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| Same-sex marriage ruling's ripple effect – historic celebrations of love | Same-sex marriage ruling's ripple effect – historic celebrations of love |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Related: Gay marriage declared legal across the US in historic supreme court ruling | Related: Gay marriage declared legal across the US in historic supreme court ruling |
| They came for a party, a huge, raucous jamboree of a million people dancing through the streets of San Francisco, only to discover that they were really here to celebrate history. | They came for a party, a huge, raucous jamboree of a million people dancing through the streets of San Francisco, only to discover that they were really here to celebrate history. |
| The city’s annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride festival, one of the world’s biggest, coincided with same-sex marriage becoming legal across the entire United States – a tectonic shift of such divine timing that some wondered if God is gay. | |
| “All of this success all at once is pretty overwhelming,” marvelled Brian Basinger, a leading gay rights activist and one of the parade’s grand marshals. “Overwhelming in a great way. It’s just a feeling of …” he searched for the word. “Of completion. I’m a little bit numb.” | “All of this success all at once is pretty overwhelming,” marvelled Brian Basinger, a leading gay rights activist and one of the parade’s grand marshals. “Overwhelming in a great way. It’s just a feeling of …” he searched for the word. “Of completion. I’m a little bit numb.” |
| The supreme court’s 5-4 ruling on Friday that the constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage may prove the most momentous civil rights case in a generation. The number of states where gay marriage is legal will rise from 37 to 50 – a triumph for LGBT rights activists who campaigned for decades. | The supreme court’s 5-4 ruling on Friday that the constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage may prove the most momentous civil rights case in a generation. The number of states where gay marriage is legal will rise from 37 to 50 – a triumph for LGBT rights activists who campaigned for decades. |
| The ruling, in which justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote, triggered jubilation from coast to coast, with couples young and old flocking to registry offices to tie the knot. Social media exploded, with millions tweeting and posting hashtags such as #LoveWins, #LoveIsLove and #MarriageEquality. | The ruling, in which justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote, triggered jubilation from coast to coast, with couples young and old flocking to registry offices to tie the knot. Social media exploded, with millions tweeting and posting hashtags such as #LoveWins, #LoveIsLove and #MarriageEquality. |
| Companies from Delta to Uber splashed rainbow colours on their websites and apps. | Companies from Delta to Uber splashed rainbow colours on their websites and apps. |
| Not so long ago a fringe notion, public opinion has swung in favour of same-sex marriage. Some 57% of Americans approve, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll published this week. | Not so long ago a fringe notion, public opinion has swung in favour of same-sex marriage. Some 57% of Americans approve, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll published this week. |
| Conservatives, however, recoiled in horror. Several Republican presidential candidates, including Ted Cruz and Scott Walker, called for a constitutional amendment to let states keep marriage between men and women. Legal scholars dismissed the idea. | Conservatives, however, recoiled in horror. Several Republican presidential candidates, including Ted Cruz and Scott Walker, called for a constitutional amendment to let states keep marriage between men and women. Legal scholars dismissed the idea. |
| Celebrations started in Washington DC, where hundreds of people outside the supreme court waved rainbow flags and banners and chanted “love has won”, then swiftly spread as legal same-sex weddings took place for the first time in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee. | Celebrations started in Washington DC, where hundreds of people outside the supreme court waved rainbow flags and banners and chanted “love has won”, then swiftly spread as legal same-sex weddings took place for the first time in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee. |
| They came for a party, a huge, raucous jamboree of a million people dancing through the streets of San Francisco, only to discover that they were really here to celebrate history. | |
| The city’s annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride festival, one of the world’s biggest, coincided with same-sex marriage becoming legal across the entire United States – a tectonic shift of such divine timing that some wondered if God is gay. | |
| “All of this success all at once is pretty overwhelming,” marvelled Brian Basinger, a leading gay rights activist and one of the parade’s grand marshals. “Overwhelming in a great way. It’s just a feeling of …” he searched for the word. “Of completion. I’m a little bit numb.” | |
| The supreme court’s 5-4 ruling on Friday that the constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage may prove the most momentous civil rights case in a generation. The number of states where gay marriage is legal will rise from 37 to 50 – a triumph for LGBT rights activists who campaigned for decades. | |
