Friday, May 30, 2008

Contra Costa recorder-clerk plans own same-sex wedding

Contra Costa County Recorder-Clerk Stephen Weir not only has to prepare his office to handle same-sex marriages, he must pick out centerpieces too.

The 59-year-old Concord resident and his partner of 18 years plan on being the first same-sex couple to marry in Contra Costa County.

"I didn't think it could happen in my career or in my lifetime," said Weir, who balked at getting hitched in 2004 when San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples questioning the legality. "Plus, I wanted to get my own license from my own offices."

Weir downplayed the significance of June 17, saying only the gender-neutral forms go into effect that day.

"We're kind of up in the air right now," Weir said. "It's still possible we will use the gender-neutral forms (on June 17), but only accept opposite-sex marriages. ...It's a nuance, but it obviously impacts how we run our offices."

It's also possible, on June 14, the state supreme court will open the door for same-sex marriages, however couples would have to fill out the old forms.

"They'd be saying under penalty of perjury that they are groom and wife," Weir said. He added the court could order the gender-neutral forms to be used earlier to eliminate that scenario.

Weir said his office has received some same-sex inquiries since the historic court decision, but it's unclear how many scheduled ceremonies are same-sex as they don't ask applicants' genders.

If Advertisementsame-sex marriages get the green light June 14, Contra Costa could become a marriage Mecca. Coincidentally, on that Saturday, the Contra Costa clerk offices will be open for their normal second Saturday of the month office hours, while many other counties' clerk facilities would be closed for the weekend. They already have 13 weddings planned for that day, Weir said.

Contra Costa issues about 4,000 marriage licenses a year and performs 1,200 ceremonies.

After his desk job duties, Weir is nothing more than a nervous groom-to-be.

"It's really tough to try and plan anything this fast," Weir said.

"We have the two dudes who are supposed to be on top of our cake," Weir said laughing. Other than that, nothing much is planned yet.

"(My partner's) got all the rings he's gonna get," the county clerk joked.



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