News
2008-05-17
After Ruling,
Party Scene in West Hollywood
Following
Thursday's supreme court ruling for same-sex marriage, gays
and allies eat cake and pledge to love, honor,
A
celebratory crowd in West Hollywood spilled out of the
city's bars and coffeeshops and into the street on
Thursday to celebrate the end of California's same-sex
marriage ban. Friends and families, couples and
singles both gay and straight, flocked to a rally
planned by the organizations behind the legal win.
Standing under an arrangement of flowers and flanked
by wedding cakes, the Los Angeles Gay &
Lesbian Center's CEO, Lorri L. Jean, cheered the victory.
"Today, the California supreme court said, 'Let them
eat cake,'" she crowed.
With dozens of TV
crews gathered and a news helicopter buzzing above
a-closed-to-traffic San Vicente Boulevard, attendees
strained to hear the advocates' speeches and see over
the cameras, signs, and wedding veils. A
kid-friendly crowd—many children were propped on
shoulders—listened intently and smiled with
satisfaction. Emotion was bubbling over.
Speakers,
including West Hollywood mayor Jeffrey Prang, warned
the crowd of the right-wing effort to put a initiative
on the November ballot that could constitutionally ban
same-sex marriage in the state. Volunteers passed
around pamphlets warning people about the ballot
initiative and how to take action against it. The activism
didn't dampen most spirits, though.
"I've been
waiting 24 years to make this proposal," Lambda Legal
senior counsel Jenny Pizer said before asking her partner,
Doreena Wong, to marry her.
The mood was
joyous if somewhat sober, as if the crowd—which
filled almost two huge city blocks—was in
disbelief.
Equality
California's board vice president, Cary Davidson, said he
planned to propose to his partner of 18 years. "If
he'll marry me, we will be treated equally under
California law."
After cake was
served on the speakers stage, attendees on the street were
handed their own slice of cake. As the sun set over the
visible Hollywood Hills, a relaxed block party
scene took over.
By the time she
wrapped up her hosting duties, Jean told the crowd she
and her partner were taking advantage of the historic
ruling: "We're getting hitched too!" (Shana Naomi
Krochmal and Neal Broverman, The Advocate)
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