overturning it stands. a victory for gay rights groups and berkley couple. >> today is a great day for american children and families. >> reporter: they are planning to marry in california. they shared an emotional message with their four children. >> we love you as much as anybody else's parents love their kids and we're going to be equal. now we will be married. >> reporter: nancy pilosi said the court reaffirmed its promise of equal justice. >> the supreme court bent the ark of history toward justice. >> reporter: not celebrating on the steps, those defending the 2008 ban on same-sex marriage and vowing to keep fighting. >> i'm here today on behalf of the 7 million voters in the state of california to express our disappointment. we believe every vote should count. >> we remain committed to the

continued enforcement of proposition 8 until there is a statewide order saying otherwise in california. >> reporter: i talked with both california senators and bay area democrats in the house, they all applauded the court's decision echoing the president who says love is love. reporting live in washington. >> the high court's vote on proposition 8 represented an unusual mix of political views affirming the decision john roberts was joined by like- minded colleague scalia and three liberal justices. on the defending side were conservative justices thomas and alito and kennedy. thousands gathered to hear the

court's ruling. we were there were the place erupted into jubilation. that building has a special place in the same-sex marriage movement in california. >> reporter: in many ways, the building right behind me was central to the battle over same- sex marriage in california. the supreme court ruling brought cheers and tears. >> now we'll get to get married in california and we'll get recognized on a federal level. this is security agreement really big day for us. >> reporter: gay and lesbian couples watched as live tv and web broadcasts relayed the defeat of the same-sex marriage ban and the federal defense of marriage act. >> today is a big victory for california, our community, and for our nation. >> prop 8. >> reporter: the national center for lesbian rights gave

a fiery speech. >> we have lived for too many years under that stigmatizing piece of crap that diminished us and eliminated our right to marry. >> reporter: a sentiment -- he ordered the city to order same- sex marriage certificates. >> we don't just tolerate diversity, we celebrate our diversity each and every day. >> reporter: coming up, the woman at the center of today's celebration and the role she played in the prop 8 show down. for now, reporting live for ktvu channel 2 news. >> and they broke out the champagne today in dennis herera's office. he toasted his staff after the court announced the prop 8 decision. the city attorney said the battle against proposition 8 was a long, emotional struggle.

he's been a key player in the fight for gay marriage rights since early 2004 when san francisco first issued same-sex marriage licenses. now back to castro. we are live there now where a big party is just about to start. >> reporter: the sun is definitely shining down on the castro district tonight. the crowd just about a dozen started gathering right there at the corner of market and castro. now the crowd definitely into the hundreds and will be into the thousands in about an hour or so as castro street is set to close down between market and 19th as a long-awaited celebration for many people is about to take off. >> woo! >> reporter: the bells are ringing. >> i want to say we've come a long way. >> reporter: the flags are flying. >> today i'm feeling like a really proud gay american

citizen. >> reporter: gay pride is spilling out insa francisco's reets. >> i'm so happy. this is great. i love that our city is celebrating with us too. >> i put on my hunting clothes. >> reporter: it's jerry diehl and the wedding bells sounding so sweet to his ears. >> we got this. this is a bigger statement for the united states and the world. >> will you marry me? >> yes. >> reporter: another statement? proposals. >> i turned to will and i said, will you marry me? he said yes. >> reporter: we found two by noon. >> happiness, joy, tears, about time. erin and her partner valerie. >> to be able to explain to our children that we too can get married now. >> reporter: the climb to equality now in the hands of those we see celebrating tonight. >> our family is validated just

like everybody else's. >> that's really special. >> reporter: the official celebration set to kick off at 6:30 tonight. two stages -- one for music, one for speeches. i've seen a lot of families down here, gay couples bringing their children to celebrate. we'll touch on that coming up at 6:00. >> there are several prop 8 events planned for tonight. mike showed us and told us the one happening in the castro. there's also a rally at san jose city hall. oakland's rally starts in 30 minutes and there's one in concord as well. we'll have those reports throughout the evening. you'll find a list of other events by going to ktvu.com. click on the prop 8 tab on the home page. the question is what's next? for those wondering when they

can get married, it will likely be at least a month from now. >> oh, wow. >> reporter: it was a nerve- racking morning waiting for the decision from tv and online. >> unconstitutional deprivation of persons protected by the 5th amendment. >> reporter: it will be about a month before the wedings will take place. >> it will take about 25 days for a petition for re-hearing and then a couple days after that for the final mandate decision, order to issue so it will be about 30 days. >> reporter: he wants the 9th circuit court to lift its stay so the marriages can take place sooner. and she reminded county officials they must not stand in the way of the court's ruleings. >> each of the 58 counties have to follow the ruling of judge

