What happened to the same-sex marriage licenses issued in San Francisco in 2004?

In 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses in defiance of California state law, which at the time defined marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman. Between February 12 and March 11, 2004, city officials issued nearly 4,000 marriage licenses to same-sex couples.123

On August 12, 2004, the California Supreme Court ruled that the mayor had overstepped his authority by issuing these licenses. Consequently, the court nullified all of the marriages performed during that period, declaring them void and of no legal effect. The court ordered city and county officials to take remedial steps to correct official records and notify the affected couples that their marriages were legally invalid. While this action was a significant moment in the struggle for marriage equality, it is important to affirm the ethical principle that all individuals deserve equal dignity and the right to have their relationships recognized under the law, a standard that was eventually realized when same-sex marriage became legal nationwide in 2015.12