Hundreds of marriage equality supporters gathered at the Legacy of Love Monument in Oak Lawn on Monday night to mark the eve of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in two marriage equality cases.
The rally was one of hundreds across the country in the United For Marriage: Light the Way to Justice campaign, as the high court prepared to take up cases challenging California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act on Tuesday and Wednesday. Rallies were also held Monday in Denton, Fort Worth and several other Texas cities.
In Dallas, the crowd braved unseasonably cold temperatures and nearly overflowed at times from the traffic island surrounding the monument at Oak Lawn Avenue and Cedar Springs Road. With dusk falling and TV news cameras rolling, participants waved signs and cheered as a series of speakers fired them up with the help of a PA system.
“We stand tonight on the precipice of history, but what the Supreme Court decides does not define us and does not define our lives,” Resource Center Dallas CEO Cece Cox told the crowd.
Cox warned that the Supreme Court’s decisions in the Prop and DOMA cases may not go our way. But she said the conversations LGBT people have had about their families since the first major marriage case 20 years ago have created a rising tide in support of marriage equality.
“Every year, the tide gets higher as more of us join in,” Cox said. “When that tide rises, guess what it starts doing — it starts rolling. The tide is rolling, and it cannot be stopped. We’re not running over anybody; we’re picking people up along the way. And we’re going to keep rolling until we get the equality we’re entitled to as citizens of these United States.”
More photos from the rally below.