In what has become an annual Valentine's Day demonstration, gay and lesbian couples protesting the state prohibition against same-sex marriage descended on the San Francisco County Clerk's Office yesterday, in quest of a marriage license. But this time, the civil disobedience went a little further. From the Chronicle:
For the past 10 years, same-sex marriage activists have shown up in the small City Hall office - usually with news cameras in tow - to request marriage licenses. Yee, who has been stationed at the counter most years, would explain that California state law forbids such marriages and turn them away.
On Monday, Yee's annual visitors broke from ritual. In a coordinated act of civil disobedience, nine couples requested licenses and then sat on the floor. They left only after they were cuffed in plastic ties by sheriff's deputies and escorted out of the building.
The Bay Citizen has a good video report on the day's goings-on, including interviews with demonstration participants.
The protest was just one of a string that occurred around the country. Here are video reports from Austin, Asheville, New York City, Albuquerque, and North Kingstown, RI.