Photos and Videos from May 15, 2008 - Street Party Celebrating California Supreme Court Decision Allowing Gay Marriage
On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that California must allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. Geoff went to a rally in support at City Hall at noon (I had to work). Reports are that they'll start giving marriage licenses to same-sex couples in a month. So I made a reservation online for us to get our marriage license on June 16. We're hoping to have our wedding ceremony at our going away party / kids birthday party on June 21st.I picked up the kids from school later and took them to the LGBT Community Center, where a big celebration was planned. (Geoff had to work.) There was quite a crowd there, but we found some friends and there was a craft table setup for kids. We got our picture taken a bunch, heard people give speeches, and heard the Gay Men's Chorus perform in the lobby. And of course we kept on running into people we know. A few people told us the TV coverage included footage from Geoff's and my wedding at City Hall in 2004, with Serafina in our arms. We went to dinner at Chow with Eliana and her dads, David and Michael, along with friends of theirs.
This happened to be an extraordinarily hot day, and it stayed warm into the night. It was also Bike to Work Day. So lots of people were out, and it was fun being on my bike with the kids in the trailer. We stopped and listened to a band that was playing at Church and Market Streets, and then pedaled to the Castro, to find that the street had been closed and people were dancing in the street to celebrate the gay marriage decision! So we joined the party, and found some other kids and gay parents we know, including our new roommate Antoine, who took most of these photos:
Here are a couple small videos of the dancing in the street, too:
I took the kids home about 9pm (an hour after bed time), because they were both asking to go home. What a night!