California holds first gay wedding since 2008, in San Francisco

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San Francisco City Hall is lit up in rainbow colors the night before the city’s gay pride parade. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Jessica Hand, center, celebrates with her wife Jenna Melili during a marriage ceremony at City Hall in San Francisco on Saturday. Hand bought the wedding dress for $50 at a thrift store. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Jessica Hand, in the wedding dress, and her wife, Jenna Melili, enjoy a cruise in San Francisco Bay on Saturday after getting married earlier in the day. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Army Sgt. Michael Potoczniak and Todd Saunders, left; and Cynthia Wides, in the veil, and Elizabeth Carey wait to get married at City Hall in San Francisco on Saturday (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Dave Martinez, in blue, hugs his new husband Kenny during a marriage ceremony at San Francisco’s City Hall on Saturday (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Army Sgt. Michael Potoczniak and Todd Saunders have a witness sign their marriage license at City Hall in San Francisco Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Elizabeth Carey, left, and Cyntia Wides embrace as Army Sgt. Michael Potoczniak and his partner Todd Saunders wait patiently in line to get married at City Hall in San Francisco on Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Cynthia Wides, left, and and Elizabeth Carey of Oakland walk out of City Hall a married couple Saturday in San Francisco. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Army Sgt. Michael Potoczniak and his partner Todd Saunders exchange rings during a marriage ceremony at City Hall in San Francisco Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Army Sgt. Michael Potoczniak kisses his partner Todd Saunders as they stand in line to get their marriage license at City Hall in San Francisco Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Rachael Hadley left, and her new wife Kim celebrate with their children Sidney, left, and Phin at City Hall while getting married Saturday in San Francisco. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple who have been together for 33 years sign documents to get married at City Hall in San Francisco Saturday (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Brandie Yelland, left, hugs friend Erika Lewis in support of her marriage outside City Hall in San Francisco Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple show off their wedding rings after getting married at City Hall in San Francisco Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple hug during a marriage ceremony at City Hall in San Francisco Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Cal Joy, center, and Olga Yip join hands in marriage as their daughter, Sasha Yip, 6, observes in San Francisco City Hall on Saturday. “It’s almost indescribable how it feels for us to be able to do this when for so long we felt like it was an unreachable goal,” Joy said. (Susannah Kay / Los Angeles Times)

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Adrian Coleman, front, dances with Matt Ferrer on Saturday in the United Nations Plaza in downtown San Francisco, where gay rights supporters celebrated the resumption of same-sex weddings in California. (Susannah Kay / Los Angeles Times)

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Ashlee and Ky Meyer-Choi touch noses after getting married in San Francisco City Hall on Saturday. “We’ve overcome a lot of struggles to be together, so to see all the support and love is something we haven’t experienced,” Ky said. (Susannah Kay / Los Angeles Times)

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Barb and Heather Miller-Webb kiss on the steps outside City Hall after being married Saturday. (Susannah Kay / Los Angeles Times)

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George Lucas, left, and Tom Rothgiesser, both 79, who met in Johannesburg, South Africa, and have been dating for 50 years, got married in San Francisco on Saturday. (Susannah Kay / Los Angeles Times)

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Newlyweds Carey Myslewski, left, and Katy Yan walk out of City Hall on Saturday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Jeff Zarrillo, left, and Paul Katami are married by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles after the 9th Circuit Court lifted the stay on same-sex marriage in California. (Christina House / For the Times)

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Jeff Zarrillo, left, and Paul Katami speak to the media immediately after their wedding ceremony by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. (Christina House / For the Times)

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Alan Tekerlek, left, and K.C. Bugg celebrate in the crowd as their friends Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami are married by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. (Christina House / For the Times)

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Supporters applaud as Sandy Stier, second from right, and Kris Perry prepare to get married at San Francisco City Hall by California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris. Gov. Jerry Brown ordered all counties in the state to begin issuing licenses immediately after the 9th Circuit Court ruling. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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Sandy Stier, left, and Kris Perry kiss their son, Elliot Perry, after they were married at San Francisco City Hall. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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Joe Varnell, left, and Kevin Bourassa, who became Canadas first legally married gay couple in 2001, welcome the courts decision at a Toronto bar. (J.P. Moczulski / AP)

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Hundreds of gay rights supporters gathered in West Hollywood on Wednesday to celebrate the Supreme Court rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Carlos Jimenez, left, and Mike Dardenelle of the San Fernando Valley kiss during a gathering on San Vicente Boulevard celebrating the Supreme Court decision Wednesday affirming a lower court’s ruling that declared Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California, unconstitutional. Jimenez and Dardenelle, who met online, have been dating for 15 years and plan to get married as soon as possible. (Susannah Kay / Los Angeles Times)

