Defying state and federal law, then San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, in office just over one month, orders the city clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. So begins, the “Winter of Love.”
Newsom’s action generates international attention and is a defining moment in winning legal acceptance of same sex marriages. Ninety couples marry the first day, starting with 83-year-old Del Martin and 79-year-old Phyllis Lyon who have been together two days shy of 51 years. Five days later, at the end of the Presidents Day weekend, more than 2,200 licenses are issued to couples from across California and throughout the country. Lines of couples wanting to get married stretch around City Hall, which stays open longer to accommodate the crowds. So many flowers are delivered there’s a surplus, which is sent to local hospitals.
Newsom says he’s inspired to his act of civil disobedience by President George W. Bush’s re-election year State of the Union speech on January 2. In the speech, the GOP president says about marriage and the definition of it in federal law as a union between a man and a woman:
“Activist judges, however, have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives. On an issue of such great consequence, the people’s voice must be heard. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.”
Proposition 8 Protest
On March 11, the California Supreme Court orders Newsom to stop issuing licenses, which he does. But not before nearly 4,000 couples are married. On August 25, the state high court unanimously rules the city has broken the law by issuing the licenses. On a 5 to 2 vote, the court voids the marriages that have occurred. San Francisco and other groups challenge the ruling as well as state law, which also defines marriage as between man and a woman. On May 15, 2008 on a 4 to 3 vote, the state supreme court, strikes down the ban on same sex marriage saying that the “ equal respect and dignity” of marriage is a “basic civil right,” which can’t be denied gay and lesbian couples. The In re Marriage Licenses decision reads in part:
“(T)he exclusion of same-sex couples from the designation of marriage clearly is not necessary in order to afford full protection to all of the rights and benefits that currently are enjoyed by married opposite-sex couples.”
On the day of the ruling, Newsom gives a speech in which he says:
“As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. It’s inevitable. This door’s wide open now. It’s going to happen, whether you like it or not.”
The words become familiar to voters, thanks to commercials featuring Newsom created by the backers of Proposition 8, a successful November 2008 ballot measure overturning the court’s ruling and placing a same-sex marriage ban in the California constitution.
Backers of Proposition 8 use Newsom in their campaign ads.
No licenses are issued from the approval of Proposition 8 on November 5, 2008 until June 27, 2013 – the day after the United States Supreme Court in Hollingsworth v. Perry upholds lower federal court rulings striking down Proposition 8.
Same sex couples begin marrying in San Francisco the day the High Court’s ruling becomes final.