You must have missed this from the article:
The US city of San Francisco has become the first civil authority in the United States to officially marry gay couples in open defiance of laws banning the practice. The city, under the orders of new liberal Mayor Gavin Newsom, officially married at least 15 gay couples and issued marriage licences to around a dozen others.
You must have missed this from the article:...... The US city of San Francisco has become the first civil authority in the United States to officially marry gay couples in open defiance of laws banning the practice. The city, under the orders of new liberal Mayor Gavin Newsom, officially married at least 15 gay couples and issued marriage licences to around a dozen others.
Nope. I did did not miss that part.
It does not change what I said in the least.
Marriage have legal standing by "the powers invested in (the priest, rabbi, pastor, judge, etc.) by the State of (insert the name of one of the 50 States here)."
A marriage ceremony without the force of State law = A pretend marriage.
A mayor claiming such marriages are "official" = A politician blowing hot air.
The City of San Francisco's "official" marriages carry as much legal weight in a California court of law as my kid's pretend marriage between the pet dogs.