San Francisco's Gay Marriages to Continue, for Now

[Dreamer128]

By Spencer Swartz
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California judge on Tuesday gave the city of San Francisco a green light to keep on issuing marriage licenses to gays and lesbians until late March at least.

Conservative family groups had asked two courts to halt the flood of City Hall weddings that have made San Francisco "Ground Zero" for the controversial gay marriage movement.

One court put off its hearing in the case until Friday but the judge in the second case, California Superior Court Judge James Warren, refused to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the practice started last Thursday by the city's new mayor and gay rights advocate, Gavin Newsom.

"There will not be a stay ... The requirements have not been met to issue an injunction," Judge Warren said as he scheduled his next hearing for March 29.

Warren said no immediate threat to society existed that warranted putting a stop to the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses.

However, the judge in a second lawsuit filed by the Campaign for California Families (CCF) could decide on Friday to halt the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Some legal analysts though that the judge in the CCF case may follow Warren's lead and also deny a halt to same-sex marriages because the two lawsuits are similar.

The city's assessor-record's office said that about 2,500 gay and lesbian couples have been married since Newsom ordered city officials to defy a state law mandated by voters and grant same-sex marriage licenses.

"MUNICIPAL ANARCHY" ACCUSATION

Newsom decided to lift the ban on the grounds that homosexuals have the right to wed under the state's equal protection clause.

But the move defied Proposition 22, approved in 2000 by California voters, that restricted marriage only to heterosexual couples. The measure passed with support from about 60 percent of those who voted on the initiative.
Robert Tyler, lead attorney for Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), says San Francisco violated state law and created "municipal anarchy" by granting same-sex marriage licenses.
In court on Tuesday, Tyler said third parties, such as insurance companies and private employers, also needed to know the legal status of same-sex marriage licenses.

"These parties are going to ask: will we need to give these couples the same benefits as married heterosexual couples? If not, they could be sued and that could clog up the courts," he said.

Tyler added that San Francisco taxpayers who supported Proposition 22 were likely to feel "public trust" was violated by San Francisco officials who, the ADF believes, have not upheld the law.

But San Francisco city attorney, Therese Stewart, dismissed Tyler's argument, saying the mayor was "honoring the rule of law," under the state's equal protection clause, by giving gays and lesbians the same right as heterosexuals to marry.

The pace of same-sex marriages slowed on Tuesday as San Francisco workers attended to other duties.

Same-sex marriage has become a hot-button issue in this election year, with opponents like President Bush saying it would destroy the institution of marriage.

No state, including California, allows gay marriage although Massachusetts is currently debating whether to overturn a landmark state supreme court ruling allowing such unions.

[Source: Reuters]

[Chewbacca]

So has the institution of marriage been destroyed yet?

That is what is supposed to happen if Gays were ever to marry according to some?.

Well, Gays are getting married now...so where is the destruction?

[skywalker]

Yes it has Chewbacca! I've decided that now my marriage with my wife has been destroyed and we should now seek divorce!

Yeah right, like I've said before, the hetro types that are having a problem just don't want to let gays into the club. Sour Grapes is what it is!

Mark

[Larry_OHF]

I wonder if Cali. is doing this so extravagantly because Mass. was getting ready to, but not having the nerve to use excessive force, so Cali. said, the heck with this, we'll go, then you all can follow our lead.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

The institution of marriage was destroyed when they made My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancee and that new show about the mid-.. Erm... the Little People trying to find love.

[Dreamer128]

San Francisco Sues California Over Gay Wedding Ban

Thu February 19, 2004 07:44 PM ET

By Spencer Swartz
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The city of San Francisco, which has allowed nearly 3.000 same-sex couples to marry since last week in defiance of state law, on Thursday asked a court to strike down California laws restricting marriage to a man and a woman.

The lawsuit asks the San Francisco County Superior Court to rule that three sections of the California Family Code prohibiting same-sex marriage between run counter to the state constitution, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said.

The suit is also aimed at Proposition 22, a ballot initiative restricting marriage to a man and a woman that became law in 2000 after voters overwhelmingly approved it.

Herrera said both of those state laws violate the equal protection clause of the California constitution by discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender.

Drawing a parallel to the 1940s, Herrera said California courts were among the nation's first to strike down laws banning interracial marriage.

