Same-sex couples have rushed to be wed in California, after a court abruptly ended the state's five-year ban on gay marriage.
A landmark ruling by the United States Supreme Court earlier in the week had cleared the way for same sex marriages to resume in 13 states.
It had been expected the ban would not be formally lifted until an appeal period expired in three weeks, but a panel of three judges lifted the injunction on Friday, saying the matter was being dissolved, effective immediately.
Reuters reports that on a balcony overlooking the grand staircase at City Hall, an ornate space that has long been a magnet for couples seeking to get married, the couple whose case sparked this week's Supreme Court decision exchanged vows in a ceremony officiated by state Attorney General Kamala Harris.
"This is really a great day," said Sandy Stier, who with her fiancee Kristin Perry filed the lawsuit against Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California in 2008.
The California marriages capped a historic week for gay rights in the United States. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued two key rulings - one that extended federal benefits to married gay couples and another that allowed a federal court's order striking down the California marriage ban to stand.
California briefly allowed gay marriages in 2008, before the ballot initiative was enacted. It now becomes the 13th state, and the largest, to allow same-sex marriage.
