SAN FRANCISCO — The legal war over gay marriage in California saw its first battle Friday, with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom winning a tactical victory that could allow thousands of gay couples to wed by the end of the holiday weekend.
Newsom's victory came when a Superior Court judge denied a request by a conservative group for an injunction that would have stopped San Francisco officials from granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The group had argued that the city's actions showed "complete and blatant disregard" for California law, which defines marriage as "a personal relation arising out of a civil contract between a man and a woman."
"There's a great deal of emotional energy involved in whether same-sex marriage should be allowed," said Judge James L. Warren. The request for a court order to block the marriages "requires careful and thoughtful consideration," he said as he scheduled another hearing for Tuesday.
In response, San Francisco officials announced they would keep their City Hall offices open throughout the weekend to continue providing marriage licenses to gay couples who have begun flocking to the city from near and far. More than 500 same-sex weddings were performed Friday, officials said, amid indications that the pace could intensify over the next several days.
Pamela Cooke, 42, and partner Nancy Felixson, 50, were among Friday's newlyweds. Cooke proposed at their home in Los Angeles at 9:20 Friday morning. When Felixson accepted, the two scrambled for a flight to San Francisco, pausing only long enough to grab a couple of bouquets of chrysanthemums and lilies, which they held for four hours as they stood in line waiting to be officially married.
"Now we're not second-class citizens; now we can have a loving relationship like every other married couple we know," Felixson said.
"The Earth has not stopped spinning today because we got married," Cooke added.
Opponents of gay marriage decried the city's actions.
"The issue is not whether gay marriage is right or wrong. At issue is a state law, passed by California voters," said Robert Tyler, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, based in Arizona, one of the organizations seeking to stop San Francisco's actions.
"A municipality has the responsibility to apply the rule of law," Tyler said.
The actions of Newsom and Nancy Alfaro, the county clerk who is in charge of issuing the licenses, were nothing short of "municipal anarchy," and a "political stunt," he said.
