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I give you this ring.
DORNIN: Words Jim Maloney (ph) and Andrew Nann (ph) never thought they would utter in a legal ceremony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Im very proud of it, very happy. It's a very exciting day for all of America.
DORNIN: City officials say they moved quickly in anticipation of a request on Friday for an injunction against gay marriages from the conservative group, Campaign for California Families.
(on camera): By the end of the day, city officials had performed more than 20 gay marriages. The city says it does not anticipate a legal challenge from the state, but says it will take any challenge straight to the Supreme Court. Rusty Dornin, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
