MARRIAGE EQUALITY
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VIDEO
PHOTOS TRISH TUNNEY / VIDEO LYNN TSUTSUMI
PROP 8 - DAY OF DECISION
May 26 2009 - The Day of Decision over the fate of Prop 8 and marriage equality in California. The Court rules 6-1 to uphold Prop 8 but also rules that the same-sex marriages performed prior to November 4th remain legal. San Francisco mourns the Supreme Court's decision with peaceful demonstrations and somber rallies throughout the day.
SAN FRANCISCO CELEBRATES
June 16 2008 - San Franciscans are jubilant as the city celebrates the first same-sex marriage. At the stroke of 5:01 pm Mayor Gavin Newsom married long-time activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.
CONGRATULATIONS
In a private ceremony in the offices of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Phyllis Lyon, 83, and Del Martin, 87, were the first and only couple to be married in San Francisco on June 16 at 5:01pm.
Martin and Lyon were together for almost 60 years. Mrs Del Martin passed away on August 27 after fighting her entire life for gay and lesbian rights.
PHOTOS TRISH TUNNEY
THE PLAYERS
It started in San Francisco... Mayor Gavin Newson (left), State Senator Mark Leno (center) and City Attorney Dennis Herrera (right) are the key players in the movement to legalize same-sex marriage in California.
On Valentine's Day 2004, newly-elected Mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples in defiance of the state-wide ban on same-sex marriage; he was shut down by Governor Schwarzenegger a month later, but not before marrying over 3,000 gay couples.
California State Senator Mark Leno has been passionately working on legislature to overturn the marriage ban and to guarantee equal rights for same-sex couples. Read Mark Leno's article on gay marriage rights.
In May 2008, the California Supreme Court validated Newsom's 2004 decision by declaring the ban on same-sex marriage "unconstitutional." From June 16th until the November elections, thousands of gay couples have flocked to California to get hitched. As of now, gay marriages have been "put on hold" pending the Court's decision on Proposition 8, which again took away marriage rights from same-sex couples.
PHOTO TRISH TUNNEY