[Online exclusive] High school students rally for same-sex marriage
By Lindsey Morgan
May 30, 2004 9:00 p.m.
The honking didn’t stop.
For two hours on Saturday morning, drivers passing by the
Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard had the opportunity to
witness a protest for gay marriage, an event entirely initiated by
high school students.
Several passing cars honked their horns in support of the signs
displayed by the 125 students and teachers attending the rally,
holding poster board with slogans such as “We all deserve the
right to marry.”
High school students from 10 to 15 public and private high
schools, some from as far as Mission Viejo, attended the event
which was coordinated by students from Windward High, a private day
school in West Los Angeles.
Joe Goldman, a freshman, and Sarah Freed, a junior, both from
Windward and members of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance,
coordinated the rally.
“Even if only 10 people had showed up, that would be
OK,” Freed said.
West Hollywood Mayor John Duran made an appearance and gave a
speech at the gathering, arguing that legal interpretations of
marriage have been changed before, in allowing black and white
people to marry each other.
With the advent of gay marriage, “one more pillar of
inequality will be struck down,” Duran said.
Saturday’s rally comes at a time when legal debates in the
United States over same-sex marriages are numerous and
prominent.
The California Supreme Court, in examining the validity of 4,000
same-sex marriages that took place in San Francisco this March,
conveyed serious doubts on Tuesday about the legality of the
decision of city and county officials to issue the marriage
licenses. The court is expected to rule on whether to nullify the
marriages within the next 90 days.
In Massachusetts, 1,000 same-sex couples were married over the
past week, after the state became the first to issue same-sex
marriage licenses.
Duran promised that, should the Supreme Court of California rule
to nullify the 4,000 same-sex marriages which occurred in San
Francisco this March, there would be a protest in West
Hollywood.
Student Rabbi Anne Brener also spoke to the crowd, citing
arguments for gay marriage from the Torah, and Mario Ceballos, Los
Angeles County commissioner for human relations, finished the
speeches with an appeal to self-realization and the society of the
future.
“It’s very peaceful,” said Rachel Snow, a
junior from Crescenta Valley High who is active in her
school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. “We’re getting a
good reaction.”
“The energy is great,” said Windward English teacher
David Beckman, who helped the students organize the rally. “I
haven’t seen any negative reactions.”
