Defiant Gay revelers celebrate pride, marriage rights
Pastor Dale Morgan
Defiant Gay revelers celebrate pride, marriage rights *
Jun 29 05:54 PM US/Eastern
By MALIA WOLLAN
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A lesbian motorcycle group dressed in wedding gowns
and wearing bridal veils lent a matrimonial touch to San Francisco's gay
pride parade Sunday as revelers celebrated their newfound freedom to marry.
The riders tossed bouquets as they led the city's 38th annual gay pride
parade down Market Street. Some of the motorcycles were adorned with
signs that read "Just Married."
Huge crowds lined the route as city tourism officials predicted the
largest turnout yet for the parade, which typically draws tens of thousands.
The county clerk's office was busy Friday handing out marriage licenses
and handling wedding ceremonies. Same-sex marriage has been legal in
California since June 16, after a state Supreme Court decision.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom received ovations along the parade
route for his role in working to overturn the state's gay marriage ban.
Though City Hall was closed Sunday, parade organizers put up a wedding
pavilion across the street where couples could get information about
tying the knot or celebrate newly sanctioned unions.
Wade French, 61, and his partner, Brent Lock, 54, wed in San Francisco
the day after the court's decision took effect. At the parade, Lock wore
a T-shirt reading "Finally married..." while French's shirt read
"...after 30 years together."
"We always come to the parade, but this year is a different feeling
because we're celebrating something that's personal to us," Lock said.
The couple said they were asking friends and family not to send wedding
gifts and instead make donations to a nonprofit group working to fight a
ballot measure that would once again ban gay marriage in the state.
In a taped interview Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet the Press," Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger called the measure "a waste of time."
"I personally believe that marriage should be between a man and a
woman," Schwarzenegger said. "But at the same time I think that my, you
know, belief, I don't want to force on anyone else."
The initiative set to go before voters in November would provide that
"only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in
California." Its language was taken directly from a gay marriage ban
enacted by voters in 2000, one of two the state Supreme Court found
unconstitutional and struck down on May 15.
In New York, Gov. David Paterson was cheered during the gay pride
parade, one month after he directed state agencies to provide full
marriage benefits to same-sex couples who were legally married elsewhere.
Jim Saslow carried a bouquet to the march down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue
and wore a wedding gown stamped with the words, "Coming Here Soon?"
"Everyone here is thinking if California can do it, then we should be
able to do it here soon," he said.
Overseas, gay pride marches in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia and the
Czech Republic city of Brno came under attack Saturday by extremists who
threw rocks and eggs. No serious injuries were reported.
In Paris, more than half a million people danced through the streets
beneath a river of rainbow flags.
In India, hundreds chanted for gay rights in Calcutta, Bangalore and New
Delhi in the largest display of gay pride in the deeply conservative
country, where homosexual acts are illegal. The marches came days before
the Delhi High Court is expected to hear arguments on overturning a law
against homosexual sex that dates to the British colonial era.
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Associated Press writers Sam Dolnick in New Delhi and Karen Matthews in
New York contributed to this report.