San Diego: 'Marines aren't afraid of a fight'

Even as 200-plus same-sex couples here were receiving marriage licenses, there was talk of an upcoming legal and political battle to defeat a ballot measure that would ban gay unions.

Some couples, including Bob Lehman and Tom Felkner, the first to be married, plan fundraisers to battle the measure on the November ballot.

''Marines aren't afraid of a fight," said Lehman, a former Marine sergeant with combat experience during the Persian Gulf War.

A major fundraising party was set for Tuesday night in the Hillcrest neighborhood. Petitions were being passed gathering signatures to defeat the measure.

"'I just hope people don't want to move backwards and undo all this progress," said Tracy Gulzow, a private investigator, as she and her partner, Sarah Dana, a marketing executive, waited for their license.

-- Tony Perry