S.F. to Allow Civil Ceremonies for Gay Couples

Homosexual couples will soon be able to hold “wedding” ceremonies at City Hall to recognize their domestic partnerships under a measure approved unanimously Monday by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

The civil ceremony, to be performed by city officials or others designated by the city, will be available to any two people who register as domestic partners and pay a fee of $30.

Couples joined in the new ceremony will not be legally married. But under a 1991 city law, registering as domestic partners gives them certain legal benefits, including hospital visitation rights.

“What we’re doing here is offering a celebratory aspect of the proceeding that isn’t just a paperwork registration,” said Supervisor Carole Migden, the author of the ordinance. “It’s a joyful occasion that can be celebrated by family and loved ones. It’s fair to say it’s a wedding of sorts.”

No significant opposition to the measure has surfaced, and newly elected Mayor Willie Brown is expected to sign it into law. The first domestic partnership ceremony could take place as early as April.

Under the measure, ceremonies also could be held in churches and be performed by priests deputized by the city clerk.

Passage of the ordinance by a vote of 8 to 0 demonstrates the continuing political influence of San Francisco’s large gay and lesbian community despite the AIDS epidemic’s devastating toll on homosexual men.

Three of the 11 members of the Board of Supervisors are openly lesbian or gay--more than ever before--including Migden, who is running unopposed for the state Assembly in a March special election to fill Brown’s seat.

Migden’s measure sanctioning partnership ceremonies is in sharp contrast to a bill before the Republican-controlled Assembly that would prohibit California from recognizing homosexual marriages that might be performed in other states. No state allows same-sex marriages although Hawaii is considering such a proposal.

San Francisco’s civil ceremony is an extension of the landmark 1991 law that allows homosexuals and other unmarried couples to register their partnerships with the city--for a fee of $35--and receive some of the rights accorded to married couples. Registered city employees, for example, can share health benefits with their partners and pass on pension benefits upon their deaths.

The city estimates that the new law will generate more than $40,000 annually--not including about $45,000 in fees from couples who already have registered as domestic partners and are willing to pay $30 more to experience the ceremony.

The only other jurisdictions to allow same-sex civil ceremonies are New York City and Madison, Wis., according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington.

“The opportunity to have a civil ceremony at City Hall is a festivity that many heterosexuals find enjoyable,” Migden said. “It’s a way to recognize this is not a cold, sterile process.”