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In the Castro, San Francisco's gay neighborhood, the marriage ban's success squelched what had been a boisterous celebration Tuesday night. A crowd swarmed from the neighborhood's many bars into the streets immediately after Obama was declared the presidential winner. Police cordoned off a block in the heart of the district as disco music coursed through giant speakers. But the party was over a few hours later. "It's very disappointing," Michael Walker said outside the Moby Dick bar, resigned that the measure was going to win. "It's discrimination." In downtown San Francisco, a city where a majority of residents voted against the ban, residents were disappointed by its success. "I feel sad," said Venkaf Mannava, 30, a computer programmer who is married with three children. "It's a personal decision and we should not say how other people should live their lives. They should be free to love and marry who they want." Despite intense disappointment, some newlyweds took comfort in the fact that millions of Californians had voted to validate their relationships. "I'm really OK," said Diana Correia, of Berkeley, who married her partner of 18 years, Cynthia Correia, on Sunday in front of the couple's two children and 80 relatives and friends. "I hope the marriage holds, but we are already married in our hearts, so nobody can take that away." In Los Angeles, Altman said having the state recognize his marriage to Takei was "extremely meaningful to me, but our relationship will continue and we will live long and prosper no matter what happens on the legal front."
[Associated
Press;
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