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Rainbow flags and flags of equality are raised in West Hollywood. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Vincent Cervantes, left, and his partner, Vince Pancucci, embrace during a rally in West Hollywood after the Supreme Court’s ruling against Proposition 8. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Kirsty Hood, 24, left, kisses Nora Tavitian, 23, at the Equality California offices in West Hollywood as a crowd celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision on Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Wednesday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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A crowd gathered at the Equality California offices in West Hollywood cheers the Supreme Court’s decision on Proposition 8. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Brandon Benoit, center, hugs Martha Acevedo, left and Briana J. Castaneda during the celebration at the Equality California offices in West Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Partners Alicia Guajardo, left, and Isabella Restrepo of Sylmar join the celebration at the Equality California offices in West Hollywood. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Gay marriage supporters prompt motorists to honk their horns as they pass Equality California offices in West Hollywood to join in the merriment after the Supreme Court handed down its ruling on Proposition 8. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Gay marriage supporters celebrate outside the Equality California offices in West Hollywood after Wednesday’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that the sponsors of California’s controversial Proposition 8 did not have the legal standing to appeal a 2010 ruling against the measure. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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From right, David Cooley, Brandon Brown, Colby Melvin, Cory Leech and Wildran Quesada celebrate the Supreme Court decision to strike down a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Brandon Brown, 28, left, and Colby Melvin, 25, hug as as they celebrate the Supreme Court decision to strike down a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Brandon Brown, 28, left, gets a piece of cake from Colby Melvin, 25, as they celebrate the Supreme Court decision to strike down a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Robin Tyler tears up as she looks at her partner Diane Olsen during a press conference at attorney Gloria Allred’s office in Los Angeles, where they discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage cases. They were the first in California in 2004 to announce that they would file a lawsuit challenging the ban on same-sex marriage in California. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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The plaintiffs’ team in Hollingsworth vs. Perry, the California Proposition 8 case, celebrate on the steps of the Supreme Court after Wednesday’s ruling was handed down. From left are Jeff Zarrillo, his partner, Paul Katami, attorney David Boies, Sandy Stier and her partner, Kris Perry. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

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Elana Kessler, left, is embraced by friend Hannah Greenberg as she speaks by phone with her mother on the steps of the Supreme Court after the court issued its rulings in two same-sex marriage cases. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

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Gay rights activists react outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington after the ruling on California’s Proposition 8. (Mladen Antonov / AFP/Getty Images)

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Plaintiffs Kristen Perry and Sandy Stier, left, and Jeffrey Zarrillo and Paul Katami arrive at the Supreme Court Wednesday morning to hear the high court’s ruling on California’s Proposition 8, which forbids on same-sex marriage. (Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA)

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Members of the public wait in line to enter the Supreme Court to hear their rulings on two same-sex marriage cases. (Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA)

By Maria L. La Ganga

June 28, 2013 5:26 PM PT

SAN FRANCISCO -- California held its first gay marriage since 2008 as state Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris performed the wedding ceremony for Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, plaintiffs in the landmark court case that challenged Proposition 8.

They were married in San Francisco about an hour after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals opened the way for same-sex weddings to resume in California. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was slated to marry Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, the other plaintiffs in the case, at L.A. City Hall at 6:15 p.m.

“By virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the state of California, I now declare you spouses for life,” Harris told Perry and Stier on a second-floor balcony at San Francisco City Hall. Someone shouted, “Mazel tov!”

Perry was wearing a gray pantsuit and Stier a gray dress. Eliot Perry, one of the couple’s four sons, was the ring bearer.

Walking in at 4:48 p.m. to cheers, Harris, the former San Francisco district attorney, smiled broadly as she began the brief ceremony. “We are here today to celebrate the beautiful relationship between Kris Perry and Sandy Stier...

“Today we witness not only the joining of Kris and Sandy but the realization of their dreams of marriage ... representing thousands of couples like themselves,” Harris said.

The vows were the same ones that have been used for hundreds of years.

“Do you, Kris, take Sandy as your lawfully wedded wife?” Harris asked.

“I do.”

“Do you, Sandy, take Kris to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and cherish from this day forward?”

“I do.”

Spectators jammed City Hall to watch history, with people peering from the balconies above. As they walked away from the clerk’s office where they obtained the marriage license, the couple were greeted by a straight couple who had just married as well. They exchanged high-fives.

About an hour earlier, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had cleared the way for gay marriages to resume in California.

The court lifted its stay on an injunction that ordered state officials to stop enforcing Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage. With the court’s action, counties can now begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses.

A spokesman for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had originally said it would take the court at least 25 days to act after a Supreme Court ruling. Immediately afterward, Gov. Jerry Brown ordered his public health agency to advise the state’s counties to “begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in California as soon as the 9th Circuit confirms the stay is lifted.”

DOCUMENT: Court order dissolving stay

The authors of Proposition 8 denounced the immediate resumption of gay marriages in California after Friday’s decision to greenlight same-sex weddings immediately.

Andy Pugno, general counsel for ProtectMarriage, the official proponents of Proposition 8, said the decision by the federal appeals court in San Francisco came without waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision to become final -- which takes 25 days from the day of the judgment -- and deprived his group of “our right to ask for reconsideration.”

“This outrageous act tops off a chronic pattern of lawlessness, throughout this case, by judges and politicians hell-bent on thwarting the vote of the people to redefine marriage by any means, even outright corruption,” Pugno said in a statement.

California voters passed Proposition 8 in 2008, six months after the California Supreme Court ruled that gays had the right to wed. The state high court later ruled that the initiative was a valid state constitutional amendment but upheld the validity of an estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages that occurred before the election.

The Supreme Court ruled that ProtectMarriage lacked legal authority or standing to appeal Walker’s ruling blocking the ballot initiative. The high court said Proposition 8’s sponsors were not directly affected by Walker’s ruling. Only state officials had the right to appeal, and they refused. That procedural decision wiped out the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2-1 ruling against Proposition 8, leaving only Walker’s decision in place and affecting only California.

County clerks who preside over marriages said they were ready for same-sex weddings. Marriage licenses already are gender-neutral, and clerks began receiving calls Wednesday from gay couples wanting to schedule appointments.

Harris called on the 9th Circuit on Wednesday to lift its hold on Walker’s ruling immediately. The attorney general said she believed that the appeals court had the authority to act quickly.

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