On 3/11/2004: Marriage Equality California organized a lunchtime rally to call for equal rights from 11-1 in San Francisco's Union Square.

3/9/2004: On Monday, the city of Seattle announced that it would recognize marriage licenses of same-sex couples, so that spouses of city employees will be able to receive benefits. Today San Jose became the first California city to announce that it would recognize same-gender marriages, but only those of city employees (?). The son of Pete Knight, one of the chief opponents of gay marriage in California and nationwide, was married today in San Francisco to his male partner. The city of San Francisco has asked the California Supreme Court to stay out of the lawsuit that has been filed there until after the lower courts have considered the matter. The case is scheduled to be heard in San Francisco Superior Court on March 29th. Last week a temporary restraining order forced the mayor of New Paltz, NY to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
This week's marriage-related events list from Marriage Equality California.
3/3/04: California: As same-sex marriages continue in San Francisco, Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger has said that he does not support a proposed Federal Marriage Amendment which fellow Republican President Bush supports. He says that he is aware that California voters chose to oppose gay marriage, and acknowledges that the voters could choose to overturn the law which he claims that SF Mayor Gavin Newsom is breaking. Proposition 22, which defines marriage as only being between a man and a woman, was passed four years ago this week. The Juvenile Crime Initiative Proposition 21, which was approved by the voters on the same day as Prop 22, has since been overturned in the courts. Outrage over George Bush's opposition to her right to marry led Rosie O'Donnell to get married in SF last week.
On March 16th, the city of Oakland will consider whether to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Oregon: Multnomah County, which includes the city of Portland, began issuing same-sex marriage licenses today.
New York: The Attorney General of New York State said today that same-sex couples who were married elsewhere are considered legally married in New York. The town New Paltz, in New York, is at odds with Ulster County, the county in which it resides, because its mayor is issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The State Attorney General has ordered a review of the state constitution to see if the marriages are already legal, but Republican Governor Pataki has said that state law clearly allows marriages only between a man and a woman. The County District Attorney has charged the Mayor of New Paltz Tuesday with 19 counts of solemnizing a marriage without a license, which is a misdemeanor under the domestic relations law.
Meanwhile, Mayor Carolyn Peterson announced Monday that the upstate city of Ithaca would begin accepting applications for marriage licenses from same sex couples, but would then pass the applications on to the state for approval.
Massachusetts: State legislators failed to agree to pass an amendment to the state constitution that would define marriage as only between a man and a woman. They will likely take up the issue again on March 11th. The state Supreme Court has already said that same-sex couples must be given equal marriage rights to those of opposite-sex couples.
Nationally, the Senate is debating the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment today. Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney who campaigned for her father for the 2000 election, has disappeared from the political spotlight and has not spoken out about the gay marriage question. This has prompted activists to start a Dear Mary website. Dick Cheney yesterday asked that people leave Mary Cheney out of the gay marriage debate. Cheney did not speak directly for the Federal Marriage Amendment, but did say that he supports the President. Since the President recently announced his support for the Amendment, it is safe to assume that Cheney does not want his lesbian daughter to have the same access to civil rights that his other presumably straight daughters enjoy.
In breakup-related news, the US Supreme Court declined to rule on a case that involved second-parent adoption. This means that the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of second-parent adoptions stands.