Skip to main content

Just saw this diary and wanted to let everyone know that my partner and I were one of the lucky couples who received a random bouquet waiting to get our marriage license.  

THANK YOU!!

Please keep them coming!  If you're not one of the first few in line each day, there can be hours of stressful waiting not knowing whether or not you will be able to beat the clock and get a license.  Getting a random bouquet can really help keep spirits high.

On a side note, yesterday anti-gay protesters started started amassing in and around City Hall.  My partner and I had been waiting in line for nearly eight hours when the protesters came in to the building and knelt down blocking the door to the Clerk's office and started singing something about Jeebus.

Luckily I remembered reading about Joan Jett freaking out the Republigoons who crashed a Dean rally in Iowa by leading the crowd in the National Anthem, so I started singing.  Sure enough, the entire crowd waiting to get married to joined in and the sounds of the Star Spangled Banner rang through City Hall.  The best part was the look on the protesters' faces - they didn't know how to react.  You're probably not going to read about that in any of the papers but it was one of the coolest moments of the Day.

After all that drama, I'm happy to say that marrying my partner on the under the Rotunda was mercifully uneventful.  It was very humbling just to feel for the first time like I had the same rights as every other American.  How can anyone say that I don't deserve that?

So anyway, thanks again for spreading the word about sending flowers. If you're in the area, folks waiting outside can use physical support (hot coffee/tea/chocolate) as well as emotional support if the God Squad decides to camp out there too.  Think about coming by for a spell.

Finally, to all the nervous Democrats who are dumping on Gavin Newsom for this - phooey on you.  If you have a hard time articulating why every American shouldn't have equal rights under the law then you need to either learn how or step aside and make room for those who can.  Nothing sets the course of civil rights back faster than Democrats legitimizing the right-wing attacks by buying into their arguments.

Originally posted to PaulDem on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:01 PM PST.

EMAIL TO A FRIEND X
Your Email has been sent.
You must add at least one tag to this diary before publishing it.

Add keywords that describe this diary. Separate multiple keywords with commas.
Tagging tips - Search For Tags - Browse For Tags

?

More Tagging tips:

A tag is a way to search for this diary. If someone is searching for "Barack Obama," is this a diary they'd be trying to find?

Use a person's full name, without any title. Senator Obama may become President Obama, and Michelle Obama might run for office.

If your diary covers an election or elected official, use election tags, which are generally the state abbreviation followed by the office. CA-01 is the first district House seat. CA-Sen covers both senate races. NY-GOV covers the New York governor's race.

Tags do not compound: that is, "education reform" is a completely different tag from "education". A tag like "reform" alone is probably not meaningful.

Consider if one or more of these tags fits your diary: Civil Rights, Community, Congress, Culture, Economy, Education, Elections, Energy, Environment, Health Care, International, Labor, Law, Media, Meta, National Security, Science, Transportation, or White House. If your diary is specific to a state, consider adding the state (California, Texas, etc). Keep in mind, though, that there are many wonderful and important diaries that don't fit in any of these tags. Don't worry if yours doesn't.

You can add a private note to this diary when hotlisting it:
Are you sure you want to remove this diary from your hotlist?
Are you sure you want to remove your recommendation? You can only recommend a diary once, so you will not be able to re-recommend it afterwards.
Rescue this diary, and add a note:
Are you sure you want to remove this diary from Rescue?
Choose where to republish this diary. The diary will be added to the queue for that group. Publish it from the queue to make it appear.

You must be a member of a group to use this feature.

Add a quick update to your diary without changing the diary itself:
Are you sure you want to remove this diary?
(The diary will be removed from the site and returned to your drafts for further editing.)
(The diary will be removed.)
Are you sure you want to save these changes to the published diary?

Comment Preferences

18 comments | Permalink

  •  Post two comments in this thread (4.00)
    I want to give you two 4's.

    Dean forever; Edwards in 2004.

    by DaveOinSF on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:03:50 PM PST

    •  If you insist (4.00)
      If you insist - but just one is fine.  :)

      Some people say the glass is half empty. Other people say the glass is half full. I say the glass needs some Scotch.

      by PaulDem on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:07:42 PM PST

      [ Parent ]

      •  Seriously (3.87)
        Write up the Star Stangled Banner story.  I read in the Examiner (it was there...I was on line...) about the protests but didn't hear about it.  Send it to the Chronicle, the gay marriage organizations, whomever.  This sort of inspirations story needs to get out and spread more widely.

        Dean forever; Edwards in 2004.

        by DaveOinSF on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:10:28 PM PST

        [ Parent ]

  •  congratulations! (4.00)
    I'm unemployed and can't afford a bouquet but it was really a nice experience to walk by City Hall on Valentine's Day and see all the happy couples waiting in line.

    by mimi9 on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:07:45 PM PST

  •  Congratulations!!!!!!! (4.00)
    May you have many happy and healthy years together!!!!!!

