Gay couple married by Kamala Harris during San Francisco ‘Winter of Love’ reunites with VP
A gay California couple who married on Valentine's Day 20 years ago during San Francisco’s “Winter of Love” reconnected with Kamala Harris, who officiated their wedding.
A California couple who married 20 years ago during San Francisco’s “Winter of Love” got a chance to reconnect with their officiant — who is now vice president of the United States.
Bradley Witherspoon and Raymond Cabone were married on Feb. 14, 2004 during a 29-day period in which then-Mayor Gavin Newsom challenged legal norms by permitting same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses, defying federal and state regulations. Witherspoon and Cabone were among the nearly 4,000 couples who wed before the California Supreme Court nullified the marriages performed later that year.
Their union was officiated by Vice President Kamala Harris, who was then district attorney in San Francisco. The couple spoke to Harris on Monday ahead of their 20-year anniversary in a FaceTime call shared with NBC News.
Kamala Harris and Bradley Witherspoon.Family photo“I never thought about getting married and what that would mean, but once we got the opportunity to do so, it meant a lot to me,” Witherspoon told Harris during the call. “I think that was part of the emotion as well; being denied something for so long, thinking that it would not happen in my lifetime, and to see it happen.”
Cabone said he was “really surprised” to see Harris on his wedding day because he had previously crossed paths with her professionally when he worked for a consulting firm in the city. “It was a very emotional day. I remember crying, and looking over and seeing Kamala crying, and hugging each other at the end of it.”
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