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Wedding bells ring for local gay couples
| Tuesday, Jun 17 2008 8:44 AM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jun 19 2008 9:23 AM
It was close to 9 a.m. when the first gay couple wed.
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Rev. Byrd Tetzlaff, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kern County, officiates the first marriage ceremony between Kathi Gose and Karen Briefer.
Amelia Cravens, right, helps Shelby Himes with the train of her wedding dress before they exchanged vows Tuesday.
Whitney Weddell, left, and Lori Renee, right, kiss one another at the end of their wedding ceremony Tuesday in Bakersfield.
Shelby Himes, left, and Amelia Cravens, got married Tuesday morning in Bakersfield.
Edith Sanchez, left, is asked to leave the immediate area where gay couples were getting married outside the Kern County Clerk's office. She is one of only a few who showed up to protest the first day of legal marriages in Kern County. She carries a sign that reads in Spanish "Matrimony is for a man and a woman," "Christ equals life, Sin equals death."
First to get their marriage license at the Kern County Clerk's office are Lori Renee and Whitney Weddell.
Gay couple Carol Lair and Colette Shewcraft get their marriage license at the Kern County Clerk's office.
There was barely a hint of a breeze, the sun was shining through the trees and a man sprinkled the ground beneath their feet with yellow and red rose petals.
Karen Briefer and Kathi Gose were surrounded by a crowd, mostly media peppered with their loved ones.
The Briefer-Gose family, who had what they called a spiritual ceremony 11 years ago, exchanged vows acknowledging their love and commitment.
Rev. Byrd Tetzlaff lifted her voice with clear excitement when the time came to say: “Now, by the powers invested in me by the state of California.” The cheers came before she could pronounce the couple wed.
And so started the first day of gay marriage in Kern County, outside the county administrative building in downtown Bakersfield Tuesday.
Officials issued licenses and performed weddings for same-sex couples throughout the state after the California Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in May.
By 4:15 p.m. Kern County had issued 48 marriage licenses to a mix of gay and straight couples. Straight couples were the minority. At least 25 weddings were held at the site.
Reporters, photographers and radio personalities from some of the nation's largest media outlets covered the Bakersfield happenings, drawn by the controversy over County Clerk Ann Barnett’s decision to cancel her office’s long-time practice of performing low-cost weddings in the wake of the court ruling.
The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News and National Public Radio joined a throng of Bakersfield media in an organic mass that collapsed around couples as each ceremony started then scattered as the happy spouses stepped down to make way for the next ceremony.
Barnett’s office issued the first same-sex marriage license shortly after 8:30 a.m., to Whitney Weddell and Lori Renee of Bakersfield.
They and two other couples sat at desks then showed their ID, shuffled paperwork, paid their fee, raised their right hands and agreed to the oath read by a county worker.
The couple, dressed in matching black suits with burgundy vests and one small bouquet of flowers, then headed to their ceremony outside the county building.
I OBJECT
Outside, one protester held a small orange sign with two bumper stickers in Spanish: "Matrimonio es hombre + mujer" and "Cristo = vida pecado = muerte." ("Marriage is a man and woman" and "Christ is life, sin is death.")
Edith Sanchez, in a black skirt and yellow jacket, wandered with her sign through the courtyard where ceremonies were being held. After a few minutes, two Bakersfield police officers approached.
“That's your area,” one said, indicating the sidewalk. “This is their area.”
“OK, OK,” she said as she walked backward smiling, holding her sign a little higher.
Roy Burgess, the supervising security attendant in the county building, said no one can interrupt proceedings.
Local religious and political groups that oppose gay marriage stayed away on purpose, Rosalyn Strode of Bakersfield Citizens Opposed to Obscenity and Lewdness said later.
She sent out an alert Saturday that in part said: “Those who believe in the traditional marriage between one woman and one man take heed. On Monday and Tuesday please do not be a witness to the obscene and lewd behavior of the homosexuals and their weddings.”
Strode said she’s looking forward to a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would make gay marriage illegal in California.
The Rev. Karen Bryan, co-pastor of In Jesus Name Ministries, said there are prayer groups planning to meet “all over the city” next week on the issue.
'THE MIRACLE'
Despite the controversy that preceded Tuesday’s ceremonies, the day flowed smoothly.
Weddell congratulated Barnett and her staff for conducting themselves professionally.
At the end of Tuesday, 14 marriage license appointments — for any type of couple — had been made for today compared to seven Thursday and 10 Friday.
It wasn't the ceremony that mattered, said Weddell’s sister, Tracy Weddell, who also married her partner.
It was the piece of paper, with a border of gold filagree, that she'd picked up.
“People think it’s about this,” she said, waving toward another couple's nuptials. “It's not. It's about what happened in there. To have the ceremony with the piece of paper in your hand — that’s the miracle.”
Most passersby took the ceremonies in stride though a couple of young women, kissing as they walked away from their wedding hand-in-hand, drew a double-take stare from one county employee who grumbled a no comment when approached by a reporter.
Another man, Robert Tudor, said while visiting the county building that he has nothing against what gay people do at home but they shouldn't marry.
“Back in the '40s and ‘50s, you'd have this in the closet,” he said.
CAUGHT UNAWARE
Andrew Lucas and Colleen Ivy woke up Tuesday morning and thought today would be a good day to get their marriage license.
“We didn't realize this was happening,” Lucas said as they walked from the now-quiet county building. “No idea,” Ivy added laughing.
They had no idea they needed an appointment either. Luckily there was one opening. They waited 10 minutes.
The electrician and receptionist will be married July 12.
THESE HALLS
Shelby Himes, 24, married Amelia Cravens, 29, in a classic white wedding dress.
After lunch, and after the wild melee of media had subsided, the pair came back in casual clothes to support other couples being married.
Himes still wore her tiara and veil.
The afternoon was calmer and couples walked the first floor of the county building holding hands, or placing soft touches on shoulders.
Himes and Cravens reclined on seats outside the County Clerk’s office and Cravens tucked her head affectionately into Himes’ shoulder.
Tuesday’s ceremony was a vital symbol for the gay community, Himes said. Their government has acknowledged the legal standing of the love they share.
“We’re taking advantage of this for the people who are scared. You can walk these halls,” she said.