Politics & Government

Pescadero Couple Celebrates 'Equality Finally'

Same-sex couples began obtaining marriage licenses in San Mateo County Monday. For one coastside couple, it ended a 33-year wait.

By Joan Dentler

Thirty-three years is a long time to wait to be married. Which is why just hours after obtaining their marriage license Monday morning, Lary Lawson and Rob Johnson of Pescadero were to be united in a simple ceremony in the chapel of the San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder's Office in Redwood City.

Theirs would be the first such nuptials celebrated at the county building after an appellate court ruling Friday lifted the ban on same sex marriages in the state. On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday lifted a stay that prevented gay marriages from occurring.

Speaking from the lobby the Clerk-Recorder's Office in Government Center, Lawson and Johnson said they didn't want to take any chances this time, referring to the short-lived window for same-sex couples to marry in 2008.

The couple began applying for their license on Friday once the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturned Proposition 8 and made same-sex marriages legal in California. Johnson was in Florida, but they were able to complete the application via phone and Internet so they were ready to roll Monday morning.

“Equality finally,” said Johnson, who added that as soon as they got the word that California Attorney General Kamala Harris said “let's speed things up,” they wasted no time.  

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One small bump in the road came about when the clerk’s office informed the couple they’d need a witness to stand up for them at their afternoon ceremony. Within minutes, a friend in San Carlos agreed to fulfill that role and planned to meet the couple for lunch and their civil ceremony Monday afternoon.

Asked if they had any plans to celebrate their special day, the couple said they have a camping trip planned for later this week.

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Waiting a couple of hours for their friend to arrive to witness their marriage didn’t seem to phase Lawson and Johnson, who had after all, waited 33 years for this moment.  


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