Lesbian Couple Married in San Francisco

[CrimsonTide4]

Rosie O'Donnell to Marry Girlfriend
14 minutes ago Add Entertainment - AP to My Yahoo!



SAN FRANCISCO - Former talk show host Rosie O'Donnell (news) planned to marry her longtime girlfriend Thursday in San Francisco, where more than 3,300 other same-sex couples have tied the knot since Feb. 12.


AP Photo


AP Photo
Slideshow: Rosie O'Donnell




The couple was flying to San Francisco from New York Thursday morning, said Cindi Berger, O'Donnell's publicist.


"We, too, have a dream of equality for all families," the comedian 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."


Earlier Thursday, O'Donnell announced her planned wedding to Kelli Carpenter on ABC's "Good Morning America," just two days after President Bush (news - web sites) 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.


"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."