Nearly 1,000 same-sex partners married in SF

With same-sex marriages resuming in California Friday afternoon, hundreds of couples made room on their fingers for brand-new weddings bands.

While the rest of the state’s county offices closed for the weekend, the San Francisco county clerk’s office was abuzz with “I do’s.”

As of Sunday, city officials issued 563 same-sex marriage licenses and recorded 479 same-sex marriages.

The party kicked off shortly at around 4:30 p.m. Friday when Attorney General Kamala Harris presided over the state’s first same sex marriage between Kris Perry and Sandra Stier at San Francisco City Hall.

Perry and Stier, the leading plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned Prop 8, happily took each other as “lawfully wedded wife” — making them the first same-sex marriage in California in four and a half years.

As Harris proclaimed the Berkeley couple “spouses for life,” Perry exclaimed, “It was worth the wait!”

The city’s county clerk’s office stayed open until 8 p.m. that night, and continued issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the rest of the weekend.

Amid all the merriment, same-sex opponents didn’t take their defeat lying down.

On Saturday, Prop 8 supporters asked Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy to halt the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses on the grounds that the appeals court lifted the stay on same-sex unions three weeks too early.

Kennedy rejected the request on Sunday with no comment.

For Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu, sharing the celebration of marriage equality with hundreds of same-sex couples was “one of the great honors.”

She told Bay City News:

“I am proud to call myself a San Franciscan.”