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‘A Glorious Day’
By MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS
Rafu staff writer
Saturday, June 28, 2008
George Takei and Brad Altman lead the procession in West Hollywood of same-sex couples into fully legal marriage.
Photos by MikeyHiranoCulross/Rafu Shimpo
George Takei and his partner Brad Altman apply for their marriage license in West Hollywood on Tuesday.
Helen Zia, right, and Lia Shigemura, are married by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera at City Hall in San Francisco, Tuesday. County clerk offices opened their doors Tuesday to hundreds of gay and lesbian couples on the first full day same-sex nuptials were legal throughout California.
WESTHOLLYWOOD.–With the completion of some simple forms and payment of a $70 filing fee, George Takei and Brad Altman began a monumental day. Before a crushing hoard of media, the couple was the first of dozens to apply for and receive their marriage license at West Hollywood Park on Tuesday, the first full day of legal same-sex marriage in the state of California.
“It’s going to be the only day like this in our lives and it is the only day like this in the history of America,” said the 71-year-old Takei, as he and Altman, 54, waited for their license to be processed. The city of West Hollywood, expecting a crush of applicants for marriage, converted a recreation room at the park into a facility to handle the applications, issuing of licenses and even civil ceremonies.
“This has never happened before: legal marriage for all people,” said Takei, who is known to millions as the chiseled-faced navigator Mr. Sulu, on the 1960s television series, “Star Trek” and in its subsequent feature films. “On ‘Star Trek,’ we have this core value: IDIC, infinite diversity in infinite combinations. And here we are, this much closer to that ideal,” he said.
Before entering the hall to submit their application, Takei spoke to a large crowd gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony held by West Hollywood city officials and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. Calling this a “glorious day,” Takei said that everyone in attendance was making history and he quoted Mahatma Ghandi to emphasize the importance of the day.
“Be the change you want,” he advised. “What I see before me are the people who are the change for equality. Equality in marriage and equality in everything. I see before me people who personify love and commitment. We are going to get our marriage license today. Isn’t that extraordinary?”
On May 15, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling that overturned the state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for anyone of legal consenting age to obtain a license.
The ruling became final at 5:01 p.m. Monday, with several couples seizing the opportunity to have their relationships cemented in legal matrimony.
Courthouses up and down the state were prepared for a surge of applications Tuesday, and many couples lined up very early to be among the first to get their licenses. Some arrived in tuxedos and gowns, some wore Hawaiian shirts and sandals.
With a gay men’s chorus crooning nearby, journalist Helen Zia and Lia Shigemura, founder of the Asian Women’s Shelter, walked to the San Francisco City Attorney’s office to get married singing the 1960s pop hit, “The Chapel of Love” as they entered the building.
“This is the most meaningful day of my life. I’ve always wanted to get married,” Shigemura said. “I just never thought it’d be possible.”
Takei and Altman are planning a ceremony for this September, to be held at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, located across from the Japanese
American National Museum in Little Tokyo. The pair has more than 3,500 friends and family to consider inviting to the ceremony in the 200-seat forum at the center.
Former “Star Trek”” co-stars Walter Koenig, who played Mr. Chekov, and Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura, are expected to speak at the wedding.
Takei said he is thrilled with the opportunity to legally marry, after spending the last 21 years with Altman.
“I already feel different from yesterday. I know when we get married, it’s going to be glorious, indescribable. I can’t imagine what the feeling’s going to be,” he said
“This is the second-best day of my life, receiving the marriage license so I can marry George Takei,” Altman said.
“The best day of my life will be when I have a marriage ceremony with George Takei and we walk down the aisle together and the reverend says, ‘I now pronounce you, spouses for life.’”
The celebratory mood in West Hollywood– and across the state–wasn’t completely relieved of anxiety, however.
Several groups opposed to same-sex marriage have succeeding in qualifying a measure for this November’s general election that would add an amendment to the California State Constitution, specifying that any legal marriage would be limited to that between one man and one woman. At this point, it is unclear how any such amendment would affect the homosexual marriages being performed beginning on Monday.
Jeff Flint of Protect Marriage.com has been a strong supporter of the proposed amendment, known as the California Marriage Protection Act.
“When you start to change the definition of marriage, as not between a man and a woman but any two adults, it undermines the institution,” Flint said.
Even as the ceremonies were taking place, groups opposed to the state court’s ruling were conducting efforts to have them halted. One conservative group launched an effort in Sacramento to issue a stay on the issuing of gender-neutral marriage licenses, but an appeals court rejected the motion early Tuesday.
Every California county is now required to start issuing gender-neutral marriage licenses, with spaces designated for “Party A” and “Party B.” In West Hollywood, there was a brief delay in application processing Tuesday, when the computers generated applications with fields for the names of “bride” and “groom.”
In an apparent move of protest, Kern, Calaveras and Butte counties discontinued marriage ceremonies for all couples, gay or straight, though by law they must issue licenses to anyone who qualifies.
A handful of protesters made their presence known to the applicants in West Hollywood, holding signs with slogans such as, “Promoting sin and evil is promoting hell.”
“There is nothing that can put a damper on today. There is so much joy in this city,” said West Hollywood Mayor pro tem Abbey Land. “Those protesters are narrow-minded people who refuse to acknowledge the importance and recognize and celebrate when two people find each other; that’s hard to do.
“When you’re willing to make a solemn commitment to someone, my god, you should celebrating that.”
Altman said the question at hand is one of rightful equality, not one of religion or lifestyle.
“This is not a gay issue. This is a legal issue,” he said. “Today, we’re celebrating marriage equality for all Californians. The California Supreme Court has said that what George and I are doing here today is legal.”
Takei advised the best approach toward November is to be confident and relaxed.
“This is democracy and people have a right to spout off on their values. What they don’t have a right to do is to take their values and traditions and write them into law which applies to everybody. They don’t understand infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Their basing their argument on religious values. But they really don’t understand the shining traditions and values of America. This nation was founded by people who were fleeing religious tyranny and religious oppression. And there they are, doing that very thing.
They need to understand who they are as Americans. They have the right to carry on and make a spectacle of themselves, but they do not have the right to write laws that ban equality,” he said.
Among those in line for licenses in West Hollywood were Davi and Bracha Cheng. Together for 29 years, they had their 2004 marriage annulled, after the state’s highest court ruled San Francisco’s mayor had exceeded his authority by issuing licenses to samesex couples.
“Today is special. If this stays legal, and I hope it does, we’ll be married just like anybody else,” Davi Cheng said, as she carried a chupah–the traditional Jewish wedding canopy–over other couples from her synagogue who were also on queue for licenses. A native of Hong Kong, she said she still feels a fair amount of scorn from the Asian community, where homosexuality simply isn’t discussed–even from her own mother.
“I have to be honest and live my life, because this is the happiest I’ve ever been. This is who I am and I can’t hide it.
Today has helped me maybe come out a little bit more,” she said.
Borrowing the oft-used Vulcan credo from “Star Trek,” Altman said, “I’m very optimistic that my marriage to George Takei will live long and prosper, well beyond November.”
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mculross@rafu.com
Additional information from Rafu wire service reports. |
