California on Monday became the nation's second state (after Massachusetts) to perform same-sex marriages. Here are photos from some of the ceremonies:
Del Martin, left, and Phyllis Lyon exchange rings as they are married by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in a private ceremony at San Francisco City Hall June 16, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Martin and Lyon were the first couples to be married in San Francisco as same-sex marriages become legal in California. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AFP/Getty Images)
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom answers questions outside his office at City Hall after legally marrying the first same-sex couple in San Francisco, Monday, June 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Robin Tyler, left, and Diane Olson lean on each other during their same-sex Jewish wedding ceremony on the steps of Beverly Hills Courthouse, Monday June 16, 2008, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Robin Taylor, left, and Diane Olson get married in front of the court in Beverly Hills, California on June 16, 2008. (VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)
Robin Tyler, left, and Diane Olson celebrate their wedding under a chuppah, a Jewish bridal canopy, on the steps of Beverly Hills Courthouse, Monday, June 16, 2008, in the Beverly Hills section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Diane Olson (L) and Robin Taylor cut the cake at their wedding ceremony in front of the court in Beverly Hills, California on June 16, 2008. (VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)
The wedding cake of Robin Tyler and Diane Olson is seen on the steps of Beverly Hills Courthouse, Monday, June 16, 2008, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Jeff Barr, left, and Wes Wilkinson hold hands during their wedding ceremony at the Yolo County Clerk/Recorder's office in Woodland, Calif., Monday, June 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Ellen Pontac, left, and Shelly Bailes hold each other's hands as Yolo County Clerk/Recorder Freddie Oakley performs their wedding ceremony at her office in Woodland, Calif., Monday, June 16, 2008. Bailes and Pontac were the first gay couple to wed in Yolo County after California's Supreme Court declared gay marriage legal.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Laura Caplan of Nebraska photographs Shelly Bailes, right, placing two brides atop a wedding cake after she married Caplan's mother Ellen Pontac, center, at the Yolo County Recorders office in Woodland, Calif., Monday, June 16, 2008. Bailes and Pontac were the first gay couple to wed in Yolo County after a May 15th decision by the California Supreme Court to overturn a 2000 ballot initiative banning same sex marriages. The couple have been together 34 years .(AP Photo/Sacramento Bee, Rich Pedroncelli)
Keith Boadwee, 46, left, and Kenny Latham, 47, both of Emeryville, hug just moments before being the first to obtain their marriage certificate at the Alameda County Clerk's Office in Oakland, Calif., Monday, June 16, 2008. Boadwee and Latham have been together for 10 years. (AP Photo/The Oakland Tribune, Alison D. Yin)
Sarah Asplin, and her partner Elizabeth Bacon, of Davis, Calif. kiss after they were married by Freddie Oakley, the Yolo County Registrar who officiated some of the same-sex-marriages on Monday, June 16, 2008. The couple were among the first to marry in Yolo County and the capital region during the first opportunity allowing same-sex couples to legally wed in California. (AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Hector Amezcua)
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Not everyone was celebrating, however:
Protestor Kevin Farrer, left, yells at Brother Richard Jonathan, a gay marriage supporter, in front of City Hall, Monday, June 16, 2008, in San Francisco. Dozens of gay couples were married Monday after a landmark ruling making California the second state to allow same-sex nuptials went into effect. (AP Photo/Sacramento Bee, Bryan Patrick)
A demonstrator carries a sign protesting gay marriages behind a wedding cake at the Beverly Hills Municipal Court on Monday, June 16, 2008. Dozens of gay couples were married Monday after a historic ruling making California the second state to allow same-sex nuptials went into effect. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The great poster girls; Two granny's, a couple of cowboys (or girls?)
