Beth Yates - The San Francisco Gay Wedding Lollapolooza! 

 

 

I had the worst blisters that I've ever had in my life. It kept me out of work for two days. I couldn't walk, and I'd do it 100 times again. This was back in 2004, and I was married in the San Francisco gay marriage, Lollapalooza. [audience cheers and applause] 

 

Gavin Newsom, on February 13th, married two older lesbians on a Friday night and said he was going to be marrying people over the weekend. And I thought, they're going to shut this puppy down. Saturday morning, it's all over the news. There's lines all over for people lining up to be married. At some point, my partner and I say to each other, “We got to do this.” We call friends, we call family. 

 

Saturday, we go and we are waiting in line to be married, family and friends around us. 

4 o’clock, we get towards the front of the line, and they say, “No more today.” We go back Sunday morning at 04:30 in the morning, and it's pouring rain. Family and friends show up at 06:30. We get married at 11:00 AM in the San Francisco City Hall Rotunda. But that's not really my story. My story is I loved it and I wanted to do it again. [audience laughter] 

 

So, Monday night, I get on the phone and I'm trolling our friends saying, “Who wants to get married? You got to do this.” I find a couple who agrees. And I go Tuesday [audience laughter] and they get married. And that's not enough. [audience laughter] So, Wednesday morning, I call into work and I say, “I'm not coming in.” I go down to San Francisco City Hall and I dress up, because these are people's weddings. I got a suit on and I got these great new high heels that I have. 

 

The volunteer job I got is I got to escort couples from where they filled out their paperwork, the registrar's office down this long corridor with all these people way waiting to fill out their paperwork to the San Francisco City Hall Rotunda, where they had the official ceremony. And each person I'd bring down each couple, people would clap. 

 

So, about 10:00 in the morning, I get to the front of the line where I'm dropping off this couple that had just signed their paperwork, and I noticed there is a pile of flowers. And I say to the volunteer, “What are these? Where are these coming from?” The guy says, “I don't know.” You got to Understand, like, this was happening in the moment. Nobody knew diddley. So, I get back at about 11:30, and I look over and the pile is huge. And I say to the volunteer, “Where are these coming from?” And the woman says, “You got to read them.” 

 

So, I pick up one, and it's from a family in Denver. And they say, “Our son died of AIDS years ago, but if he was still alive, he and his partner would be there with you getting married. I know you didn't have time to get a bouquet and plan for your wedding. So, this is our in honor of him and in celebration of your marriage.” I read another one. And it's from a family in Minnesota. And they say, “If we could be there getting married, we would. We just couldn't make it in.” 

 

Somewhere around 2 o'clock, I am there with this couple and they're filling out their paperwork. I turn around, and the SWAT team is standing behind us. I don't know if you've ever seen a SWAT team close up, but they look huge and they are covered head to toe. And this man makes this announcement, “You need to stay where you are.” And somebody says, “What's going on?” And he says, “There's protesters coming in. We can't ask them to leave until they disrupt work.” So, we wait. 

 

Pretty soon, you hear some people coming along saying horrid things. You see some horrible signs. So, when the protesters get there, SWAT clears them out. And when SWAT leaves with the protesters, people in the line are clapping and cheering as they get all these protesters out. And then, I get to walk down with the first couple after these protesters, and people stood up and screamed and clapped and yelled for this couple. And this couple makes it to the Rotunda, and they have their wedding. It's over at 5 o’clock, I go home, I take off my shoes. I have the worst blisters I've ever had in my life, and I literally cannot walk for two days and I do it 100 times again.