As gay weddings begin, drab clerk’s office is setting for romance

SACRAMENTO -- The county clerk’s office here is unlikely anyone’s idea of a romantic destination, with its rows of cubicles, monochrome walls and stiff furniture.

But that didn’t deter same-sex couples who rushed to the office Friday evening, eager to be married as soon as possible. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had cleared the way for same-sex marriages just hours earlier.

Two women were so excited to marry their partners, they showed up nine months pregnant.

Gina Backovich, 41, would get married Friday and have labor induced Monday.

“It’s exciting to being the baby into a married couple,” said her partner, Regina King, 35. Asked why they wanted to get married so quickly, she replied, “Because we can.”

Andrea Stern, 28, was also pregnant at the clerk’s office. She has been with her partner, Nicole Stern, 27, for 4 1/2 years.

They planned to get married when U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8 -- California’s gay-marriage ban -- in 2010, and even scheduled the date at the courthouse. Then Walker’s ruling was blocked. The couple were devastated.

When they heard about Friday’s decision, they headed to the clerk’s office to get their marriage license and planned a ceremony for Wednesday.

Even with their paperwork in hand, they still felt uneasy, given their experience three years ago.

“If for some reason it gets reversed [before the ceremony], this doesn’t mean a thing,” Andrea said, gesturing toward their license. “But we decided we would have faith.”

Jon Merten, 50, said he knows the pain of not having a legal marriage. When his previous partner was fatally ill in the hospital, he said, the staff treated him like a stranger. He also was denied his partner’s pension.

Merten later moved to Sacramento and met Mathew Salisbury, 50. For their first date they went out to dinner and spent hours walking around midtown Sacramento.

“I knew when I met him I would be with him until death,” Merten said.

But they were faced with years of waiting as the legal battle over Proposition 8 continued.

“It seemed like it was never going to happen,” Salisbury said.

They tied the knot on Friday night, exactly five years after their first date.

ALSO:

Prop 8: Gay marriages can resume in California, court rules

Kamala Harris officiating Prop. 8 plaintiffs’ San Francisco wedding

Gov. Jerry Brown’s office ordering counties to resume gay marriage

Twitter: @chrismegerian