von walker. this is unconstitutional. permanently enjoined from enforcing proposition 8. >> reporter: the clerk's office is ready to fast track marriages as soon as next week. starting july 1st, couples can get married right at the counter. >> sometimes we can accommodate same-day ceremonies. as of july 1st we can do it at the counter. >> reporter: that won't apply to same-sex couples until the stay is lifted. >> i still have the robe and still have the speechen and look forward to being able to do it again. >> reporter: as for joey and matt? >> where you want to get married? >> let's do it here. >> reporter: joey and matt say they will probably get married next summer or fall. other couples don't want to wait that long and say they'll get married the moment they get

the green light. >> from condemnation to celebration, there's a wide variety of reaction from religious leaders tonight. >> reporter: we heard from protestants, jews, catholics, mormons, and others who say they think the court got it right. we also know there are other leaders and members of those  same faiths who certainly don't see it that way. >> our message to the world is not we won, but we are one. >> reporter: in their traditional religious clothing, they proclaimed their support for same-sex marriage. >> we can bring about the needed healing that our church so desperately, desperately cries out for. >> reporter: and the supreme court's decision. >> as a gay man and as a mormon, i believe that proposition 8 was one of the

most unchrist like things we have done as a religion. >> reporter: putting themselves directly at odds with some positions of the faiths they represent. one said today is a tragic day for marriage and our nation. the supreme court has dealt a profound injustice to the american people. the court got it wrong. in washington, christian leaders made it clear the debate is not over. >> we're disappointed in the short-term results and the short-term questions that remain unsettled. but the public conversation continues, and that's a good thing. >> reporter: and while you did hear from one mormon out here, the church of jesus christ of latter day saints says it remains committed to strengthening traditional marriage between a man and a woman. >> we'll bring you live pictures of castro back in here and show you the rainbow flag flying. in the coming minutes, we

expect to have a live interview with gavin nusom. he allowed gay marriages in 2004. we will talk with the lieutenant governor tonight and get the reaction to the defeat of proposition 8. it is the decision heard around the state. new at 5:30, we're at the state capital where high-promile openly gay lawmakers found out gay marriage was legal again in california. >> it could impact hundreds of thousands of writers. the results of a strike vote by workers. >> why the supreme court decision on gay marriage was welcomed but still falls short. >> and right after the break, it's heating up. the fog is clearing for most locations and temperatures on the rise. how hot in your neighborhood tomorrow? i'll have the details. look at 'em.

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san francisco firefighters rescued a woman off the cliff side at bakers beach this afternoon. a woman had climbed halfway down the cliff but couldn't get back up. the woman was not hurt but they're not releasing anymore information about her. bart union workers could walk off the job as early as monday morning's commute. workers authorized a strike if no agreement is reached by the time their contract expires sunday night. a walk out would leave some 400,000 bart commuters scrambling for another way to work. we spoke with some of those passengers today. >> reporter: what would you tell the bart board and the union board when they sit down? >> i think they should think about the people here in the community. >> please. do what they want. whatever it is they want, give

it to them so we can get to work on time. >> they will try to avoid another shut down. key issues are pension, health care, and worker safety. traffic is moving after a big rig flipped on to its side just before noon at the west grand avenue off ramp in oakland. you can see the truck laying on its side blocking both lanes of traffic. they don't know what caused the truck to flip over. california regulators have fined keiser permanente for limiting patients' accent to mental health care. many patients had to wait more than the two weeks required by law for an appointment. they accused keiser of understaffing clinics and putting patients in danger. the widow of one patient spoke out today. >> it will be a year ago this

coming friday that he hanged himself from the bannister of our home. during the two weeks that preceded his death, i tried every day to get him an appointment with a keiser doctor. >> they called the fine unwarranted and excessive and said it already has corrected the problems. continuing coverage of the u.s. supreme court's historic decision on gay marriage. the woman who sued to overturn the federal defense of marriage act had this emotional reaction. >> on a deeply personal level, i felt distressed and anguished that in the eyes of my government, the woman i had loved and cared for and shared my life with was not my legal spouse. >> she's thrilled with today's ruling but it comes too late for her partner of four decades. they were married in 2007 but she had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in estate taxes when she died because the government did not recognize

