Same-sex marriages begin June 17

County clerks can begin issuing California marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Tuesday, June 17.

The state Office of Vital Records said in an email to county clerks Wednesday that June 17 was chosen because the state Supreme Court has until the end of the business day June 16 to decide whether to grant a stay of its May 14 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

“The tricky thing here is we still don’t know whether anything is going to happen up until the close of business on the 16th,” said Vicki Petersen, the chief deputy clerk for Sonoma County. “In any event, we’ll be ready to begin using the new form on 17th.”

The new marriage license forms include lines for “Party A” and “Party B” instead of bride and groom.

Petersen said the next step for the county clerk’s office is to notify the three couples that have booked June 16 to be married. Initially there was speculation that couples would be able to wed as early as June 14 — 30 days after the court’s May 15 ruling.

Three days after the ruling, Pascal Destandau, 55, of Healdsburg called to book June 16 to marry his longtime partner Eric Smith, 44, at the county clerk’s office.

He said on Wednesday that one more day “will be fine.”

“We have waited such a long time, so one more day is not a big deal,” he said.