Valentine's Day Marked by Pro and Anti-Gay Marriage Protests
KXTV News 10 Sacramento
February 14, 2005

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Same-sex marriage advocates and those who oppose the concept used Valentine's Day as a timely occasion to espouse their views.

It has been one year since Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered San Francisco City Hall to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. Nearly 4,000 gay couples married before the California Supreme Court issued an injunction halting the practice. In August the court ruled Newsom and the City of San Francisco overstepped their authority and nullified the civil marriages.

The issue has not gone away. With Valentine's Day a popular date for couples tying the knot, gay couples showed up in force at county clerk offices throughout the state to request marriage licenses.

Ellen Pontiac and Shelly Bailes were one such couple. Together for 31 years, they were the 45th couple to be married in San Francisco last year. "When we married, it was probably the happiest day of my life," said Bales. "And when they took it away, it was unbelievably devastating." The Yolo County Clerk-Recorder denied the couple's request for a marriage license.

In the meantime, a California-based, pro-family group began a five-day protest around the state against gay marriage. Supporters of the Campaign for Children and Families rallied at the State Capitol, Stockton City Hall and Modesto City Hall. The group wants to block the passage of Assembly Bill 19. The measure, introduced last month by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would change the state statute on marriage from a civil contract "between a man and a woman" to "between two persons".

At each of the rallies citizens were asked to oppose AB 19. "We voted to protect marriage," said Randy Thomasson, president of CCF. "You have not the right to trash our vote. You have not the right to set up a confusing role model for the children and wipe out marriage for a man and a woman."

Until 1977, California did not specify gender in its marriage statute. That year the state legislature modified the law as a "civil union between a man and a woman". California voters affirmed that definition with the passage of Proposition 22 in 2000.