By the time Dallas’ Day of Decision rally began at 7 p.m. at the Legacy of Love Monument, more than 300 people had gathered. As the crowd grew to close to 500, police closed a lane of Oak Lawn Avenue and two lanes of Cedar Springs Road.
GetEQUAL TX organizer Daniel Cates began the rally with chants of, “Right here, right now, I deserve full equality!”
Before the scheduled speakers, people from the crowd spoke in an open-megaphone session. One who claimed to be an “ex-lesbian” was countered with a chant of “No more hate” until the mic was taken from her and she left the steps of the monument.
Some of the speakers discussed the implications of the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decisions. Lambda Legal’s Ken Upton called the DOMA ruling a broad decision. He said it would take awhile to sort out the full implications.
“The ruling benefits the whole LGBT spectrum,” trans activist Oliver Blumer said. “It breaks down barriers.”
Some speakers stirred the crowd. The Rev. Steve Sprinkle said more hate crimes took place within blocks of the memorial than anywhere else in the state.
“They died without seeing what we see now,” he said of hate crime victims. “We must keep their memory alive.”
Stonewall Democrats President Omar Narvaez said the Dallas County Democratic Party flew the rainbow flag over its headquarters near Fair Park today to commemorate the high court’s decisions.
After more than an hour of speakers, the crowd marched down Cedar Springs to JR.’s. The rally took place 10 years to the day after the Supreme Court struck down the state’s sodomy ban in Lawrence v. Texas.
Hours before the rally began, state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, announced he would reintroduce his marriage equality bill into the second special session of the Texas Legislature, which begins July 1.
For a full recap of the rally, see Friday’s Dallas Voice.
More photos below.
