West Hollywood Gay Marriage, Two Down and Half the World to Go

It was pomp and circumstance booty dance in West Hollywood this past Tuesday as the city and state celebrated its opening debut of Gay Marriage in California. Followed by news outlet, a ribbon cutting ceremony, and formal announcements and speeches, the first couple to finally wed on the West Hollywood Park Auditorium was actor George Takei and his lover Brad Altman.

“Declaring his excitement, Mr. Takei, 71, said, “it’s going to be the only day like this in our lives and it is the only day like this in the history of America.”

“Let equality live long and prosper!”, he added.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said the day proved the promise of California.

“For decades we’ve said that in California you can do anything you want to do, but you can’t be who you want to be. That all changed today, and makes me proud to be a Californian.”

The wedding frenzy started around 8:30am, but lines began to form as early as 6am. When Mayor Jeffrey Prang declared, “Let the licensing commence,â€? the media scrum began, with dozens of news organization from around the world fighting for the ‘winning shot’ of Mr. Takei and his beau Mr. Altman.

According to the West Hollywood local news, “The media sign in sheet looked like a United Nations roster, with Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Wall Street Journal, NY Times and the Washington Post – just to list the most recognizable names – present with cameras.”

Across the state, at least 2,386 licenses were issued, up from 460 on an average day.

The LA County Registrar/Recorder reported that 648 licenses issued in the county compared to 133 normally – an increase of 415, or almost three times.

In West Hollywood, 204 couples got licenses and 114 ceremonies made honest men and women out of 228 people.

The application process ran into a minor snag, however, when licenses began spewing forth from the printers brought out for the task.

A software glitch had all the licenses, countywide, printing out licenses giving the old gender-based Bride and Groom spaces to fill in rather than the Applicant A and B spaces.

The situation was resolved within 45 minutes.