County Ranks 4th in State for Gay Marriages
The Desert Sun
By Colin Atagi
October 7, 2008

Gay and lesbian residents who got married in the Coachella Valley this summer helped Riverside County rank high among other California counties in number of same-sex weddings, a UCLA study shows. Advertisement

Riverside County placed fourth, behind Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego counties, the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law reported Monday.

“I thought we'd be higher, but fourth is good,” said Palm Springs resident Larry Edwards, who married his partner of nine years, Kevin Baar, on July 10.

About 1,250 of the roughly 11,000 same-sex couples who got married since such unions were legalized in California in June tied the knot in Riverside County, the study showed.

Larson Justice Center officials do not keep track of weddings, but 349 ceremonies were held in Palm Springs, City Clerk James Thompson said.

Another 23 weddings are scheduled to take place through Friday.

“This week we're very busy,” Thompson said. “We just keep taking appointments. We've got appointments booked through election day.”

Baar and Edwards got married on July 10 because it was their ninth anniversary as a couple.

Since June, they've attended three or four other weddings.

“We have two weddings on Saturday and those people who are getting married were at our wedding,” Baar said.

Once same-sex marriages were approved, “there was a scurry of excitement amongst the community to get married,” he said.