"Simple ceremonies with tremendous impact." "Gay couples in San Francisco..." "Two Lesbian activists, who have fought for this right for the past 51 years they've been together, were the first to be married in City Hall." "Because we're going to chapel, and we're going to get married..." "The conservative group, Campaign for California Families, is calling the marriages a 'sham'." "Anyone that disagrees with what we're doing, I invite them to City Hall to come out and meet the people that are coming together." "Comedian Rosie O'Donnell joins the fray at San Francisco City Hall." "She says, President Bush helped lead her down the aisle." "One thought ran through my mind over and over as we were flying out here:" "With liberty and justice for... all." "We're from Napa County." "We came down this morning at 8 AM, and we've been in line..." " ...since a quarter to nine." "We've been together for fifteen years." "We're together sixteen years." "We've been together for fourteen years." "Twenty years together on March 19th..." "...next month." "We've been together for seven years." "Four years." "Five years." "Five and a half years." "We've been coming down here for five years, asking for marriage licenses, and then, much to our shock, on Thursday, they actually gave us one." "We wanted to come down from the day that we heard about it, but we had been in St. Louis all weekend, visiting her parents." "So we watched it on TV all weekend, wishing we were here." "We were dying in St. Louis when we watched it on the news, and we thought, Oh my God, we're not gonna be able to do this..." "And we've been together a long time, so this feels really good." "This feels..." "We have a number!" "So what's your number?" " Our number is 390." "Next couple, 390." "Hi, I work for the Mayor of San Francisco." "How long have you been together?" "Fifteen years..." "Wonderful!" "It's about time, he?" "Well, when you walk out of this building, you're gonna be a married couple." "Now, what's gonna happen..." "Isn't that sweet?" "I've been crying all weekend." "I'm telling you, this is... rough." "What's gonna happen is, we're gonna call you into the clerk's office, they're gonna take this application, and turn it into an actual marriage license." "They're gonna bring you out here and hook you up with an escort who is gonna take you on over to the rotunda, and that's where you're going to get married." "Next couple..." "Joe, can you believe it?" "These people are all waiting to get into the county clerk's office to pay their fees and get their licenses." "I'm not nervous about getting married, but about not having the right document..." "Anxiety right up until the last minute." "We want to be married." "I figured since I'm not getting married, I'll assist someone else getting married." "I actually helped to serve coffee and bagels and so forth..." "Outside the line was very very long, people waiting in the rain and the cold." "And it's great just to be here to see everybody so happy about getting married." "It's... phenomenal!" "This is a moment of history, it's a moment of history!" "I think that people do see this as a kind of a Rosa Parks moment, the lunch counter protests, I think they see it." "You can compare it to Stonewall..." "It's fantastic." "Somebody compared it to the Berlin Wall coming down." "It's been great." "It's really been a great day." "Long, and great." "It is history." "We feel very happy to be a part of it." "And you know what?" "I've never been married before." "She's a spinster." "I'm 52 years old, and I've never been married." "I just wanted to come by and visit you, because I know it has been a long night." "It has been a long day." "You are tired." "You have had a lot of patience, and you have really moved City Hall." "with your love and commitment." "So first I want to congratulate you on your big day." "Today is your day." "If you don't get to get married today, you will get married tomorrow." "Don't worry about it." "Don't worry about not getting admitted here." "Your mayor, Gavin Newsom, myself, assessor-recorder, and the entire city elected family is absolutely committed and behind you." "We want to make sure that we are doing it the right way, that's why we cannot just rush you through." "You know, a marriage license is a legal document." "It takes..." "It takes special computer software, a very legal form, and trained technicians to do all that." "Marry you, and treat each one of your marriage licenses." "It's a very legal document." "I just want you to know that we are going to continue to marry you, process your license, and record it by the end of day." "So, as long as you could get through this door..." "By four we should know what the court ruling is." "I am very confident that we will win." "If we don't win today, we will win tomorrow." "We will win in the end." "So, keep it alive." "390 over here in the blue." " We're 390." "Thank you." "Born in California?" " I was born in Minnesota." "Sign the back, please." "We just signed our affidavit, this is the first step, and... they're gonna do the