OVERFLOWING WITH PRIDE | As the crowd swelled, police would close off a lane of Oak Lawn Avenue and two lanes of Cedar Springs Road. (John Wright/Dallas Voice)
Speakers at a Day of Decision Rally on Cedar Springs encouraged the jubilant crowd to remember the past and look to more rights in the future as they celebrated the Supreme Court’s historic rulings in cases challenging the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8.
By the time the rally got under way at 7 p.m. on June 26, more than 300 people surrounded the Legacy of Love Monument at Oak Lawn Avenue. Several hundred more joined as speakers rejoiced over what the high court ruling will mean in their lives. Police closed off two lanes of Cedar Springs Road and a lane of Oak Lawn Avenue. Others stood on the lawn across the street at the Melrose Hotel and in the Walgreens parking lot. It was the largest rally the city has seen since one at Dallas City Hall in response to Prop 8’s passage in 2008.
“Today is a day for celebration,” said organizer Daniel Cates of GetEQUAL TX.
Trans activist Oliver Blumer called the ruling a win for the transgender community as much as for gays and lesbians. He said the decision helps break down barriers and eliminate prejudice.
Beau and Major Jiminez talked about the irony of the Supreme Court ruling coming a day after a court appearance regarding a marriage protest arrest a year ago.
The couple applied for a marriage license from Dallas County. When they refused to leave, they were arrested for trespassing once the building closed for the evening. The court offered to lower the charge to a class-C misdemeanor with a guilty plea this week, but Major is refusing to plead guilty.
He compared his legal plight with that of DOMA case plaintiff Edie Windsor.
Windsor was charged with a tax bill because her partner was a woman. She would have no tax bill if her partner was a man. Major said he would have gotten a license if his partner was a woman but was arrested because his partner was a man.
Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance President Patti Fink thanked the allies who have stood with the LGBT community for years. She talked about how meaningful it was for her that her sister always supported her.
“We appreciate all the allies who said, ‘we love you, we’re with you,’” she said.
She told the allies who had gathered for the rally, “We need you.”
Stonewall Democrats of Dallas President Omar Narvaez said he had just gotten back from Austin where he attended state Sen. Wendy Davis’ filibuster of an abortion bill in Austin. He led a round of chants of “Wendy” that was as enthusiastic as other chants for equal rights.
Narvaez used the filibuster to illustrate the importance of voting. He said that by voting allies into office, marriage equality will come to Texas.
The Rev. Steve Sprinkle called the median where the crowd stood and surrounding neighborhood “some of the most hard-won land in America.”
He asked the crowd to remember those who didn’t live to see the new “rights and responsibilities” granted by the Supreme Court.
“More hate crimes have been carried out against LGBT people here than anywhere else in Texas,” he said. “We got here because of our predecessors. They died without seeing what we see now.”
He mentioned the names of people who had been killed in Oak Lawn, but then finished on an optimistic note, encouraging the group to march down Cedar Springs.
After more than an hour of speakers, an impromptu march down Cedar Springs began with police escort and ended two blocks away at JR.’s Bar & Grill.
Two elected officials and a former city councilman attended at the rally.
District 14 City Councilman Philip Kingston called the decisions “pretty great.” He said the mayor interrupted the council meeting that morning to announce each of the Supreme Court rulings.
Although he had not been scheduled to speak, he took the mike to address the crowd and said the LGBT community has new allies on the council.
County Commissioner Theresa Daniel stood in the crowd and said she was there just to be part of the celebration. She was among the commissioners who declared June Pride month in Dallas County, a first for any county in Texas.
“Gaining federal rights is a huge step,” she said and called the court ruling “the right thing to do.”
She said that when she speaks to groups, she likes to remind them that the Pledge of Allegiance ends with “liberty and justice for all.” She called the rulings a demonstration of that fundamental American principle.
Former City Councilman John Loza said, “The court rulings lay a foundation for a challenge to the Texas amendment, which prohibits recognition of couples for any reason.”
He said the divide on the Supreme Court shows how important it is to vote, because the president appoints the justices.
“I hope people remember,” he said.
LGBT Task Force member Pam Gerber said she saw people around the city celebrating the decisions all day.
“No matter where I went today, people were coming over and saying congratulations to me,” she said.
The rainbow flag flew at Dallas County Democratic Party Headquarters near Fair Park. The Omni Hotel in Downtown Dallas marked the rulings by lighting the hotel in rainbow colors Wednesday night.
Lynn Walters, executive director of Hope for Peace & Justice pointed out the ruling is just a partial victory.
“While the SCOTUS ruled against federal discrimination, they left state discrimination in place,” Walters said. “While it is a partial victory, it means that far too many same-gender couples will continue to suffer discrimination in states like Texas.”
The Dallas rally was one of hundreds that took place across the country.
In Denton, about 150 people rallied on the Courthouse Square at 6 p.m. The rally lasted about an hour and after marching around the square, the crowd celebrated at Mable Peabody’s, according to Kat Ralph of Keep Denton Queer.
In Austin, former state Rep. Glen Maxey and Equality Texas Executive Director Chuck Smith organized a celebration on 4th Street. In Houston, a large group gathered at the office of Mitchell Katine to watch as the decisions were announced. Katine was the attorney for John Lawrence and Tyrone Garner whose case overturned all sodomy laws. The announcement of the DOMA and Prop 8 cases came on the 10th anniversary of the landmark Lawrence v. Texas. In Tyler, a group of about a dozen people from Tyler Area Gays gathered downtown.
Elsewhere around the country, in San Francisco, where marriage will resume within weeks, hundreds sat in the lobby at City Hall awaiting the Supreme Court decisions. That night, City Hall’s rotunda was lit up in rainbow colors and thousands filled Castro Street to celebrate.
In New York, plaintiff Edie Windsor held a news conference at the LGBT Community Center in Chelsea at noon. Some celebrated at the Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village bar where the Gay Rights Movement began with a rebellion against police raids in 1968.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 28, 2013.