SAN FRANCISCO - In a political and legal challenge to
California law, city authorities officiated at the marriage of a
lesbian couple Thursday and said they would issue more gay marriage licenses.
Meanwhile in Massachusetts, legislative leaders met Thursday to
try to find words that would ban gay marriage but legalize civil
unions, expressing optimism as they reconvened their constitutional convention.
The act of civil disobedience in San Francisco was coordinated
by Mayor Gavin Newsom and top city officials and was intended to
beat a conservative group to the punch.
The group, Campaign for California Families, had planned to go
to court on Friday to get an injunction preventing the city from
issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.
Longtime lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon, 79, and Del Martin, 83,
were married just before noon by City Assessor Mabel Teng in a
closed-door civil ceremony at City Hall, mayor's spokesman Peter
Ragone said. The two have been a couple for 51 years.
Ragone said that beginning at noon, officials would begin
issuing marriage licenses to any gay couples applying for one.
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