Gay, lesbian couples line up to marry
Judge delays challenges to San Francisco until Tuesday
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Many gay and lesbian couples got married right after getting their licenses at San Francisco's City Hall.
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As San Francisco churns out licenses, a conservative group is heading to court to try and block them.
Drawing protesters on both sides of the issue, Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
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SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples ringed San Francisco's City Hall on Saturday to be married, before a judge hears a challenge Tuesday from two groups opposed to same-sex marriage.
Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered City Hall be opened from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the weekend and Monday -- which is President's Day, a federal holiday -- to accommodate as many couples as possible before Superior Court Judge James Warren hears the challenge Tuesday.
Newsom ordered the county clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses for lesbian and gay couples Thursday.
Californians filled the ranks for the most part, but gay couples from other parts of the country were beginning to join the line for marriage licenses in San Francisco, which does not require a blood test or proof of residency.
On Friday, Warren rejected a motion from a group opposed to gay marriage seeking an immediate temporary restraining order against the city, saying the Alliance Defense Fund, based in Arizona, had given insufficient notice of the request.
He delayed the hearing until Tuesday. A second group, the Campaign for California Families, also filed suit Friday.
Both organizations charged Newsom's action is against the law, but Newsom said he is obeying the state's mandate against discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation.
California voters approved a ballot initiative in 2000 that said the state would recognize marriages between a man and a woman only, The Associated Press reported.
Hundreds of people took advantage of Newsom's act Thursday and Friday, and at 8 a.m. Saturday, about 50 couples waited for City Hall's doors to open. By 9 a.m., the number had reached 300-400 couples and continued to grow.
The first of 90 couples to be married on Thursday was Phyllis Lyon, 80, and Del Martin, 83, who have been together 51 years and founded the nation's first lesbian organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, in 1955.
Former President Clinton appointed both to be delegates to the White House Conference on Aging in 1995.
"We have a right just like anyone else to get married to the person we want to get married to," Lyon said.
The issuing of the licenses in San Francisco came as lawmakers in Massachusetts debated a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. After a third attempt to pass the measure failed late Thursday, the legislature recessed its constitutional convention until March 11, when it is expected to take up the issue again.
CNN's Miguel Marquez contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
