Heterosexual couples were rushing to get married in a conservative California county that plans to halt all civil wedding ceremonies as gay marriage is set to be legalized.
Kern County clerk Ann Barnett said that Friday would the last day the county would perform civil weddings.
Starting on Tuesday, when the California Supreme Court’s order legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect, Kern will issue new gender-neutral marriage licenses as required by law. But couples seeking to get hitched will have to go somewhere else for the ceremony.
Barnett said the increased demand for ceremonies would overwhelm her staff and pose office security risks. She made the announcement after learning she could not marry only couples of her choosing.
Officials in Calaveras and Butte counties would also stop performing weddings for all couples because, among other reasons, the increased demand would overwhelm their staffs.
San Francisco city worker Eileen Shields usually spends her days answering questions about West Nile Virus, bed bugs and other health concerns, but starting this week she will be one of hundreds of volunteers at City Hall helping same-sex couples wed.
Shields, who works in the communications office at the city’s Department of Public Health, was inspired to help pronounce couples “spouses for life” because her daughter married a woman in Massachusetts last year and she wanted to help others share the same joy.
“Those are powerful words and it’s a very solemn responsibility,” said Shields, who is volunteering on her own time.
California will only be the second US state after Massachusetts to allow gays to marry.
San Francisco expects to have trained more than 200 volunteer commissioners, most of them city staff, to help marry same-sex couples.
In San Diego County, more than 50 workers from other departments within the clerk recorder’s office have volunteered to issue licenses and to keep up with demand. In Los Angeles County, about 100 people have been deputized over the past two weeks to perform nuptials.
“We’re expecting a crush of newlyweds,” said Mayor Jeffrey Prang of West Hollywood, where five city council members are expected to be deputized tomorrow night so they can start performing ceremonies the next morning.
Barring any further legal action, gay couples will be able to start marrying at 5:01pm tomorrow. Some counties plan to open their clerk’s offices after-hours that day to accommodate couples wanting to be among the first to marry, but most across the state will wait until Tuesday.
In some places, sympathetic clergy are stepping in to help out.
At the Redwood City clerk’s office on Tuesday, the minister from Peninsula Metropolitan Community Church will officiate same-sex weddings.
Officials all over the state are reporting an uptick in requests for marriage licenses. As of Friday, Orange County in the southern part of the state had more than 50 appointments scheduled for Tuesday, when it usually averages about 30 appointments per day, said Jean Pasco, the spokeswoman for the Orange County clerk-recorder’s office.
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