By the power vested in me by the state of California...
I am a married woman now. Wow, what a wonderful day we had! The joy of the ceremony, the tedium of waiting in line, the fun of the crowd.
We got in the first line at 7:45, and within 5 minutes, the line behind us had doubled in length. Making friends with those in line, we soon found out that the doors wouldn't even open until 10, but we had managed to get in the correct line, which was for those who had not been there the day before. As we learned later, there were 320 gay couples who had gotten licenses on Saturday, but for whom they had not had time to perform ceremonies. When the officials came out and started counting off the couples who they thought they could process on Sunday, we just barely squeaked into the group of 80. Our cheers at being included in the group were captured by the CNN cameras.. we saw ourselves on tv last night.
Dan & JL came by the line on their way to Carmel, and brought us champagne, chocolates and flowers. Then Glenna & Jennifer arrived, just in time to get in the "marrying" group with us. The announcement was made telling us to come back at 1pm, so when Robert & James arrived, and Tina with Ariana, Jeremy and Aidan, we all went over to Hayes Valley for some brunch. Sitting out in a lovely patio with this incredible group was just as important to me as all the rest of it.
Back in line, we ran into some people we hadn't seen for years. We quickly entered City Hall, but after rushing down basement corridors and down and up stairs, we settled in for a long wait. (comparisons to Disneyland rides and contest patterns) It was fun to talk to friends and family on cell phones, and we got to know another set of folks in this new line. We met one couple who flew in yesterday all the way from South Carolina.
The city made the whole experience as smooth as possible. There were hundreds of volunteers - mostly people who had gotten married on Friday and wanted to help out - who came by to check our forms and tell us what to expect. Everyone congratulated us. The crowd cheered whenever a couple finished each stage of the process - hooray, they got their white form! yay, they paid their money! As we pranced out of the clerk's office with our white form, we sang "going to the chapel, and we're gonna get married"...
Then the four of us went up into the rotunda of city hall. It's such a grand space. Officials were marrying folks in every alcove and corner. We chose a spot under the clock on the balcony in front of the mayor's office, because "it's about time". Glenna & Jennifer held up a tapestry that we bought in Ecuador as the traditional jewish chupa over our heads, and we did the same for them.
We made our pledge to each other, and were proclaimed "spouses for life". We cried a lot.
By that time, it was after 3pm. We ate some cake that students from SFSU had brought in celebration, and we descended the rose-petalled front steps of city hall to great applause and a flurry of camera flashes.
Exhaustion settled in. We drove home and Barbara and I went and picked up the traditional wedding pizza. The dogs were glad to see us!
We got in the first line at 7:45, and within 5 minutes, the line behind us had doubled in length. Making friends with those in line, we soon found out that the doors wouldn't even open until 10, but we had managed to get in the correct line, which was for those who had not been there the day before. As we learned later, there were 320 gay couples who had gotten licenses on Saturday, but for whom they had not had time to perform ceremonies. When the officials came out and started counting off the couples who they thought they could process on Sunday, we just barely squeaked into the group of 80. Our cheers at being included in the group were captured by the CNN cameras.. we saw ourselves on tv last night.
Dan & JL came by the line on their way to Carmel, and brought us champagne, chocolates and flowers. Then Glenna & Jennifer arrived, just in time to get in the "marrying" group with us. The announcement was made telling us to come back at 1pm, so when Robert & James arrived, and Tina with Ariana, Jeremy and Aidan, we all went over to Hayes Valley for some brunch. Sitting out in a lovely patio with this incredible group was just as important to me as all the rest of it.
Back in line, we ran into some people we hadn't seen for years. We quickly entered City Hall, but after rushing down basement corridors and down and up stairs, we settled in for a long wait. (comparisons to Disneyland rides and contest patterns) It was fun to talk to friends and family on cell phones, and we got to know another set of folks in this new line. We met one couple who flew in yesterday all the way from South Carolina.
The city made the whole experience as smooth as possible. There were hundreds of volunteers - mostly people who had gotten married on Friday and wanted to help out - who came by to check our forms and tell us what to expect. Everyone congratulated us. The crowd cheered whenever a couple finished each stage of the process - hooray, they got their white form! yay, they paid their money! As we pranced out of the clerk's office with our white form, we sang "going to the chapel, and we're gonna get married"...
Then the four of us went up into the rotunda of city hall. It's such a grand space. Officials were marrying folks in every alcove and corner. We chose a spot under the clock on the balcony in front of the mayor's office, because "it's about time". Glenna & Jennifer held up a tapestry that we bought in Ecuador as the traditional jewish chupa over our heads, and we did the same for them.
We made our pledge to each other, and were proclaimed "spouses for life". We cried a lot.
By that time, it was after 3pm. We ate some cake that students from SFSU had brought in celebration, and we descended the rose-petalled front steps of city hall to great applause and a flurry of camera flashes.
Exhaustion settled in. We drove home and Barbara and I went and picked up the traditional wedding pizza. The dogs were glad to see us!
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on Monday, February 16, 2004 at 5:17 AM.
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