It was Valentine’s Day at San Francisco’s City Hall. White princess wedding gowns floated throughout the rotunda. Photographers fluffed veils and posed brides and grooms against the Corinthian columns in search of an angle that matched the figurines on a tiered cake.
On a gilded balcony overlooking the scene, Beverly and Suzanne Ford were among the many same-sex couples who renewed their vows in a public ceremony officiated by Mayor London Breed. The event Wednesday was a celebration of the 20-year anniversary of a landmark moment in the battle for same-sex marriage in California.
Others who spoke in support of the LGBTQ community included Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager Dennis Herrera, who was the city attorney in 2004 when San Francisco successfully sued the state of California, resulting in the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2008. It was legalized nationally in 2015.
On Feb. 12, 2004, then-Mayor Gavin Newsom and other city officials began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. City officials estimated 900 certificates were issued in the first three days.
At 2:45 p.m. On March 11, 2004, Pali Cooper and Jeanne Rizzo were next in line when the California Supreme Court ordered the city to halt the practice and void all licenses.
“The wedding cake was over in the corner that no one wanted to cut. We just watched the news all night.” Jeanne Rizzo, remembering the day the California Supreme Court halted same-sex marriages
“We had 50 friends gathered, our son was standing up for us,” Rizzo said at Wednesday’s City Hall celebration. “We went home. Nobody knew if they should bring presents into the house. The wedding cake was over in the corner that no one wanted to cut. We just watched the news all night.”
The next morning their answering machine was full of messages from the American Civil Liberties Union and other legal groups asking them if they wanted to join a civil rights lawsuit to legalize same-sex marriage.
“By the next morning, we had become plaintiffs,” Rizzo said.
The experience changed their lives forever. Now, as they get older, they are thankful to be legally married.
“If something should happen to one of us, the other could get into the hospital and we could be together,” she said, adding that the benefits increase with age.
“It was the first time a government voiced a societal interest to the state,” said San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey, an openly gay official. “We all at times disagree, but when we pull together, we can change the world.”
