It's official: Same-sex couples in select counties across California can now tie the knot, The Times reports.

Some counties have embraced the ruling -- L.A.'s first couple to get hitched filed the original lawsuit that took the issue to the California Supreme Court.

But not everyone has been so enthusiastic: Officials in Kern, Calaveras and Butte counties have said they'll hold off on weddings for all couples. See Patt Morrison's column and Rick Wartzman's Op-Ed on the subject, and check out The Times' editorial condemning public employees who refuse to perform same-sex marriages.

All the hullabaloo has raised interest in the question: What makes you gay? The Times explores the issue through science, and reports that gay men's brains look a lot like straight women's. (Shocking.) On the relationship level, NPR has an interesting interview discussing how same-sex couples' dynamics shed light on their heterosexual counterparts:

We have this mentality of "men are from Mars and women are from Venus," so you throw up your hands and say, "oh, he's avoiding, that's just what men do," or "my wife is nagging again, that's just what women do," and it's really not like that. Some of these roles might flow from other factors ... it's not that there's something essential or fundamental about being a man or a woman that's leading them to these positions -- as you see from watching gay and lesbian couples fall into exactly the same types of patterns.

Not to ruin this joyous occasion, but Cardinal Roger M. Mahony took the opportunity today to condemn gay marriage -- and it's unclear how many couples are going to jump on the bandwagon until the issue is finalized in the Nov. 4 election. The Opinion desk's Robin Rauzi gives a more personal explanation why here.

Some also took the opportunity to reflect on precedent. CNN takes a look at gay marriage in Massachusetts, four years after it was legalized, and Dick Gordon of The Story recently discussed the legal difficulties surrounding the right to gay divorce.

On a lighter note, the Travel & Deal blog already has some advice for same-sex honeymooners. For full Times coverage of same-sex marriage issues, click here.

*Photo by Luis Sinco, Los Angeles Times