California’s County Clerks Meet Over Same-Sex Marriages

REDWOOD SHORES (KCBS) — Clerks from most of California’s 58 counties are meeting in Redwood Shores this week for their annual conference, with same-sex marriages and licenses on the agenda.

Shasta County Clerk Cathy Darling Allen, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, said their message is clear.

“What counties have been told is that if they’re not going to perform same-sex marriages, then they should not be performing any,” she said.

Outside the Sofitel San Francisco Bay Hotel, a small group of protesters held signs urging clerks to defy the Supreme Court and to defy Gov. Jerry Brown.

“Our message is for clerks not to be intimidated and to stand up and resist this judicial tyranny imposed on them,” said Vic Cho with the organization Christians Against Child Abuse.

Cho hoped that at least one county challenges the same-sex marriage ruling.

Darling Allen said that several counties are refusing to perform same-sex marriages and have stopped all ceremonies to try to stay out of legal hot water, but added that she could not defend those actions.

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