May 15, 2008 was a historic day. On that Thursday morning, the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to all of the same basic civil rights as all Californians, including marriage. What an amazing day that was!
The court's ruling went into effect 30 days later, so we quickly picked June 20th as our wedding day. Several of our friends joined us at City Hall as we filled out all of the paperwork for the marriage license then met Arnold Low, the Deputy Marriage Commissioner, who would perform our ceremony.
We stood at the top of the grand steps inside City Hall and recited our vows to each other. Then we exchanged rings, were pronounced spouses for life, then we kissed and everyone cheered!
We've been together for almost nine years, had a Commitment Ceremony in 2000 and got married at City Hall in 2004 (which was annulled later that year). We're quite certain that the third time's a charm and this one will stick!
Thanks to Matt, Matthew, Jean Pierre, Craig, Doug, Joel, Alex and Grant. (Special thanks to Joel for taking pictures and to Jean Pierre for recording the video!)