His 'n' his, hers 'n' hers -- state gears up for same-sex marriages

Tuesday's the big day, when same-sex couples can legally wed in California. But not so fast -- procedures vary depending on where you live, with some counties (the O.C.) granting appointments to get a license, while others (Kern and possibly Butte) are suspending marriage ceremonies altogether. Jean-Paul Renaud has the details:

The first, busy days that same-sex couples will be allowed to wed in California promise to be chaotic and confusing, as counties throughout the state are coming up with widely varying procedures for implementing the (state) Supreme Court's order lifting the ban on gay marriage.

In Los Angeles County, marriage licenses will be issued Tuesday -- the first full day the court's order takes effect -- on a first-come, first-served basis. Orange County, by contrast, has been allowing couples to make appointments to get licenses. San Bernardino County plans to close its two satellite offices and issue licenses and perform ceremonies only at its main location.

Butte County, however, indicated that it would follow the lead of Kern County in halting its practice of performing marriage ceremonies altogether, citing budget reasons.

Officials in most other counties, however, expect next week to be very busy, as gay couples throughout the state scramble to avail themselves of the newly bestowed right to marry.

An archive of our coverage is here. Patt Morrison's thoughts about Kern County's sudden decision to suspend all civil marriages here. And some think the same-sex marriage market will be California's new Gold Rush.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Getty Images

Comments

[Lewis]

Finally! Are we getting out of the 50's? Could this spell the end of society? HA!
Now if we could just throw Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the Neo-Cons in prison for treason, I think we could be on the road to redemption.

If you're Gay and getting hitched, Congrats! You finally are being treated at least partially equal.

[SwissArmyBud]

Yes, because obviously when one has to give marriage certificates to gay couples, it suddenly becomes a money losing proposition for the county. What kind of sad excuse will they come up with next in the ever raging battle to maintain the status quo of inequality?

[GoodLuck]

Well good luck to them. We'll see if they can make it work better than hetero couples.

If not they'll join the rest of us who found out what the cost of divorce is.

The only people I see that stand to gain in the long run are the divorce attornies.