Through grassroots organizing, people across the country have planned similar gay rights events, particularly in response to the passage on Nov. 4 in California of Proposition 8, which bars same-sex couples from marrying in the state.
Protests are planned across the country this weekend, including in Massachusetts, the state where gay marriage first became legal. The first gay marriages began in Massachusetts in May 2004, six months after the state's high court ruled same-sex couples had the same right to marriage as heterosexual couples. A citizen-initiated ballot question that would have ended gay marriage in Massachusetts by defining it as between only a man and a woman was killed last year when it was blocked by the state Legislature.
Organizers there expect thousands at a Saturday rally in Boston, which advocates say will highlight gay couples whose lives have been changed for the better by gay marriage and host speeches from local politicians and clergy. Marc Solomon of MassEquality says the state is in a unique position to show that gay marriage is a benefit to families, children and society.
Meanwhile, same-sex couples walked joyfully down the aisle Wednesday for the first time in Connecticut. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Oct. 10 that same-sex couples have the right to wed rather than accept a 2005 civil union law designed to give them the same rights as married couples. A lower-court judge entered a final order permitting same-sex marriage Wednesday morning.
The protests in Reno and Boston are two of at least 150 rallies planned nationwide to speak out against several election day setbacks for gay rights supporters, according to the Associated Press.
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