‘United in marriage’

Many of the gay couples who walked up the steps of the old courthouse in Santa Ana to get married Tuesday have been committed partners for decades — perhaps none longer than Newport Beach couple Rich Videgain and Jim Carroll.

The spouses exchanged golden wedding rings as younger men in a car overlooking the city lights somewhere on the Palos Verdes Peninsula 33 years ago. Tuesday, they exchanged the same rings in a far less idyllic setting.

Cameramen swarmed the courthouse doors when they swung open at 8 a.m. A handful of protesters held signs and yelled slogans and the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, which grants marriage licenses and had taken 60 appointments — double its normal volume.

“We tied the knot, and, after 33 years of traveling together and living together, this is still the person I want to spend the rest of my life with,” Videgain said.

The Rev. Karen Stoyanoff, the minister of the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church in Costa Mesa, walked around the courthouse with a black stole draped around her neck adorned with pictures of a cross, a Star of David, a crescent moon and the symbols of three other religions.

Stoyanoff was one of a handful of clergy, mostly from nondenominational churches, offering to conduct marriage ceremonies for newlywed same-sex couples.

Dan Burton, who came out to protest the event, said he was vexed that ministers could condone an act that he believes is forbidden by the Bible. He carried a sign that read, “Legalizing sin will not save you on judgment day.”

“The reason I think it’s such an issue is that gays are trying to appropriate something that’s not theirs in nature,” Burton said.

Although the state Supreme Court ruling doesn’t confer many additional rights on gay partners — who already had rights, such as the ability to adopt children under California law — Burton said it legitimizes the act of same-sex unions, which church doctrine prohibits.

The Unitarian Universalists draw from many different doctrines, not just the Bible, and in this instance Stoyanoff says it’s a legal matter, not a religious one.

“We have many sources of wisdom in the Unitarian Universality church, and we don’t make distinctions among them,” she said. “We don’t say ‘Here is one piece of wisdom that is the right thing, and here is one that is the wrong thing.’”

Stoyanoff said about a dozen gay people are members of her congregation, and the church had a party the Sunday after the court decision.

Staff at the clerk-recorder’s office said that, aside from all of the media attention and a few changes of procedure, the marriage ceremonies were business as usual.

None of the workers refused to perform gay marriages or protested the procedures, said Jean Pasco, a department spokeswoman.

“It was kind of difficult getting the new words and coding right, but it’s also a nice feeling,” said Daniel Gutierrez, who performed the first marriage ceremony of the day.

While marrying a couple, Gutierrez paused after saying, “I pronounce you…” and had to refer to his script. He was used to following the expression with “…man and wife,” but it has been changed to “…united in marriage under the laws of the state of California,” for not only gay couples, but heterosexuals as well.

By the end of the day 121 licenses were issued in Orange County, mostly to gay couples, Pasco said.

For more photos, click here.

VOICES

“Check with meteorologists or seismologists to see if there will be any natural disaster as a result of this.”

Tom Peterson

Newport Beach resident

“It’s a travesty. It’s disgusting.”

Dan Burton

who protested gay marriage ceremonies in Santa Ana on Tuesday.

“Marriage is a legal right. Everyone should be entitled to it.”

Karen Stoyanoff

minister at Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church, who is offering free same-sex marriage ceremonies for the rest of the month.

“This is recognized by the state. We’re no longer being treated like second-class citizens.”

Paul Cook-Giles

who married Joe Cook-Giles Tuesday

“This staff is to catch stray sheep and bring them back into the fold.”

Rev. Brenda Lee

protesting the gay marriages with a Shepard’s crook and a white cross with the word “repent,” in her hands

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].