For those joining in gay marriages today, the road from outlaw status to respectability was paved in the Legislature over three decades.

From decriminalizing sex between same-sex couples, to outlawing job discrimination against homosexuals, to adding gay members to the legislative roster, the government has been taking steps, measure-by-measure, that have led to gay couples joining hands in marriage ceremonies across the state.

At 5:01 p.m., some counties – including San Francisco and Yolo – will perform a few selected marriages. Most counties, including Sacramento, will follow suit on Tuesday.

These come a month after the state Supreme Court overturned a ban on gay marriages, as California now joins Massachusetts as the only states to sanction them. Unlike Massachusetts, which recognizes only state residents, California will welcome all partners.

"We've been amazingly successful in ways nobody dreamed was possible 25, 30 years ago because of the immense action here," Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, said last week during the unveiling of the annual gay pride exhibit in the Capitol.

In 1994, Sen. Sheila Kuehl became the Legislature's first openly lesbian or gay member. In 2002, Laird joined Assemblyman Mark Leno as the first openly gay men in the Legislature.

"The work we've done that has led to the Supreme Court decision has, indeed, been incremental," said Leno, D-San Francisco.

But now that registered same-sex couples have the same "rights and responsibilities" as married couples, Leno said, it's time to call these unions marriages.

This would not have been possible without heterosexual legislators who were subjected to "vitriol" for voting to end discrimination against gays, said Kuehl, D-Santa Monica.

Stymied by social mores of the times and a succession of Republican governors, the movement was not able to claim its first victory in the Legislature until 1975.

That year, Assemblyman Willie Brown, D-San Francisco, demonstrated the political sleight of hand that would later catapult him to speaker.

Brown seized on the recent election of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown – and a large Democratic majority in the Assembly – to push through legislation decriminalizing sodomy in California.

Republicans had more clout in the Senate. So in one of the most dramatic maneuvers in the state's legislative history, then Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally was flown in from Colorado to cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.

Although the law was modeled on legislation adopted in Illinois, California became the first state to specifically decriminalize consensual sex acts between same-sex adults.

While other states followed, it was not until 2003 that the U.S. Supreme Court, in Lawrence v. Texas, invalidated the remaining bans on homosexual sex.

In California, the opposition was led by Republican Senate leader George Deukmejian, who as governor would thwart other efforts to expand gay rights.

In 1984, Deukmejian vetoed a comprehensive bill passed by the Legislature that would have protected gays from job discrimination, saying it would be "divisive."

Seven years later, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, who had pledged to signed into law a similar bill, vetoed the legislation, igniting weeks of protest rallies around the state.

That same year, Wilson appointed Ronald George, a moderate Republican jurist, to the California Supreme Court.

As chief justice, George wrote the majority opinion that legalized same-sex marriage in California. All but one of the seven justices on the court were appointed by Republican governors.

The irony was not lost on Leno, who in anticipation of a November ballot initiative that would again define marriage as "between a man and a woman," told the Capitol gathering "we have to remind people that this is a Republican-appointed Supreme Court."

Leno thanked the current Republican governor – Arnold Schwarzenegger – "for taking the lead (and) opposing any attempts to overturn that Supreme Court decision."

In 2000, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 22, which defined marriage as "between a man and a woman."

Kuehl said that over time "people started asking themselves why they had these views."

"It happened so fast, that Jennifer Richard, my (chief of staff) bet me $50 that we would not have gay marriage in California before I was termed out of office," said Kuehl, who is in her final year in the Legislature.

On the day the Supreme Court rendered its decision, Kuehl said Richard showed up in her office with a $50 bill.