Tears and cheers
came together in Los Angeles today as LGBT leaders
gathered to celebrate the California supreme court's
decision to affirm marriage equality. Jon Davidson of
Lambda Legal was first in an all-star lineup of
attorneys, activists, and allies that included Los Angeles
mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Davidson reminded
the crowd that all but one of the California justices
are Republican appointees. "This is a moderate
court," he stressed, anticipating the
conservative outcry of "activist judges."
Lorri L. Jean of
the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, a tireless activist
whose efforts on the issue go back years, said,
"Today, I can marry the love of my
life." Jean added that her father had died seven
months ago. "He so wanted to walk me down the
aisle," she said. "But I know he's
dancing in heaven!"
Outside the
conference, held at the center facility the Village at Ed
Gould Plaza, The Advocate caught up with the
mayor for an exclusive interview.
Asked how he felt
on this historic day after years of supporting LGBT
rights, Villaraigosa said, "I feel proud to be a
Californian. I feel that today we reassert the
fundamental obligation of every freedom-loving
Californian; that is, that life, liberty, and pursuit of
happiness is essential and must be protected by the
constitution."
Villaraigosa, who
has been campaigning around the country in support of
Hillary Clinton, predicted that the California decision
would not figure in the 2008 presidential race,
alluding to the popular assumption that the
Massachusetts marriage decision helped to lose the White
House for Democrats in 2004.
"If you
remember," Villaraigosa said, "I cochaired
John Kerry's campaign, and I stood up against
those who tried to blame this community on the issue
of same-sex marriage and marriage equality. I said then and
I believe now that's not why we lost that
election. And I can tell you that since then that a
lot more people have realized that this is an issue
whose time has come. It's time for us to bring every
American out of the shadows and into the light, and
this decision does that here in California."
(The Advocate)
