Son of gay marriage foe weds in San Francisco / Sen. Knight wrote state law banning same-sex unions

David Knight, right, the estranged son of state Sen. William "Pete" Knight, who authored California's law banning same-sex marriage, holds hands with his long-time partner, Joe Lazzaro, left, as they take their wedding vows, Tuesday, March 9, 2004, at City Hall in San Francisco. Performing the service is Donald Bird, center. (AP Photo/The San Francisco Chronicle, Liz Hafalia) less David Knight, right, the estranged son of state Sen. William "Pete" Knight, who authored California's law banning same-sex marriage, holds hands with his long-time partner, Joe Lazzaro, left, as they take their ... more Photo: LIZ HAFALIA Photo: LIZ HAFALIA Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Son of gay marriage foe weds in San Francisco / Sen. Knight wrote state law banning same-sex unions 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

David Knight, son of the state senator who was the author of the California ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage, defied his father's law and wed his partner of 10 years Tuesday in a quiet ceremony attended by just two friends in San Francisco City Hall.

Atop the grand staircase of City Hall's rotunda, Knight and Joe Lazzaro of Baltimore exchanged rings and were pronounced spouses for life one month after Sen. William "Pete" Knight, R-Palmdale, proclaimed San Francisco's same- sex marriages "nothing more than a sideshow."

The younger Knight and Lazzaro joined the growing ranks of couples -- more than 3,700 -- who have wed in San Francisco since Mayor Gavin Newsom on Feb. 12 ordered the city to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

Knight and Lazzaro said the ceremony Tuesday reaffirmed the commitment they had made two years ago in a civil union ceremony in Vermont. "Vermont was the big deal," Knight said. "That was our real commitment. This is to be part of what's happening across the country."

Civil unions, such as those adopted by the state of Vermont in 2000, are legal partnerships recognized by the state and conferring most of the legal benefits of marriage including the right to share title on a house, file joint state tax returns, sue for wrongful death and make decisions on behalf of their partner in the event of a medical emergency.

The difference between the Vermont civil union and the San Francisco marriage, Knight said, is that "although Vermont recognizes the 400 or so rights granted by that state, if we lived in Vermont, we'd have those, but we'd still lack the thousand or so rights a married couple, a heterosexual couple, receives from the federal government."

Knight's father did not attend either ceremony in Vermont or San Francisco. He did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

Benjamin Lopez, legislative director and lobbyist for the Traditional Values Coalition, a gay rights foe based in Orange County, said both civil unions and same-sex marriages cheapened the institution of marriage between a man and a woman.

"David Knight isn't just thumbing his nose at Pete Knight," Lopez said. "David Knight is thumbing his nose at all of California. California said Pete Knight is right in 2000."

The senator's Proposition 22, which says, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California," passed with 61.4 percent of the vote in 2000. It is now the cornerstone of the legal argument that San Francisco is breaking state law by allowing the weddings to go forward.

A recent statewide Field Poll found 50 percent of those surveyed disapproved of same-sex marriage, while 44 percent were in favor. The survey reflected growing acceptance of same-sex marriage over the past two decades. Sen. Knight once said, "Two people of the same sex are not a family. They're not normal."

"Joe is my family," the younger Knight said Tuesday while waiting for their marriage certificate at the county clerk's counter. "And my blood family that has accepted me is my family."

Knight, a shy 42-year-old cabinetmaker and former Air Force fighter pilot, broke his long silence on his father's politics in 2000 to denounce Prop. 22 and talk about the pain it caused his family. He had told his father about six years earlier that he is gay.

He and Lazzaro, a 39-year-old interior architect, flew into San Francisco on Monday night for their marriage appointment at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Wearing dark suits and matching red rose boutonnieres, a gift from Lazzaro's mother, the men faced each other and tightly held hands as deputy marriage commissioner Donald Bird performed the ceremony written for same-sex couples.

The rings they exchanged were the same rings they had made for their Vermont ceremony, where they were surrounded by family in a quaint county clerk's office. One of the diamonds in the white-gold rings came from a ring that Knight's father gave him on his 21st birthday, he said. As a family tradition, Knight's grandfather had given his sons, including the senator, diamond pinky rings. And the senator had passed the tradition on to his sons.

Knight's stand against his father in 2000 is well known within the gay community. When Bird, the volunteer who performed Tuesday's ceremony, learned afterward who he had just wed, he gasped.

"You are giving me goosebumps," he said. "I just married Pete Knight's son."