A lesbian couple -- Danielle Fernandez, 33, and Janeen Singer, 32 -- showed up at San Francisco City Hall on Saturday looking for business as wedding photographers. They had planned to celebrate pride weekend in Dolores Park with a bottle of champagne, but instead decided to work.
Up until Friday, their business had been "pretty hetero."
They would take photos at straight couples' weddings, knowing it was not an option for them, even after two years together.
Occasionally they would shoot ceremonies for gay couples, but those weren't legal marriages.
"There's something about the energy around today," Fernandez said. "It's validation."
She added, "People are glowing. It makes for good photographs."
They shot three weddings Friday and arrived at City Hall on Saturday with cameras and matching black shirts that said "lesbian and wedding photographer" in white lettering. Rates started at a discounted $40.
Two days after the Supreme Court rejected an attempt to restore Proposition 8, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Friday bypassed a normal 25-day waiting period in lifting a hold on a trial judge's ruling that had declared the measure unconstitutional.
"It couldn't come a moment too soon," said Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who sparked the legal effort for gay marriage in California when he was San Francisco mayor.
"What extraordinary timing, right before [gay] pride weekend," Newsom said. " All that time, all the struggle, and the moment has arrived."
The losing side in a Supreme Court case usually has 25 days to ask for reconsideration before the ruling is implemented. Supporters of Proposition 8, including the ballot measure's sponsor, ProtectMarriage, were furious that the 9th Circuit acted before the normal waiting period.
"It is part and parcel of the utter lawlessness in which this whole case has been prosecuted," said Chapman Law professor John Eastman, a supporter of Proposition 8."Normally, courts let the parties kind of pursue their legal remedies before they issue a mandate."
He said the 25-day period for asking the Supreme Court to reconsider still applied, and a rehearing, though extremely unlikely, remained a technical possibility.
"Tonight it is chaos and lawlessness, and anyone who is concerned about the rule of law ought to be deeply troubled by what happened here," the constitutional law professor said.
Andy Pugno, general counsel for ProtectMarriage, expressed astonishment and dismay.
"I am not sure what we do at this moment," he said. "It is 4:30 p.m. on a Friday. I am not sure what can be done at this point. This is beyond belief. I don't think anybody expected this. The Supreme Court decision is not even final, and yet the 9th Circuit is rushing forward."
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