    There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action. *J.W. von Goethe

    by MAJeff on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:14:06 PM PST

  •  Thanks for sharing! (4.00)
    Thanks for telling us about your experience. The Star-Spangled Banner bit is great!

    Congratulations & best wishes to you and your partner.

    Confusion to the enemy!

    by YT on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:18:35 PM PST

  •  Congrats (4.00)
    I've always felt that the best kind of wedding is the uneventful kind. ;)

    Quick thinking on the National Anthem front.  Reminds me a bit of the story about a protest at an abortion clinic where pro-lifers were trying to harrass and block women who wanted access.  One gay couple there to help protect the women started kissing each other in front of the protesters and they all ran away.

    (That wouldn't happen today, of course).

    Urban legend, perhaps, but its always been one of my favorite stories.

    "Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself." -- Martin Vanbee

    by a gilas girl on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:24:43 PM PST

  •  Great story! (4.00)
    Thank you for your story, and I hope it was you and yours that got the bouquet I sent from St. Paul!

    by David W on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:26:03 PM PST

    •  Ours was from Boston (4.00)
      Our bouquet came from Boston.  At first I thought it was an "official" gesture from the City of Boston.  I had  no idea until last night that it was a blog-promoted anonymous gift.  That makes it even more touching

      I can assure you, though, that whoever ended up with your bouquet was just as honored as my husband and I were.

      Some people say the glass is half empty. Other people say the glass is half full. I say the glass needs some Scotch.

      by PaulDem on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:36:53 PM PST

      [ Parent ]

  •  Congratulations Paul! (4.00)
    And thanks for a great story.....

    by Sequoia on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 04:39:14 PM PST

  •  Hey Paul, (4.00)
    Congratulations to your and your husband. This is tremendous and such a wonderful cause for celebration. May you have many, many happy years together and a community of love and support around you.

    by wilfred on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 05:35:18 PM PST

  •  SF Chronicle Today: (none)
    About 25 anti-gay protesters later blocked the door of the county clerk's office, laying down in front of the line and singing religious songs. Gays and lesbians responded by belting out "The Star-Spangled Banner" until deputies escorted out the protesters. No arrests were made.

    http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/02/20/state1405EST0079.DTL

    Congratulations PaulDem!

    Dean forever; Edwards in 2004.

    by DaveOinSF on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 07:21:54 PM PST

  •  You made the news, alright. (none)
    You're probably not going to read about that in any of the papers but it was one of the coolest moments of the Day.

    I saw it on CNN this morning!

    They didn't have actual footage of the event, but I saw the report. They showed video of people cheering as the protestors were led away.

    by David Waldman on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 08:11:33 PM PST

    •  Actually (4.00)
      I also saw one version of this on a local newscast last night. The sound of the crowd cheering was not because the protester was being led away but because we had just finished singing and cheered the way you would at the end of the National Anthem at a baseball game.

      Still it was quite a thrilling moment for all of us in line to take the power back from the protesters.

      Some people say the glass is half empty. Other people say the glass is half full. I say the glass needs some Scotch.

      by PaulDem on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 08:38:22 PM PST

      [ Parent ]

      •  Perception. (none)
        The sound of the crowd cheering was not because the protester was being led away but because we had just finished singing and cheered the way you would at the end of the National Anthem at a baseball game.

        I suppose that could possibly be an important thing to know, actually. Surely some others who saw the CNN report will think you were cheering because the protestors were being led away. It sure looked like they were being arrested, too, even though it didn't say they were.

        I doubt whether anybody would think differently about what happened even if they did think you were cheering for arrests, though, so maybe it won't hurt anything. But we're sure to hear more about the issue, of course, and possibly about this particular scene. Now you can anticipate the possibility that you'll be charged with cheering for arrests, and will be ready to respond appropriately if necessary.

        by David Waldman on Fri Feb 20, 2004 at 09:23:20 PM PST

        [ Parent ]

  •  congratulations! (none)
    Congratulations to you and your husband!!! (and as one of the people who sent a random bouquet, I'm glad to hear that they're being well-received - I thought it was a beautiful way to show support, and bought one as soon as I heard about it)

    Doesn't everyone have a blog now?

    by cyclopatra on Sat Feb 21, 2004 at 03:13:47 AM PST

  •  Mazel tov! (none)
    May your marriage just get happier and happier as the years go by.

    Respectful of Otters

    by Rivka on Wed Feb 25, 2004 at 10:11:11 PM PST

Permalink

Subscribe or Donate to support Daily Kos.

Click here for the mobile view of the site