USA: Gay/Lesbian Couples Request Marriage Licenses Around the Country

Same-sex couples showed up at City Hall Friday for their annual Valentine's Day ritual: a demand for marriage equality. Their action, a mix of protest and performance, came six years to the day after Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered city officials to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples -- a short-lived directive halted a month later by the judiciary but still being battled in the California courts and the arena of public opinion.

Newsom issued a statement for the occasion. ''I have never been prouder of our decision in 2004 to defy California's unjust marriage laws and do our part to carry the banner for civil rights,'' he said. ''We at once guessed at, but could never have fully imagined, that which we unleashed. We must never step back from our commitment to marriage equality until justice prevails in California and in our nation's capital.''

One couple after another entered the county clerk's office to politely request a wedding license. One couple after another was denied. A similar scenario was playing out in government offices nationwide in states that exclude same sex marriages.

Full Story from SFGate
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