On Sunday, February 15, 2004, I had the honor of gathering with hundreds of well-wishers at San Francisco's City Hall to celebrate the historic issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Newly-elected Mayor Gavin Newsom, who had been in office for about five weeks, had announced the previous week that he intended for the city to start marrying gay couples in the next few days. (San Francisco's liberals mostly voted for Newsom's Green opponent and tend to equate Newsom with the devil himself, so this gesture should sway a few minds. Best. PR ploy. Ever.) I heard Newsom talk about the plan on the radio on the morning of Thursday 2/12; by the time the 11 o'clock news rolled around that same night, happy couples had already begun getting married. (I heard from a friend at the impromptu gathering that one couple has been going down to City Hall every year on their anniversary, February 12, to try to get a marriage license. This year the two got the surprise of their life when, upon making their annual request, they were told, "Get in line.")

The usual bigots immediately started screaming and tried to get a court injunction against the city, but due to the fortunate and timely occurrence of some dead presidents' birthdays, the courts were not open at times that would allow the city its legal grace period of 24 hours to respond to litigants. However, City Hall workers volunteered to work on the holidays and all through the long weekend in order to marry as many people as humanly possible. Many had to get "deputized" to perform this wonderful service. Thus City Hall was open when, inspired by my friend Seth's Valentine's Day trip, I made a Lupercalia trip to watch dozens of newlywed couples stream out through the City Hall doors marked with hours of operation that include "Sundays Closed."

When I got off BART and onto the street at about 2:30, I could hear the cheers from two blocks away. As I drew nearer, I saw the sidewalk in front of the City Hall steps was teeming with supporters. Police were directing the happily honking traffic at the crosswalk so that people could cross the street in safety. On the other side of the street stood about two dozen protesters, and behind them, parked along the grassy plaza at the heart of Civic Center, were several news vans. The protesters scattered as soon as it started to rain, but the rest of us, our clothes but not our spirits dampened, stayed put. (City Hall was no longer pemitting people to go inside unless they were part of a wedding party, so we couldn't watch the weddings be performed, as had been possible on previous days.)

The couples were all so beautiful. I almost cried many times. There were young couples, old couples, young + old couples, mixed-race couples, couples who'd been together longer than I've been alive - any permutation you could think of. Some dressed traditionally: men in tuxes or suits, women in gorgeous gowns, people in ethnic dress (African, Scottish, Indian). Others dressed to show their affiliation with their communities: bears in jeans and motorcycle jackets, leather daddies and mamas, and of course, rainbow clothes everywhere.

Plenty of people were dressed in street clothes. Perhaps some wore the same outfits they'd had on when they got in a car in the middle of the night and started driving to San Francisco. People were streaming in from all over California to get married, and some had even flown in from out of state to take advantage of this unique opportunity - one which might vanish on Tuesday the 17th, when the courts reopen. The line for Monday weddings already stretched from the City Hall steps to the end of that side of the building by the time I left. Those waiting had brought tents, lawn chairs, umbrellas, and blankets. San Franciscans pitched in to help, bringing more blankets and umbrellas, food, hot drinks, and dry socks to the queue.

Meanwhile, those whose turn had already come were feeling San Francisco's hospitality as well: supporters threw rice and rose petals (making a gummy mess in the rain; the city had asked that people not throw rice), blew bubbles, and handed out Polaroids, flowers, chocolate hearts, biscotti, and home-made cupcakes - which some new marrieds used as their wedding cake, holding up cupcakes to each other's mouths to take a bite. They had their families and friends with them, even their pets; they had brought champagne for a toast on the steps. The forward thinkers had brought not just umbrellas, but plastic sleeves into which to insert their precious licenses. Newlyweds emerged from the City Hall doors, held up their licenses in triumph to the cheers of the crowd and the whirr of journalists' cameras, then, due to the rain, quickly hid the paper under their coats for protection.

A City Hall representative came out on Sunday afternoon and announced that the line to get married that day was closed, and that only 200 more couples would be married that day. He declared that, since this "marry-in" had begun, the City of San Francisco had issued marriage licenses to fifteen hundred gay couples. The wedding rate on Saturday, Valentine's Day, had been about one couple per minute, with as many as eight weddings going on at any given time, according to observers. This explained the way the couples were coming outside, in groups of three or four pairs at a time. (The looks on some people's faces when they peered through the glass doors at the huge crowd awaiting them on the other side were classic.)

These people are gorgeous and courageous and committed, as are the City Hall employees and exhausted but happy volunteers - also heartily cheered by the crowd - who are making it all happen. I feel blessed to have been able to watch history being made, and, beyond that, to have been in the presence of the enormous energy and joy and love radiating from all those brand-new "spouses for life."

Here, then, are my pictures. I wish they had all come out clear, but my digital camera is a bit slow on the uptake and things were happening fast. I had to point and shoot as quickly as I could, trying to capture a moving target, with no way to make sure I was getting a clear shot. My apologies. There are many, many pictures and videos out there of what's been going down in San Francisco this holiday weekend, but these images are mine, and I am glad that I can share them with you. The little slips of paper in everyone's hands are brand-new city-issued marriage licenses.

These are just some of the people who gathered to congratulate happy couples on their wedding day.

Red roses, the flower of passionate love, form a fitting walkway for the newlyweds.

They may be dressed casually, but their decision to get married can't have been casual.

Rainbow scarf: $20. Leather jacket: $150. Marriage license: $82. Being wedded to the one you love: Priceless.

Marriage license and bouquet in hand. I love the inverse-of-each-other's-thorax theme.

This couple stuck around after getting married to cheer on others. They had bouquets and little American flags.

These two cute ladies look like they're about to go teach fourth grade! Which is probably exactly what a lot of fourth-graders' parents are afraid of.

How adorable are they? I missed catching them before the coats went on, so you could see the full effect of their matching rainbow shirts.

The man on the left got an extra-loud cheer. His clan must be so proud!

I really wish this hadn't come out blurry, as it's my favorite shot. These two are getting photographed by their daughter. A number of couples had their children with them, ranging in age from teenager to infant.

All these people lined up alongside the building are waiting to get married the next day. On the left you can see Frank Chu, well-known S.F. colorful personality, who usually frequents the Financial District. His sign has weird stuff about outer space on the side you see, and advertising on the other side. He's crazy but shrewd! The Kucinich people gave me chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised that there weren't more people out to turn the day into an occasion for self-promotion.

Honest Abe watched over the celebrations on his very special birthday weekend. The peace/heart flyer is promoting the "Marry-In."

The plaza in front of City Hall. Can you tell what the plants spell out?