A massive rally will be held in West Hollywood tonight to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, as groups that have fought for years to enable gay and lesbian couples to wed finally raise their arms in victory.
“To be honest, for much of my life I never thought I’d ever live to see this day. But here we are,” said Lorri Jean of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “For the first time, we have been acknowledged by the nation’s highest court as deserving the rights and privileges of full citizenship, or to paraphrase one of our great founding documents, that we too possess certain unalienable rights, that we too have full claim on the Jeffersonian promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Jean is among those expected to speak at the 6 p.m. rally at West Hollywood Park, along with West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey Horvath, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Lambda Legal Director of Legal Affairs Jon Davidson, Latino Equality Alliance Co-Founder and Advisory Board chair Ari Gutierrez Arambula and Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur.
“The justices of the highest court have interpreted the U.S. Constitution in favor of justice,” said Richard L. Zaldivar, executive director/founder of The Wall Las Memorias Project. “Same-sex coupleswill be able to have the same legal benefit that heterosexuals have in a government- supported marriage.
“For the first time, the highest court normalizes the members of the LGBTQ community in a legal interpretation,” he said. “It will now mandate state governments to recognize each person’s right to love whomever they wish.”