Posted by: Frankmia | June 17, 2008 at 04:59 PM
YES, FINALLY!! GLAD TO SEE SAME SEX MARRIAGE LEGAL. MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER AND I HAVE BEEN TOGETHER THIS YEAR 27 YEARS AND HAVE A SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD DAUGHTER. SHE LOVES HAVING TWO MOMS. HER FRIENDS THINK ITS SO COOL. HA .ALOT OF THEM EVEN WISH THEY HAD TWO MOMS. THE MOST BENEFIT WILL BE BEING ABLE TO BE BY HER SIDE (GOD FORBID) IN THE HOSPITAL WITHOUT HAVING TO LIE AND SAY IM HER SISTER AND OF COURSE THE BENEFIT OF SOCIAL SECURITY, THAT I CAN COLLECT IF SHE PASSES BEFORE ME. WE ARE ALMOST 8 YEARS APART IN AGE. LIFE IS GREAT AND VERY WHOLE BEING WITH HER, SHE IS AFTER ALL THE LOVE OF MY LIFE...LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH!! THATS HOW YOU KEEP EACH OTHER YOUNG!! DONNA
Posted by: DONNA NORTH | June 17, 2008 at 07:19 PM
What a disgusting display and waste of news space. Its no wonder the Herald is in trouble.
Posted by: lester farnsworth | June 17, 2008 at 08:34 PM
Where's the BARF ALERT ??? What kind of SICK JOKE IS THIS ? ? ? Off to gouge my eyes out -- these people are the UGLIEST and SICKEST in the world !! SEEK HELP NOW
Posted by: Where'sTheBarfAlert? | June 17, 2008 at 09:05 PM
I want to marry my horse!
Posted by: horse | June 17, 2008 at 09:41 PM
Gay and Les is a life style. So keep it to your self.
Posted by: Tomasin Galindo | June 17, 2008 at 09:48 PM
Gay and Les is a life style. So keep it to your self.
Posted by: Tomasin Galindo | June 17, 2008 at 09:49 PM
whats next? this is really sick...
Posted by: Maryaha | June 17, 2008 at 09:55 PM
Congratulations to all the newlyweds! It's been a long time coming.
Posted by: Virgilio Sklar | June 17, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Wonderful news indeed and congratulations to all the couples. It's a shame other people are blinded by irrational beliefs and hysteria, but then again it means more wedding cake for us!
Posted by: johnozed | June 17, 2008 at 11:23 PM
Great news!! :)
Posted by: nice | June 17, 2008 at 11:39 PM
DISTURBING.
Posted by: anthony | June 17, 2008 at 11:45 PM
Congrats to all the newly wed couples! May you have a happy life together.
Shame on all the protesters, shouldn't you be feeding the poor and visiting the widows instead of trying to run other's lives?
Posted by: Puff | June 18, 2008 at 07:29 AM
Goddess bless all of the newlyweds! May they have many years of blessedness and peace! We have waited a lifetime, and in many places are still waiting, for a simple act of union. May this be the beginning of the wall of prejudice falling and the acceptance of "who we are" not "what we do." We are your fathers, brothers, mothers and sisters. We are your neighbors, classmates, waitresses and waiters, librarians and sales people. We come home after a hard day's work, eat, watch tv, and crash like the rest of America. We want to be full citizens with full civil rights.
May we all be accepted and live our peaceful lives without hate heaped upon us by the "christian" folks, who simply show no love toward others outside their world. Goddess help them to find love.
How wonderful it is to celebrate marriage - a civil institution that has been denied to so many.
Posted by: MoonMystic | June 18, 2008 at 12:06 PM
It's about time. Speaking as a Christian, I apologize for those who use God (and their own misreading of Biblical texts) as a cover for their own hate and fear.
Speaking as a gay man; Whoo Hoo!!!
Posted by: Daniel | June 18, 2008 at 07:49 PM
I am appalled at the hate and ignorance shown by some "Christians". You have taken Jesus' message of love and kindness and turned it into hatred and mean-spiritedness.
How sad that "Christians" felt that they had to rain on a historic day of happinerss for same-sex couples. Luckily the shower was brief and could not put out the fire of happiness. I am praying to God AND Goddess that tha anti-same se marriage amendment does not pass in Noember.
How terrible that some people want happiness for themselves but would deny it to others. And how sad.
Posted by: Bishop Ioan | June 21, 2008 at 07:45 PM
I have to agree with Lester, Maryaha and Anthony that the anti-gay protesters really went over-the-top with their disgusting displays of rage and hate. I'm glad that we have people like them to stand up to such vile activities.
Posted by: Jordan | August 22, 2009 at 01:11 PM