On Monday, a marriage equality rally took place outside the Federal Courthouse in downtown San Diego. Supporters gathered the day before the Supreme Court heard the appeals against California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage and two days before the hearings of a second case that involves the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents legally married same-sex couples from receiving a range of federal tax, pension and other benefits that are available to married people, according to The Associated Press.
“We’re on the sunset of justice,” San Diego lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pride Administrative and Public Affairs director Fernandez Lopez said at the rally. “What if we could wake up tomorrow and all be free and equal? What if tomorrow the value of your humanity had absolutely nothing to do with the person you love?”
Three years after Proposition 8 was deemed unconstitutional by Federal Judge Vaughn Walker, lesbian couple Kris Perry and Sandy Stier stood in the courtroom with their lawyer to persuade the justices to repeal the same-sex marriage ban in California and declare gay marriage legal nationwide.
“This is historic, like our Civil Rights Act of ’65,” rally attendee Savannah Brittian said. “The next months are either going to be a really solid detriment or they are going to move us forward in a way that we can’t even imagine.”
Brittian wore a rainbow flag, one of many displayed at the rally as various speakers narrated their struggles with the current impediments on same-sex marriages.
Director of Educational Affairs at the American Military Partner Association Dr. Lori Hensic stood next to her partner and said her parents don’t believe in same-sex marriage.
“After the initial shock of hearing these words being spoken, I found my way of dealing with this as all of us have over the years and years of being treated as outcasts,” Hensic said. “In fact I came to the conclusion that I agree with my dad. I too do not believe in same-sex marriage because it’s not something to believe in. This love, I can assure you, is real.”
After the rally, supporters marched to the 1st St. Bridge where they held a sign above the freeway that read “No DOMA, No hate.”
“This is the first time we’ve gone so far,” event organizer Sean Sala said. “This is a landmark moment. This is 50 years of activism. People died to see this day, and the injustice has got to end.”
A U.S. Navy veteran, Sala credits the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which allowed gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, as the “big propeller for it all to happen.”
“It gave me faith,” Sala said. “I’m gay, and I was not always pro-gay. I used to be a very conservative evangelical, and here I am now.”
Members of the San Diego State chapter of intercampus fraternity Delta Lambda Phi for gay, bisexual and progressive men also attended the rally with numerous banners.
“We’re a step closer to reaching full equality throughout our nation,” political science freshman Erik Esqueda said. “I believe that for the next couple of months, the decisions that are in the Supreme Court right now will be a huge movement, not just for the LGBT community.”