Dozens of couples smitten with Valentine’s Day fever made good use of a rare Sunday opening at the Fresno County Clerk’s Office to tie the knot. But a handful same-sex couples, seeking to make a statement for their cause, were turned away at the counter.
The same-sex couples said they knew their requests for marriage licenses would be denied but said they wanted to make their voices heard on Valentine’s Day.
"We are committed as long as it takes until we can marry,” said Beth DeBussey, 58, who approached the clerk’s counter with her partner Rosa Domenech, 60.
County Clerk Victor Salazar told the Fresno couple and other same-sex couples like them that Proposition 8 — passed by California voters in November 2008 and being challenged in federal court — defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman.
The same-sex couples and about 40 supporters said they want to keep the fight for equality in the public’s mind.
“I believe that civil rights are not something that should be taken away by a vote,” DeBussey said outside the Clerk’s Office.
Said Domenech, “We’re not going to stop. We’re going to press on.”
The Rev. Russell Noland of the Temple of St. Brigid’s Moon performed commitment ceremonies for the same-sex couples in front of the Clerk’s Office in downtown Fresno.
Meanwhile inside the Clerk’s Office, staffers and volunteers were busy marrying couples who chose to wed on Valentine’s Day.
About a half dozen relatives witnessed the marriage of Rachael Esquivel, 19, of Fresno and Marquis Lane, 21, of Oakland.
Lane said the couple chose Sunday to wed “so every Valentine’s Day we have together will be a special day.”
Some county employees volunteered their time and others swapped other days off to work Sunday so the Clerk’s Office could perform the weddings, Salazar said.
