Quick, but romantic
Susan Herendeen, Modesto Bee
February 15, 2005

Jay Hatter adjusted his tie, straightened his vest and scanned a crowd that gathered in front of the McHenry Mansion in downtown Modesto on Monday morning.

His smile grew wide when he found his beloved, Blanca Linda Mejia.

He took her by the hand and they made their way to a sign-in table that was the first stop for 90 couples who were married by the Stanislaus County Clerk-Recorder's Office, in 10-minute intervals.

"That's not a dress," Hatter said to his bride. "That's an Audrey Hepburn movie."

Mejia, who wore a traditional white gown and veil, replied without missing a beat.

"I'm so nervous, babe," she said.

In the next hour, the couple said vows, exchanged rings, kissed, signed their marriage certificate and took photos on the mansion grounds.

There was no music, but the price was right.

Hatter and Mejia, who are both managers at Wal-Mart, paid $110 for a marriage license and civil ceremony.

The couple, who have a 3-year-old daughter, dreamed of a private ceremony at the mansion, but could not afford it.

When they heard that the county would hold civil weddings at the mansion on Valentine's Day, they jumped at the chance. When the ceremony was over, they got big hugs from Hatter's brother.

"I can't believe they finally got married," said Rich Hatter of Modesto.

Stanislaus County Clerk-Recorder Lee Lundrigan started the Marriage at the Mansion event when she took office three years ago.

Her staff usually performs civil weddings in the office on Fridays, but Lundrigan wanted to have a special event coinciding with Valentine's Day.

The marriages began at 9 a.m. and continued until 4 p.m., with ceremonies offered in English and Spanish.

Each couple could bring up to 15 guests and had time to pose for pictures near a wedding cake, under an archway decked with flowers and on the mansion steps.

Attention drawn to same-sex marriage issue

The politics of same-sex marriages entered the picture when a dozen protesters stood across the street at the edge of McClatchy Park, holding up a banner that said "Marriage equality. Nothing more, nothing less."

Members of Equality California disbanded after a few moments, saying they wanted to make a point but did not want to disrupt anyone's wedding.

They also stopped at the clerk-recorder's office, where Bobbie Felser, 33, and Vanessa Velarde, 30, asked for a marriage license. The lesbian couple was given the paperwork needed for a domestic partnership instead.

Felser and Velarde said they have a domestic partnership and cannot file joint tax returns, collect social security survivor benefits or qualify for benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act as married couples do.

"We should all have the same civil rights," Felser said.

In the morning, a group that opposes same-sex marriages held a news conference at 10th Street Place to voice its opposition to Assembly Bill 19, which would define marriage as a contract between two people of any gender.

"If you don't have a man and a woman, it's not marriage," said Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families.

The group, which sued the city of San Francisco and Mayor Gavin Newsom last year to stop a spree of same-sex marriages, also held news conferences in Stockton and Sacramento.

Thomasson noted that 75 percent of Stanislaus County voters supported Proposition 22 in 2000, which said marriage is a contract between a man and a woman.

At the mansion, brides and grooms said "I do" without interruption.

Jacqui Sinarle and Joe Agbulos, who have been a couple for 12 years and engaged for three years, decided to participate only a week ago.

Sinarle said her friends and family were shocked when they received invitations to the long-awaited event. She said it was special to get married on Valentine's Day.

"It was fast, but we did repeat vows and exchange rings," Sinarle said. "We still had the romance of the wedding, without the big cost."