Yahoo! News - Comedian Rosie O'Donnell Weds Gay Partner
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Comedian Rosie O'Donnell wed her lesbian partner on Thursday amid festive cheers and whoops from hundreds of onlookers and declared that her wedding was inspired by outrage over President Bush's call to bar gay marriage.

"We were both inspired to come here after the sitting president said the vile and vicious and hateful comments he did," O'Donnell said after kissing her bride, Kelli Carpenter.

The celebrity apparently jumped a line for marriage appointments that now stretches into April. But other gay couples were delighted to see O'Donnell, who announced her sexual orientation in 2002 and has since embraced gay rights issues including gay adoption.

I thought she might have been ushered to the front when I heard this, but, that's OK, I guess. A celebrity face (with lots of money and lawyers behind her) is good for visibility.