Story And Poll: Crowd Celebrates Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

A crowd of about 150 people gathered outside the federal courthouse at Mission and Seventh streets this morning to await an appeals court ruling on Proposition 8.

When word came down that a panel of the appeals court had found California's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, the crowd erupted into cheers.

The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said by a 2-1 vote that Proposition 8 violated the federal constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.

"This is a huge victory for the people of the state of California," said John Lewis, of the group Marriage Equality. "This is a great victory for love."

George Lin, 30, who has lived in San Francisco for the past two years, said he was "really, really ecstatic" to hear the news.

Lin, an Air Force reservist, said he lived in Nebraska before moving to the Bay Area, and that coming here felt like "a little step back" because he used to live next to Iowa, where same-sex marriage is legal.

He said that although he is single, he wants to be able to marry someday.

"Eventually, I want the same rights," Lin said. Before the ruling was issued, the crowd outside the courthouse recited words they attributed to the late Harvey Milk, San Francisco's first openly gay supervisor.

"All men and women are created equal," they said. "No matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words."

Supervisor Scott Wiener was among those in the crowd, arriving a few minutes before the ruling was announced.

A short time later, the crowd marched to City Hall. As they arrived at Civic Center Plaza, they were met by a lone same-sex marriage protester armed with a bullhorn and wearing a shirt that read, "He is Jesus."

"You have to check yourself," he shouted at them, saying marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman.

The crowd moved past him like a stream flowing over a rock. An 11 a.m. news conference was planned at City Hall by City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who was in office in 2004 when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom allowed same-sex couples to wed.

Today's decision can be appealed further to an expanded 11-judge panel of the 9th Circuit and to the U.S. Supreme Court.

--- Bay City News Service