their marriage. >> here is how the court ruled. they ruled a provision of the doma is unconstitutional. if gay marriage is recognized by a state, then the federal government must provide equal benefits to all legally married couples. it's only a partial victory for gay marriage because individual states can still decide what constitutes a legal marriage. we found out about the financial impact this could have as well as what it means for couples who go from a state who recognizes their marriage to one that does not. >> from taxes to inheritance, for gay couples who marry here, moving out of state or visiting out of state could be a shock. on a quiet street in palo alto, today's victory is still unfolding. >> this heavy burden of having to deal with this for so long is now being lifted. >> reporter: physician hear

harbor works for a company and can move anywhere. >> i love california, but my family lives in texas. >> reporter: texas is one of 37 states not recognizing same-sex marriage where some 1500 federal laws benefiting married people will still not apply for gay couples. certified estate planner says key parts of the defense of marriage act remain enforced, that the supreme court did not go far enough. >> you still have despairty between the states and until that is obliterated, you really don't have equality. >> reporter: harbor says they had to plan carefully but are determined to make it work. >> we're looking forward to getting a marriage license and having a wedding. >> reporter: he's certain other states will change their laws but likely not before he wants

to move. that toad's ruling is important but just one more step toward equality. bill martin told us to expect a pretty good warm up and we got one. >> yeah. oh, yeah. what am i doing? >> you're on, bill. >> it was humid today. clouds cleared, sun came out, and temperatures heated up. temperatures got into the mid- 80s, upper 80s. as we look at what's happening outside, you can see it's pretty warm out there. humidity is higher than you'd expect for this time of year. 85 in antioch. the marine layer is getting squished. high pressure is building.

air qualify takes a hit. here's golden gate bridge. the depth is 220 feet, the tower is up over 700. there's the inversion. it's about at the gate. the inversion around 220 feet. that's shallow. the fog has pushed back away from the gate. when you see that, you can go inland at 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon. you can make a forecast based on that inversion. i do it all the time. forecast for tomorrow, patchy coastal fog. not a big deal. it's really sparse. highs tomorrow are 90s. it continues to heat up, especially in the inland bay valleys. today it came up, tomorrow it comes up, by sunday you're back into triple digits. increase fire danger and air quality will take a hit. these numbers warmer than they

were today. 83 in concord. 91 in morgan hill. a warm day tomorrow, it will keep ramping up into the bay area weekend. your five-day forecast, there's your thursday. warmer on friday and warmer still on saturday and sunday. things really starting to heat up. fog will be a constant at the coast. what i mean by that, the high pressure will pinch the fog down like i showed you. visibility really low at times, maybe even dense fog issues. there's your five-day forecast, really warming up. >> what a change. thank you, bill. another big company cuts ties with troubled celebrity chef paula dean. and an nfl player is behind bars charged with murder. now to the news room with what we're working on for 6:00. >> celebrating the prop 8

ruling. we'll visit the only county that voted to ban gay marriage. has public ohio pinion there shifted? whatever is they want, give it to them so we can get to work on time. >> these stories and much more coming up at 6:00.

we want to take you back live to san francisco's castro district. here's the view from news chopper 2. you can see the street has been closed at

castro and market as people gather in the middle of the intersection to celebrate their victory over same-sex marriage and the defeat of proposition 8. we're continuing to monitor there and we'll bring you updates throughout the newscast. no sign of red wart snowden as the u.s. focuses its attention on russia. he's the contractor who revealed the u.s. was tapping into data of cell phone users. he reportedly flew out of hong kong and arrived at the moscow airport but has not been seen since. he's not officially entered the country because he has not gone through passport control. >> mr. snowden is a free person. the sooner he chooses his final destination, the better it will be for us and himself. >> he's seeking asylum in ecuador. the foreign minnister says it

could take months whether to grant it. he's charged with violating u.s.est by imagine laws. the trial of a florida watchman accused of killing the teen. 19-year-old rachel gentel took the stand saying she was on the phone with martin during the last moments of his life. he kept complaining about a man watching and following him, but the conversation ended abruptly. >> i said trayvon, what's going on? >> what did you hear? >> i heard trayvon saying get off, get off. >> when what did you hear? >> then the phone hung up. >> he told her creepy, white, with an expletive. zimmerman says he shot martin in self-defense. hernandez was arraigned

this afternoon in the death of odin lloyd. police arrested him at his home early this morning and less than two hours later, the patriots cut him from the team. lloyd's girlfriend and hernandez's girlfriend are sisters. the world's largest retailer announced it has ended its relationship with deen after she admitted using racial slurs in the past. the food network also dropped her shows. we have more coverage of today's prop 8 ruling. >> reporter: we are live at the state capitol with reaction from lawmakers. >> and supporters of nelson mandella are gathering where

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