Posted on 02/27/2004 1:34:23 AM PST by kattracks
The bride said, "I do."Then Rosie did, too.
Angered by President Bush's crusade to make it illegal for them to marry, Rosie O'Donnell and her lesbian partner, Kelli Carpenter, joined the rush down the aisle in San Francisco yesterday.
"We were inspired to come here by the sitting President and the vile and vicious and hateful comments he made," the former talk-show host proclaimed after planting a kiss on her longtime love.
In tying the knot, the country's most famous lesbian couple took center stage in the debate over gay marriage sparked by Bush's call Tuesday for a constitutional amendment banning it.
The private ceremony was presided over by lesbian city treasurer Susan Leal.
"There was not a lot of ad-libbing, even though Rosie is a comedian," Leal said later. "They smiled a lot; they had a lot of tears in their eyes."
O'Donnell and Carpenter were cheered as conquering heroines as they strode hand-in-hand down the steps of the ornate marble rotunda of city hall, serenaded by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus singing "Chapel of Love."
"We really did, we got married," O'Donnell said. "This is my brand-new wife."
A beaming Carpenter held up their marriage license for the cheering throngs, some of them crying tears of joy, to see.
O'Donnell made it clear that it was her anger at Bush, as much as her love for Carpenter, that prompted her to board a plane for the West Coast. "One thought ran through my mind on the plane out here - with liberty and justice for all," O'Donnell said.
More than 3,300 gay and lesbian couples have gotten hitched over the past two weeks, since new San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's defiant decision to allow same-sex nuptials.
Underscoring their roles as parents of four children, the couple said they planned to return to New York last night in time for parents' day at their children's school today. "With four kids under 8, there will be no honeymoon," O'Donnell joked.
Gay marriage opponents are hoping to get the courts to order a stop to the same-sex weddings and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer will ask for a ruling today whether city authorities are violating the law.
A new battle is expected to explode today back in O'Donnell's home state of New York, where the upstate mayor of New Paltz vowed to preside over the weddings of at least four same-sex couples, including two men from New York City.
"It's my obligation to do everything I can to help this civil rights movement," said Mayor Jason West, 26. The New York Civil Liberties Union will defend the ceremony, he said.
Like O'Donnell, the New York City couple who plan to marry today in New Paltz say President Bush made them do it. "We were going to get married in June but we moved this up because of President Bush's statements," said Billiam Van Roestenberg, 38.
His intended, Jeffrey McGowan, 39, is a Gulf War veteran who rose to the rank of major in the Army. "We just want the same equality as everyone else," said Van Roestenberg.
Gov. Pataki's office had no immediate comment.
With Joe Mahoney in Albany
Originally published on February 27, 2004
O'Donnell's comments about the President on GMA yesterday -- from what was undoubtedly a heavily reinforced chair -- reveal her unconditional hatred towards anyone who disagrees with her opinions. A typical posture of liberal activists.
Many conservatives and moderates have no idea of how vicious these people can be ... but they are about to learn firsthand.
Naahh. That's the truth about all of this: it's a dimwitted immature stunt being MC'ed by Gavin Newsom. No states are going to respect the "marriages" by extending the property rights laws. There won't be any interstate reciprocity for a non-existent marriage, and you can bet that Butch O'Donnell doesn't want the Bleached Blonde to get half the loot. Not for just participating in the joke.
...the three most important words in the lives of many a homosexual.
Didn't take long, did it. ? FOFLOL!
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