250 couples get married on Valentine's Day at SF City Hall on 21st anniversary of 'Winter of Love'

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Love was in the air this Valentine’s Day as 250 couples got married at San Francisco City Hall on Friday. 

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie officiated his first weddings since taking office. He said that he was honored to marry couples on such a special weekend for the city.  

“Love is in the air,” said Mayor Lurie. “I was thinking Lunar New Year Parade, NBA All-Star weekend and now we’ve got 250 weddings here today. It’s just a great weekend. There are great vibes here in San Francisco.”

The Office of the County Clerk normally officiates about 28 City Hall weddings on a typical day.

It has also now been 21 years since the so-called “Winter of Love,” long before same marriage was legalized across the U.S. It was a tradition for queer activists to go to San Francisco City Hall on Valentine’s Day to request marriage licenses. They knew they’d be shut down, but in 2004 it worked. The then-mayor, Gavin Newsom, authorized the County Clerk to issue marriage licenses to the couples. They lasted for a month before The California Supreme Court invalidated all the same-sex marriage licenses.

KRON4 spoke with John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, one of the couples that got married that day. 

“We really believe in the end that the marriages from San Francisco City Hall were a beacon of hope to the country and really the entire world that love will prevail,” said Lewis. “That’s the message we take from legally being married now for many years, and it fortifies us for any struggles we have yet to come.”

John and Stuart have been together now for 38 years.