San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings

The San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings took place between February 11 and March 11, 2004, after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directed the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and a number of interest groups sued to end the practice. About 4,000 such licenses were issued before the California Supreme Court ordered a halt to the practice on March 11. On August 12, 2004, the California Supreme Court voided all of the licenses that had been issued in February and March.

The legal dispute over the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples led to the 2008 In re Marriage Cases ruling by the California Supreme Court, which legalized same-sex marriage in California.

Recently elected Mayor Gavin Newsom and other city officials began issuing marriage licenses in San Francisco, on February 12, 2004. Newsom asserted the California Constitution's equal protection clause gave him authority to grant same-sex marriage licenses. He said he was inspired to allow same-sex marriages after hearing President George Bush describe the need to prevent same-sex marriage, possibly by a federal constitutional amendment, in his State of the Union address. The previous November, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court had issued an order for same-sex marriages to begin in that state in May 2004. City officials said they had officiated at more than 900 weddings within the first three days.

On February 13, two organizations, the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Campaign for California Families, filed actions in San Francisco Superior Court seeking an immediate stay to prohibit the City from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The court refused to issue an immediate stay on February 20.

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