It's All About Love

That's what the sign read which was held by the first couple to get married tonight at Oakland's City Hall. Some friends invited us to share in their joy as they were among the first 10 (which turned out to be 20) same-sex couples to be married at city hall today. Delayed because of paperwork chaos with the rush of marriage licensing, we waited with over 100 people in the city council chambers while some talked on cell phones, others took photos, friends connected, politicians angled for the best location, and we simply tried to keep our daughter from freaking out in the midst of the waiting. When the couples entered the was a loud enough to be nearly violent round of applause as every person was on their feet for their entrance and for what seemed to be the rest of the evening of marriages lasting for nearly an hour. Here's a video clip I shot of the entrances.



Talking with another friend, I heard of one lone protester who had stood stoicly outside the City Registrar's Office. Yet I found as we witnessed the weddings from afar and alongside our friends that no marriages seemed to end, I didn't feel the sanctity of my own marriage crumble during the celebrating, rather my wife and I both had tears in my eyes. Here's a slide.com collage mosaic of some of the photos I shot tonight.