The sun was hot
and the mood was joyous, if cautious, in the Golden
State's largest city following the state supreme court's
decision overturning California's ban on same-sex
marriage.
At a press
conference at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's Ed
Gould Plaza in Hollywood, leaders, lawyers, and elected
officials spoke -- including Los
Angeles's influential mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa.
He not only expressed his happiness but promised his
support.
"The California
supreme court, 60 years after deciding that you
couldn't discriminate in marriage based on race, is now
leading the way once again by saying same-sex
couples can marry," the Democratic mayor said.
"That it's a fundamental right of liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. I will campaign with you, I will make
sure we do everything within our power to make sure
this decision remains the law of the land. In that
vein, I plan to marry as many people as I can."
The center's CEO,
Lorri Jean, also gave a stirring speech, including a
warning that the battle for California marriage equality is
far from over because of the right-wing effort to
amend the state's constitution to ban same-sex
marriage. Signatures have already been gathered that could
put the decision to voters in November. After her
speech, Jean spoke to The Advocate about fighting the
amendment.
"We'll know in
late June [whether the signatures are valid and the
initiative can be placed on the ballot]," she said. "But we
can't wait that long, so Equality for All [a group
fighting the amendment] is mobilized. We have a
campaign structure in place, we have a campaign
manager, a media team, an Internet team, a fund-raiser,
and, most impressively, a statewide coalition that includes
a lot of national players of LGBT groups, of other
civil rights groups -- communities of color are
represented, religious groups are well-represented.
We're going to fight this thing; we're celebrating
today, but tomorrow we're preparing for battle."
Jean downplayed
the marriage decision's effect on the presidential
election: "I think all the candidates are going to be asked
about this case. Most of them have said this should be
a states' rights matter, so I'm expecting at least the
Democrats will say this is California's right. John
McCain, if he's going to be a true Republican, should say
the same thing."
Jean said she
believes the Republicans will try to use California's
decision as a wedge issue but that it doesn't "have the
potency it used to have."
Representatives
from Lambda Legal, the LGBT legal group that helped
win In Re: Marriage, the case that legalized
same-sex marriage in California, were also in
attendance. Jon Davidson, legal director for
Lambda, said his group is now focusing on winning
marriage equality in other states like Connecticut, Iowa,
and New Jersey, as well as fighting the effort to
amend the California constitution to ban same-sex
marriage.
"We're going to
have to fight like hell," Davidson told The Advocate.
"This is going to be one of the all-time battles for
the lesbian/gay community ever. [The marriage
equality opponents] have already submitted the
signatures, and we're waiting to see if they qualify.
They're going to be emboldened; they said they're
going to spend more than $10 million. Most of that money is
from out-of-state, pouring in here to change our
constitution."
Davidson said he
was not sure what effect the antigay amendment, if
passed, would have on Thursday's California supreme court
decision.
Bruce Carr and
Ron Longo, a couple from Sierra Madre, Calif., were on
hand at the press conference. They were married three and a
half years ago in Vancouver, Canada, and
were jubilant that their home state had finally
granted marriage equality, which should go into
effect in 30 days.
"It's elation,"
said Carr. "It's a release." Said Longo, "I am so
proud right now to be a Californian. The supreme court came
down on the side of fairness and equality. It's an amazing
day for civil rights, equal rights. We hope this sets
off a ripple effect." (Neal Broverman and Michelle
Garcia, The Advocate)
