California same-sex couples rush to wed after ban lifted by court
Source: AFP |
June 30, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
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A LESBIAN couple who spearheaded a fight for same-sex marriage in California have become the first to tie the knot hours after a ban was lifted, following a landmark US Supreme Court ruling.
Cheers erupted at San Francisco City Hall on Friday after Kristin Perry and Sandy Stier exchanged vows, in a ceremony conducted by California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
"I now declare you spouses for life," said Harris, after the couple exchanged rings and vows in front of a hastily-assembled gathering. "I could not be more honored to stand here today."
"We have waited a long, long time for this day," said Stier after the ceremony, the first gay wedding since a brief period in 2008 when California allowed same-sex marriage but then banned it under a referendum.
The ceremony came within an hour or two of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco lifting a same-sex marriage ban, imposed under the so-called Prop 8 ballot measure.
The appeals court announced the ban was lifted in a brief ruling. "The stay in the above matter is dissolved effective immediately," the ruling read.
Perry and Stier were the first to get married in San Francisco, but they were followed by a long line of other couples who rushed to City Hall after news of the court decision broke.
Perry and Stier were one of two couples who brought the initial action challenging Prop 8, which wound its way through the legal system before being heard by the top US court.
The Supreme Court ruled that supporters of Prop 8 lacked the proper standing to appeal a lower-court judgment that declared the measure unconstitutional.
Cheers erupted at San Francisco City Hall on Friday after Kristin Perry and Sandy Stier exchanged vows, in a ceremony conducted by California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
"I now declare you spouses for life," said Harris, after the couple exchanged rings and vows in front of a hastily-assembled gathering. "I could not be more honored to stand here today."
"We have waited a long, long time for this day," said Stier after the ceremony, the first gay wedding since a brief period in 2008 when California allowed same-sex marriage but then banned it under a referendum.
The ceremony came within an hour or two of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco lifting a same-sex marriage ban, imposed under the so-called Prop 8 ballot measure.
The appeals court announced the ban was lifted in a brief ruling. "The stay in the above matter is dissolved effective immediately," the ruling read.
Perry and Stier were the first to get married in San Francisco, but they were followed by a long line of other couples who rushed to City Hall after news of the court decision broke.
Perry and Stier were one of two couples who brought the initial action challenging Prop 8, which wound its way through the legal system before being heard by the top US court.
The Supreme Court ruled that supporters of Prop 8 lacked the proper standing to appeal a lower-court judgment that declared the measure unconstitutional.
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