Politics & Government

Marriage Licenses Up in Alameda County After Prop. 8 Thrown Out

Alameda County saw a surge in marriage licenses the first week of July.

The number of Alameda County marriage licenses issued the first week of July — days after the ban on gay marriage was lifted in California — was more than double the amount issued the first week in June, according to numbers from the county clerk.

Between July 1 and 5, the Alameda County Clerk’s office issued 299 marriage licenses and performed 109 wedding ceremonies, said Matt Yankee, assistant clerk-recorder for Alameda County. The first week of June, the office issued 123 licenses and held 44 ceremonies.

During the same week the year before — July 2-6, 2012 — the office issued 180 licenses and held 50 ceremonies, Yankee said.

Find out what's happening in Alamedawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On June 26, The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Prop. 8, the voter-approved measure passed in 2008 which banned gay marriage in California. On June 28, state officials gave the go-ahead for gay couples to wed.

The Alameda County Clerk’s office doesn’t record the number of same-sex or heterosexual marriages. Yankee declined to comment on whether the landmark Supreme Court ruling the week before had anything to do with July’s numbers.

Find out what's happening in Alamedawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Our office prefers not to provide additional commentary on the numbers and would rather let them speak for themselves,” Yankee said.

An Alameda County public marriage license costs $80. A confidential license is $90, and a wedding ceremony is $75.


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