The waiting game is over for gay and lesbian couples all across California, who started tying the knot at 5:01 p.m. Mon., June 16—the moment same-sex marriage officially became legal.
Two longtime lesbian couples were among the first to be wed as a result of last month's groundbreaking California Supreme Court decision that lifted the state's ban on same-sex marriage. Several county clerks extended their hours Monday evening, allowing dozens of gay and lesbian couples to obtain marriage licenses.
At 5:01 p.m., lesbian activists Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 83, were the first to wed in San Francisco. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson presided as the couple, who have been together 55 years, repeated their vows. The two had wed four years ago, when Newson declared gay marriage legal in San Francisco. Those marriages were later voided.
At the historic ceremony, Newson said, 'No couple exemplifies what marriage is about more than these two extraordinary people.'
Also wed that evening in a Beverly Hills courthouse were lesbian activists Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, who have been partners for 15 years. Both Tyler and Olson were original plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the California Supreme Court's recent decision.
On Tues., June 17, all 58 California counties started to offer marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
Gay activists from Illinois trekked to California to witness the first legal same-sex marriages.
In a press release, Equality Illinois' Rick Garcia said, 'This is a historic and momentous occasion for the gay community and I wouldn't miss it for the world. Now, two of our fifty states recognize the full equality of gay and lesbian people and offer them the protections that they and their families deserve.'
Garcia added that Equality Illinois urges local gay and lesbian couples to think twice about traveling to California to tie the knot. Illinois does not recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
( image # 1 ) Veteran lesbian activist Robin Tyler ( center ) and Diane Olson ( right ) , granddaughter of former California Gov. Culbert Levy Olson, were one of the first couples married when same-sex marriage became legal at 5 p.m. June 16 in California. Tyler and Olson, plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage, married in Beverly Hills, while pioneering lesbian activists Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 83, married in San Francisco ( image # 5 & 6 ) . Officials in both counties married just one couple June 16 while a few other county clerks around the state stayed open late and began the weddings in earnest. The following morning, same-sex marriage licenses could be obtained in all 58 of California's counties, and the offices of at least 45 county clerks were known to also be willing to perform gay weddings. Also pictured, at left, Gloria Allred, Tyler's and Olson's attorney. Karen Ocamb photo via Wockner News
Photos #1 through 5, Karen Ocamb via Wockner News. Remaining images by a California photographers' consortium via www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/