Calif. clerk to be first when gay marriage becomes legal

By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
The Mercury News, Silicon Valley

MARTINEZ, Calif.—For 18 years, Stephen Weir has been in charge of the office that hands out marriage licenses in California's ninth-largest county. And for just as long, Weir has been unable to get a license himself because the love of his life is a man.

The irony did not escape him.

"Always the bridesmaid, never the bride," he quips with a rueful smile.

So Weir hopes the citizens of Contra Costa County understand if their clerk-recorder invokes executive privilege and opens up for business a little early on June 17, when same-sex couples may be able to legally wed in California.

He and his partner, John Hemm, want to be first at the counter that day. They want to be the first to exchange vows and kisses in the conference room Weir converted into a wedding chapel that hosts 1,200 couples a year, but that he could never use.

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