data input, and then... we're gonna get the license." "Check if all information is correct." "Don't sign it until you've made sure." "Perfect." " Raise your right hand, both of you." "Do you solemny swear that..." " Yes." "I do." "Okay." "Cathy..." "And Lori right here." "Now you know where to go for the service?" "We're signing our marriage license." "Now we're gonna take a look at it." " This is the most important one." "You're alright." " Thank you." " Thank you very much." "Alright, here we go." "Walking down the hall." "Right after you've finished, you're through with getting married." "Under this superb rotunda." " Alright!" "Congratulations." " Thank you." "Thank you very much for your service." "Thank you." " I feel so honored to be part of this." "And I thank you for making this possible." "Hi, I'm John Crespie, I'm one of the deputy marriage commissioners." "Your name?" "Lori." "And Cathy." " Lori, Cathy, and Joe..." "Nice to shake your microphone." "So, I'll take your paperwork..." "Would you like to use the steps right in the center?" "Sure." " That would be lovely." " Okay, let's do it." "Come along." "We are gathered here in the presence of witnesses for the purpose of uniting in matrimony Cathy Helen Smith and Loretta M. Ryan." "The contract of marriage is most resolved..." "Please remember that love, loyalty and understanding are the foundations of a happy and enduring home." "No other human ties are as tender, no vow is as important, as what you're about to pledge." "Harold, do you take James to be your spouse?" "I do." "An do you, Lori, take Cathy to be your spouse for life?" "I do." "I do." "I give you this ring..." " I give you this ring in token and pledge..." " ...in token and pledge of my constant faith..." " ...of my constant faith and abiding love." " ...and abiding love." "With this ring I thee wed..." "By virtue of the authority that's given me by the State of California," "I now pronounce you spouses for life." "Congratulations." " Thank you." "We had the ceremony on Tuesday." " And when we had been driving home, and we were calling our friends, two of them said," "Hey, we want to give you a party." " Yeah." "So I called my friend who had the band, and I said, how about February 28th?" "She said, great." "So, there it was." "I'm Lori's mom..." "It was a little bit of a surprise when I first found out that Lori and Cathy were a couple." "And I am filled with joy for you two this day." "I am so happy." "First of all for you, and that you have allowed us to share your happiness." "As a parent, when Cathy and Lori were together," "I had this feeling of, my daughter is in a relationship, and she's not married." "And that's a sin, in some sense." "And I carried this burden of a sinful daughter for fifteen years." "He's joking." "This is his humor." "If you're not getting it." "But now, I have a sense of relief beyond..." "But I also have a little bit of worry coming, because... what happens, if they revoke all these licenses?" "Do they go back living in sin again, and I have to worry one more time?" "Here's to the newly wedded couple." "To the happily married couple!" "To our moms, the happy couple!" "I am a Christian, I go to church, I have kids, I'm married sixteen years, and... she said, I don't know how you feel about this, does this bother you?" "And the first thing that came into my mind is that Jesus said, love one another." "And these two love one another." "I just can't see how that's bad, or wrong." "They're an amazing couple." "They parented three kids together." "Two girls in college, and Emmett, who's entering High School." "All of a sudden, we had another mom, and..." "It's pretty cool." "We liked our mom, another one couldn't hurt." "I'm really happy that my mom got married, because they love eachother." "The truth is, it's all about love." "And that's what it's all about here today." "Portland, Oregon, today became the latest place to test the law by becoming the scene of a controversial same-sex wedding." "In New York City, protesters outside City Hall demanded mayor Bloomberg order the city clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples." "Seattle's mayor admits state law prohibits him from issuing same-sex marriage licenses, so instead today he signed an order allowing gay Seattle city workers, who were married in other states, to get full spousal benefits." "Mayor Jason West of New Paltz arrived outside of the court in his small town today." "Cheered by supporters, West pleaded not guilty to 19 criminal counts in connection with the 25 same-sex marriages he conducted last week." "Our nation must enact an constitutional amendment to protect marriage in America." "In the current noisy debate over homosexual marriage, who has bothered to notice that homosexuals are already forming families, which is the point of marriage." "This thing had nothing to do for us about making a political statement." "It has nothing to do with politics." "It's about we love eachother, and we've been in love for a long time, and we want to be married." "It's really simple."