In S.F., a Celebration for a ‘Step Forward’

Trolley drivers on this city’s F Line rang their bells as a minister in a purple shirt and ecclesiastical collar, a 16-year-old girl and her two lesbian mothers, and 150 other supporters of same-sex marriage celebrated a court decision that California was violating its Constitution by not allowing gays to marry.

Laughing and giggling, many sang, “Going to the chapel and we’re going to get married.”

Earlier, outside the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center here, one of the attorneys who helped write the law that prompted thousands of gay marriages in this city in 2004 before the courts ordered a halt, spoke of Monday’s legal victory.

“We took a tremendous step forward today for justice and equality in California,” said City Atty. Dennis Herrera. “California’s family values are going to stand for all families. But let’s not rest on our laurels. There will be a political battle.”

Monday was a day for modest celebration, reflection and girding for the next fight.

Because few observers had been willing to wager on the outcome of the case, few supporters were ready to celebrate a victory. Thus, impromptu and often joyfully disorganized parties broke out in San Francisco and gay communities across the nation.

Following a presidential campaign that raised gay marriage as an issue -- with the winner, President Bush, supporting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning gay marriage -- many celebrants took heart in Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer’s political affiliation.

“I do think that it’s particularly telling and great that it was a Republican judge,” West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem Abbe Land told several dozen people celebrating at City Hall. “It’s not about Democrats. It’s not about Republicans. It’s about people who love each other.”

At San Francisco’s gay and lesbian center, a white placard in the lobby declared: “Judge Rules: Same-Sex Marriage in California Is Constitutional!!”

“It re-energizes people,” the center’s president, Thom Lynch, said of the ruling. “It helps people understand -- yes, this is a long battle, but there are victories along the way.”

In Los Angeles, attorney Gloria Allred, representing longtime partners Diane Olson and Robin Tyler, said the ruling was a just step in the right direction.

“We are not going to accept civil unions,” said Olson, 62. “That is the back of the bus. We want the front of the bus. We want the right to get married.”

Times staff writers Eric Slater and Susana Enriquez contributed to this report.