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Comedian Rosie O'Donnell Weds Gay Partner By Adam Tanner, Reuters from the Web. February 26, 2004 SAN FRANCISCO -- Comedian Rosie O'Donnell wed her lesbian partner on Thursday amid festive cheers and whoops from hundreds of onlookers and declared that her wedding was inspired by outrage over President Bush's call to bar gay marriage. The former talk-show host rushed to San Francisco a day before California's attorney general is set to file a lawsuit that may end the controversial weddings. She returned to New York almost immediately. "We were both inspired to come here after the sitting president said the vile and vicious and hateful comments he did," O'Donnell said after kissing her bride, Kelli Carpenter. On Tuesday President Bush proposed a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex weddings, citing the recent flood of gay marriages in San Francisco in his remarks. O'Donnell, who has appeared in movies including the 1992 "A League of Their Own" and the 1994 "Flintstones," became America's most famous same sex spouse since San Francisco started issuing gay wedding certificates two weeks ago. "We really did, we got married," O'Donnell said shortly after the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus sang "Chapel of Love" to mark her arrival down the internal courtyard steps. She introduced her partner as "My brand new wife." A ceremonial gateway rose behind the majestic stairway where the newlyweds stood, with statues of a naked man and a naked woman flanking a crest beneath City Hall's 300-foot (91-meter) high dome. The building was also the setting for one of the 20th century's most famous celebrity marriages, that of baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and screen icon Marilyn Monroe. "Some people asked us where we will be going on our honeymoon. With four kids under the age of eight, there will be no honeymoon," O'Donnell said, adding that she was rushing back to New York to attend parents' day at her children's school. The former stand-up comic and actress ended a six-year stint as host of "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" in 2002 to spend more time with her adopted children. The celebrity apparently jumped a line for marriage appointments that now stretches into April. But other gay couples were delighted to see O'Donnell, who announced her sexual orientation in 2002 and has since embraced gay rights issues including gay adoption. "It means this view will be brought to a wider audience of America in a positive light," said Hans Hansen, 32, who had just wed Mark Harris and watched in the audience. "People are going to identify with Rosie." San Francisco, long a center of gay rights, has seen more than 3,300 gay couples over the past two weeks since new Mayor Gavin Newsom, 36, allowed gay nuptials. Those marriages have intensified a nationwide debate. Hollywood celebrity and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has spoken out against the gay marriages, Many experts expect that courts will ultimately invalidate the gay marriage licenses, which contradict state law defining marriage as a union of man and woman. Although the gay marriages have boosted Newsom's popularity in liberal San Francisco, a majority of Californians and Americans oppose such unions. A Field Poll of 958 voters released on Thursday found that Californians disapproved of gay marriages by a margin of 50 to 44 percent.
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