SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Hundreds of marriages for gays and lesbians kept City Hall offices open and buzzing through the week, with gay and lesbian couples waiting hours to exchange vows and conservative activists promising a relentless legal challenge.

Gay and lesbian couples have lined up outside City Hall since San Francisco officials began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples last week. Hundreds of gays and lesbians have wed, many rushing to California from around the country. City Hall was kept open through last weekend, and the line of would-be spouses grew so overwhelming that authorities turned away hundreds of waiting couples.

The controversy is expected to continue – along with the weddings.

The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund sued to block the same-sex unions, and San Francisco Superior Court Judge James L. Warren scheduled a hearing in the case. A second legal challenge filed by a California group was also scheduled.

More than 2,500 marriage licenses have been issued to same-sex couples, although some may choose to wait before actually getting married. Hundreds have already gone before city officials to exchange vows and be declared “spouses for life,” often in ceremonies scattered around the interior of the ornate City Hall.

New Mayor Gavin Newsom touched off the wedding spree by ordering officials to issue licenses to same-sex couples, declaring that he was merely ensuring equal treatment of gays and lesbians. Newsom later officiated personally at the weddings of his chief of staff and policy director, both of whom married their longtime partners.

Critics have pointed to a ballot initiative approved by California voters in 2000 that says the state will only recognize marriages between a man and woman. Randy Thomasson, the director of the Campaign for California Families, one of the groups challenging the marriages in court, said that Newsom “can’t play God.”

A small group of protesters have stood across the street from City Hall holding signs protesting same-sex unions.

But the critics seemed to make little difference to most of the people inside the building, where the mood was both busy and joyous. Many clerks and sheriff’s deputies volunteered their time off to work.

Rich Walker and Brad Chilcoat, who have owned a home together in San Francisco for the last three and a half years, exchanged their vows at the top of City Hall’s grand staircase, and said later that the city’s recognition of their union added special meaning.

“It’s official. It’s official,” Walker said, displaying the marriage certificate stamped with both their names.

The certificate, Chilcoat said, “moves us from second-class citizens to equal status.”

Walker, 50, and Chilcoat, 41, walked out of City Hall arm-in-arm, cheered by the crowds of people waiting outside.