Posted on 02/27/2004 1:34:23 AM PST by kattracks
The bride said, "I do."Then Rosie did, too.
Angered by President Bush's crusade to make it illegal for them to marry, Rosie O'Donnell and her lesbian partner, Kelli Carpenter, joined the rush down the aisle in San Francisco yesterday.
"We were inspired to come here by the sitting President and the vile and vicious and hateful comments he made," the former talk-show host proclaimed after planting a kiss on her longtime love.
In tying the knot, the country's most famous lesbian couple took center stage in the debate over gay marriage sparked by Bush's call Tuesday for a constitutional amendment banning it.
The private ceremony was presided over by lesbian city treasurer Susan Leal.
"There was not a lot of ad-libbing, even though Rosie is a comedian," Leal said later. "They smiled a lot; they had a lot of tears in their eyes."
O'Donnell and Carpenter were cheered as conquering heroines as they strode hand-in-hand down the steps of the ornate marble rotunda of city hall, serenaded by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus singing "Chapel of Love."
"We really did, we got married," O'Donnell said. "This is my brand-new wife."
A beaming Carpenter held up their marriage license for the cheering throngs, some of them crying tears of joy, to see.
O'Donnell made it clear that it was her anger at Bush, as much as her love for Carpenter, that prompted her to board a plane for the West Coast. "One thought ran through my mind on the plane out here - with liberty and justice for all," O'Donnell said.
More than 3,300 gay and lesbian couples have gotten hitched over the past two weeks, since new San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's defiant decision to allow same-sex nuptials.
Underscoring their roles as parents of four children, the couple said they planned to return to New York last night in time for parents' day at their children's school today. "With four kids under 8, there will be no honeymoon," O'Donnell joked.
Gay marriage opponents are hoping to get the courts to order a stop to the same-sex weddings and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer will ask for a ruling today whether city authorities are violating the law.
A new battle is expected to explode today back in O'Donnell's home state of New York, where the upstate mayor of New Paltz vowed to preside over the weddings of at least four same-sex couples, including two men from New York City.
"It's my obligation to do everything I can to help this civil rights movement," said Mayor Jason West, 26. The New York Civil Liberties Union will defend the ceremony, he said.
Like O'Donnell, the New York City couple who plan to marry today in New Paltz say President Bush made them do it. "We were going to get married in June but we moved this up because of President Bush's statements," said Billiam Van Roestenberg, 38.
His intended, Jeffrey McGowan, 39, is a Gulf War veteran who rose to the rank of major in the Army. "We just want the same equality as everyone else," said Van Roestenberg.
Gov. Pataki's office had no immediate comment.
With Joe Mahoney in Albany
Originally published on February 27, 2004
Hmmm.....
“I don't care if you want to hunt. I don't care if you think it's your right. I say, sorry. It is 1999. We have had enough as a nation. You are not allowed to own a gun, and if you do own a gun I think you should go to prison.” -- Rosie O'Donnell
Poooor Roly-poly O'Donnell. She injected herself into Martha Stewart's trial a few days ago and now this. El Chubbito (she was the "groom" in this marriage, wasn't she?) has been out of the spotlight and feels the need to draw attention to herself. A marriage made in a place slightly below heaven. Gag.
"Money changes everything" - Cindi Lauper
Thanks Rosie! If there were any people on the fence over this issue, you have forcefully shoved them over onto Bush's side.
I guess you don't realize that you are totally over as America's Queen of Nice. You've spewed so much filth and hate out of your piehole in the last year that your adoring fans now cringe in horrror when your pasty face appears on the TV.
At least you've got your TV show to go back to, oops, maybe not. Your magazine? Ah, sorry. Enjoy your Broadway show with Boy George. Oh, it's closed, so sorry.
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