San Francisco's lawsuit was filed against the state of California and against two conservative family values groups that have sued the city in a bid to block it from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The lawsuit comes a week after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a newly elected Democrat, defied state law and made the city the focus of the burgeoning gay marriage movement by ordering city clerks to issue same-sex marriage licenses and even work through the weekend to meet demand.

In response, President Bush has moved closer to endorsing a constitutional ban on gay and lesbian marriage, a measure sought by many of his conservative backers who see same-sex unions as a threat to the institution of marriage.

Bush said on Wednesday he was "troubled" by San Francisco's actions and the issue has emerged as a hot-button issue in this presidential election year.

San Francisco Judge James Warren on Tuesday asked San Francisco to "cease and desist" from issuing more marriage licenses but declined to order penalties or otherwise intervene until he heard legal arguments on March 29.

A second San Francisco judge, Robert Evans Quidachay, on Tuesday delayed a hearing until Friday on another lawsuit challenging the decision to allow same-sex marriages.

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

[ 02-19-2004, 08:04 PM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]

[Yorick]

Originally posted by skywalker: Yeah right, like I've said before, the hetro types that are having a problem just don't want to let gays into the club. Sour Grapes is what it is! Mark

And why don't you let them speak for themselves instead of assuming to know their MOTIVE for something.

Unless you are claiming to be a mind reader?

[Oblivion437]

Oh come on, let the homosexuals get married! It's not the end of the world, and it's not like they're incapable of having a loving relationship with one another... Excuse my radical 'pro-liberty' stance on life.

[Dreamer128]

Apparently, the Governator is attempting to terminate this latest course of action.

Schwarzenegger fights gay unions

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has told his top legal official to act against the city of San Francisco for allowing gay marriages.

He ordered the state's attorney-general to take immediate steps to get a court ruling against the same-sex weddings.

Mr Schwarzenegger said they represented "an imminent risk to civil order".

More than 3,000 gay couples have been married in San Francisco since the city's new mayor decided to defy state law and allow such weddings.

On Friday, a judge denied a request by the conservative group, Campaign for California Families, for an injunction halting the same-sex marriages.

He said the group had failed to show convincing evidence that allowing gay weddings to continue would cause irreparable harm.

It was the second failed attempt to secure an injunction barring the unions.

'Rule of law'

Hours after Friday's court hearing, Mr Schwarzenegger wrote to the state's attorney general, Bill Lockyero.

"Our civilised society and legal system is based upon a respect for and adherence to the rule of law," he wrote.

"The city and county of San Francisco's unfortunate choice to disregard state law and grant marriage certificates to gay couples directly undermines this fundamental guarantee.

"Because the city and county of San Francisco's actions are directly contrary to state law and present an imminent risk to civil order, I hereby direct you to take immediate steps to obtain a definitive judicial resolution of this controversy."

San Francisco's Mayor, Gavin Newsom, believes the state law requiring marriage to be the union of a man and a woman discriminates against gays and lesbians.

As well as issuing marriage licences, his officials are also suing the state in an attempt to the get the law overturned.

A spokesman for the mayor, reacting to Mr Schwarzenegger's directive, said: "The truth is, thousands of people are involved in loving relationships and having them recognised for the first time.

"We urge the governor to meet with some of the couples because what's happening is both lawful and loving."

Gay men and lesbians have travelled from across the US to get married in San Francisco.

The BBC's David Willis in San Francisco says some regard what is happening in the city as a landmark moment in the struggle for gay rights and have likened it to the campaign against racial segregation in America.

Massachusetts case

Californians voted against gay and lesbian marriages under Proposition 22 in 2000, which says marriage is limited to one man and one woman.

Only the state of Vermont sanctions civil unions between same-sex couples, while Massachusetts, after a state High Court ruled that banning gay marriage was unconstitutional, is set to become the first state to approve same-sex marriage later this year.

On Friday, a county in the western state of New Mexico briefly issue marriage licences to dozens of gay couples.

"We were issuing licences today but we stopped because the state attorney-general issued a statement," Sandoval County clerk's office official Melinda Foster said.

New Mexico attorney-general Patricia Madrid declined to formally rule on the issue, but issued an advisory letter stating that "no county clerk should issue a marriage license to same-sex couples because those licenses would be invalid under current law".

[Source: BBC]

[Timber Loftis]

It was only a matter of time. If it's illegal in the state, it can't be made legal in San Fran. This is a necessary step to determining the legality of what's going on.