Hundreds of same-sex couples are waking up as married men and women. A record 230 couples received marriage licenses in San Diego Tuesday, the day same-sex marriage became legal in California, the day Kevin Settles and David VanGilder thought they would never see. (Story continues below.)
David: We’ve been together for 27 years this October.
Here’s David.
David: We met in Los Angeles. I had a date, and I was supposed to meet him at this bar called the In Touch, and I went there, and he stood me up and never arrived, and I met Kevin there. He was playing pinball.
Kevin: We were just disco babies, the era of the Quaalude, and we survived all that. But it was a very interesting time politically, actually, Stonewall having just happened.
Stonewall was the scene of a watershed event for gay rights. It was a gay bar in New York and the constant target of police raids in the 1960s. One day, in 1969, the gays revolted. There was a violent clash with police. And Kevin says it forced people to pay attention.
Kevin: Gays were coming out more and more and that’s what caused us to at the time to be very open about our relationship. We just have always been, for 27 years, in front of co-workers and family and family reunions and the whole world, a gay couple.
Together they survived the ’80s, while their friends died of AIDS. They lived together, paid taxes together, and shared many benefits of marriage, but they were never married . Until now.
Hi. Hi, how are you? Very good, how are you? Do you have an appointment for today? Yes we do, for 3:30. Three-thirty, and your first names? David and Kevin.
David and Kevin’s appointment is with Assistant Clerk Valeria Cruz.
Cruz: Double-check that and make sure everything is accurate and spelled out correctly.
David: It looks good.
Reporter: So you’re “Party A.”
David: I’m “Party A.”
Kevin: How did that happen? I’m “B.”
David: I filled out the form before you, that’s how!
A lot has changed since Stonewall. Utter strangers are congratulating David and Kevin. And there isn’t a protester in sight.
Still, I asked David if he’s worried about a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
David: I’m not concerned about it all. I really do believe that the people in the state of California have come to understand and appreciate the gay community. Everyone knows someone who is or works with someone who is gay or lesbian or transgender, and it’s wonderful that there’s much more a climate of acceptance.
He may be right. A recent Field Poll shows a slim majority of Californians – 51 percent – approve of marriage rights for same-sex couples. That’s up from 44 percent two years ago. The Field Poll shows 54 percent oppose that constitutional amendment.
At least until November the day is theirs. Last-minute legal challenges from conservative groups fell through.
Officiate Aron Miller: Dear friends we meet here for the joyful purpose of joining in marriage…
It’s a simple ceremony under the arbor. A spectacular blue day. Kevin and David are wearing black sport coats and crisp white tuxedo shirts, no ties. Kevin’s elderly mother is here in a wheelchair, along with a few other family members and friends. And, of course, a radio reporter and a gaggle of photographers.
Officiate: By the virtue of the authority vested in me as the deputy commissioner of civil marriages in and for the county of San Diego, I take pleasure in announcing that from this very moment you are now united in marriage. You may now seal your vows with a kiss.
An old stone carving lies where David and Kevin stood. It bears the Latin inscription Amor Vincit Omnia : Love conquers all.
