Reply to "Goin' To The Chapel: The Lesbian, Gay & T/S Marriage Topic"
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Rosie O'Donnell to marry girlfriend in San Francisco
LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, February 26, 2004
©2004 Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Rosie O'Donnell flew across the country Thursday to marry her longtime girlfriend in the city where more than 3,300 other same-sex couples have tied the knot since Feb. 12.
The couple traveled to San Francisco from New York on Thursday morning, said Cindi Berger, O'Donnell's publicist. They have a 1 p.m. appointment to pick up a marriage license, according to the mayor's office.
"We, too, have a dream of equality for all families," the comedian and former talk show host said in a statement. "The only way changes are made in society is when people like Mayor Gavin Newsom have the courage to stand up against injustice."
City officials didn't know who O'Donnell wants to officiate when she marries her girlfriend, Kelli Carpenter, said Francisco Castillo, a spokesman for the mayor. The women plan to take their vows on the steps of City Hall, according to Berger.
Earlier Thursday, O'Donnell announced her wedding plans on ABC's "Good Morning America," just two days after President Bush called for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
She said the president's call is what inspired her to come to San Francisco, where city officials continue to perform same-sex weddings even as state courts are considering the legality of those marriages.
"I think the actions of the president are, in my opinion, the most vile and hateful words ever spoken by a sitting president," O'Donnell said on the program. "I am stunned and I'm horrified.
"I find this proposed amendment very, very, very, very shocking. And immoral. And, you know, if civil disobedience is the way to go about change, then I think a lot of people will be going to San Francisco. And I hope they put more people on the steps to marry as many people as show up. And I hope everyone shows up."
O'Donnell said she decided to marry Carpenter, a former dancer and marketing director at Nickelodeon, during her recent trial in New York over the now-defunct Rosie magazine. During the case, she referred to Carpenter as her wife.
"We applied for spousal privilege and were denied it by the state. As a result, everything that I said to Kelli, every letter that I wrote her, every e-mail, every correspondence and conversation was entered into the record," O'Donnell said. "After the trial, I am now and will forever be a total proponent of gay marriage."
