County to perform gay unions June 16

After getting clarity from the state, Sonoma County plans to be among the first in California to begin performing same-sex weddings June 16.

"I feel fortunate to be in this position at this point in history," County Clerk Janice Atkinson said Friday. "It's a very exciting time."

But it's been a confusing one, with conflicting reports clouding how to proceed in the weeks since the state Supreme Court's May 15 ruling legalizing gay marriages.

Forty same-sex weddings are scheduled in Sonoma County for the summer, with 20 so far for June 17.

June 17 had become the crucial date after the state set that as the official start for gay marriages. But after pressure from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the state Office of Vital Records on Thursday moved the date up one day.

Thus, Sonoma and San Francisco counties will be among the first to marry same-sex couples starting at 5:01 p.m. June 16.

One local couple already has switched their wedding date back to their first booking, June 16, which also is their anniversary, Atkinson said.

At least a dozen counties on a conference call Friday said they would not stay open late to wed couples, Atkinson said. But Sonoma County officials decided Friday their office would stay open until 8 p.m. June 16.

The county's wedding room is in the final stages of an office-wide remodel, and officials are prepared to perform up to 30 weddings for "any and all couples who want to be married" that Monday, said Vicki Petersen, chief deputy clerk.

But couples should make an appointment first, she added.

Half of the 20 weddings booked for June 17 were made Thursday in a span of about 10 minutes, she said.

"We expect it to pick up even more," she said.

As does the Rev. Chris Bell at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Santa Rosa.

A lesbian commitment ceremony he was scheduled to perform in Middletown now will be a wedding, and he's had two other inquiries at his church.

"Our way may not be for everybody," Bell said, but that is why the church has been designated as "welcoming."

He's now trying to compile a list of local churches willing to perform gay weddings.

Bell plans to distribute copies at the Sonoma County Pride festival on June 15.

While gay weddings become legal the next day, they may be short-lived. An initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot, if approved, would prohibit gay marriages by defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

You can reach Staff Writer Shadi Rahimi at 521-5280 or shadi.rahimi@pressdemocrat.com.