Hitched!: Wedding Stories from San Francisco City Hall

by Cheryl Dumesnil (Editor), Carole Migden (Foreword by), Rosie O'Donnell (Introduction)

On Thursday, February 12, 2004, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, a lesbian couple who have been together for fifty-one years, became the first same-sex couple married at San Francisco City Hall. By March 11, when the California State Supreme Court ordered a halt to the weddings, 4.037 gay and lesbian couples had tied the knot. These couples had traveled to San Francisco by bus and plane. They had called in sick to work and packed their kids and camping gear into the backs of their cars, and headed to City Hall. They had stood in line through high wind and torrential rain, all for a chance to have their relationships legally recognized. Each couple has a unique story to tell. While the media have focused on political aspects of the ongoing marriage debate, interviewing pundits and average citizens on both sides of the issue, by and large the lives of the newlyweds—their rich, diverse, and vibrant personal histories—have remained invisible. Hitched! Wedding Stories from San Francisco City Hall introduces readers to the determined, brave, and loving couples who took center stage during the historical events at City Hall.

Genres: Queer, Anthologies

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2005

About the author

Cheryl Dumesnil (born 1969) is an American author, poet and editor. She is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post. Her poems and essays have appeared in Indiana Review, Barrow Street, Calyx, and Literary Mama. She frequently writes about suburbia, parenthood, and lesbian issues.

Dumesnil was awarded the 2008 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize for her first full-length book, In Praise of Falling.

Dumesnil received her MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University and taught at Santa Clara University from 1994 to 2001. She lives in Walnut Creek, California with her wife and two sons.

Reviews

[Avory Faucette · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a nice collection for historical value, but reading the same stories about couples waiting outside in the rain to get married gets old if you're just reading the collection for fun. There are some gems and particularly interesting how-we-met stories, but most of it is fairly repetitive.