| The ruling, in which justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote, triggered jubilation from coast to coast, with couples young and old flocking to registry offices to tie the knot. Social media exploded, with millions tweeting and posting hashtags such as #LoveWins, #LoveIsLove and #MarriageEquality. | |
| Companies from Delta to Uber splashed rainbow colours on their websites and apps. | |
| Not so long ago a fringe notion, public opinion has swung in favour of same-sex marriage. Some 57% of Americans approve, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll published this week. | |
| Related: Love wins: America celebrates same-sex marriage ruling - in pictures | |
| Conservatives, however, recoiled in horror. Several Republican presidential candidates, including Ted Cruz and Scott Walker, called for a constitutional amendment to let states keep marriage between men and women. Legal scholars dismissed the idea. | |
| Celebrations started in Washington DC, where hundreds of people outside the supreme court waved rainbow flags and banners and chanted “love has won”, then swiftly spread as legal same-sex weddings took place for the first time in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee. | |
| Celebrations started in Washington DC, where hundreds of people outside the supreme court waved rainbow flags and banners and chanted “love has won”, then swiftly spread as legal same-sex weddings took place for the first time in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee. | |
| The ruling, in which justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote, triggered jubilation from coast to coast, with couples young and old flocking to registry offices to tie the knot. Social media exploded, with millions tweeting and posting hashtags such as #LoveWins, #LoveIsLove and #MarriageEquality. | |
| Companies from Delta to Uber splashed rainbow colours on their websites and apps. | |
| Not so long ago a fringe notion, public opinion has swung in favour of same-sex marriage. Some 57% of Americans approve, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll published this week. | |
| Conservatives, however, recoiled in horror. Several Republican presidential candidates, including Ted Cruz and Scott Walker, called for a constitutional amendment to let states keep marriage between men and women. Legal scholars dismissed the idea. | |
| Celebrations started in Washington DC, where hundreds of people outside the supreme court waved rainbow flags and banners and chanted “love has won”, then swiftly spread as legal same-sex weddings took place for the first time in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee. | |
| The ruling, in which justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote, triggered jubilation from coast to coast, with couples young and old flocking to registry offices to tie the knot. Social media exploded, with millions tweeting and posting hashtags such as #LoveWins, #LoveIsLove and #MarriageEquality. | |
| Companies from Delta to Uber splashed rainbow colours on their websites and apps. | |
| Not so long ago a fringe notion, public opinion has swung in favour of same-sex marriage. Some 57% of Americans approve, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll published this week. | |
| Conservatives, however, recoiled in horror. Several Republican presidential candidates, including Ted Cruz and Scott Walker, called for a constitutional amendment to let states keep marriage between men and women. Legal scholars dismissed the idea. | |
| Celebrations started in Washington DC, where hundreds of people outside the supreme court waved rainbow flags and banners and chanted “love has won”, then swiftly spread as legal same-sex weddings took place for the first time in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee. | |
| The ruling, in which justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote, triggered jubilation from coast to coast, with couples young and old flocking to registry offices to tie the knot. Social media exploded, with millions tweeting and posting hashtags such as #LoveWins, #LoveIsLove and #MarriageEquality. | |
| Companies from Delta to Uber splashed rainbow colours on their websites and apps. | |
| Not so long ago a fringe notion, public opinion has swung in favour of same-sex marriage. Some 57% of Americans approve, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll published this week. | |
| Conservatives, however, recoiled in horror. Several Republican presidential candidates, including Ted Cruz and Scott Walker, called for a constitutional amendment to let states keep marriage between men and women. Legal scholars dismissed the idea. | |
| Celebrations started in Washington DC, where hundreds of people outside the supreme court waved rainbow flags and banners and chanted “love has won”, then swiftly spread as legal same-sex weddings took place for the first time in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee. | |
| Families and well-wishers in Ann Arbor, Michigan, handed out roses to newlyweds while songs such as Celebration, Respect and Born This Way boomed from speakers. A huge cheer erupted when April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse – lead plaintiffs in a case challenging Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban – took the stage. | |
| Families gathered in the city’s Braun Court immediately after the decision was announced on Friday. The area is as an enclave for the LGBT community in the state, and celebrants filtered in from the morning into the night, drinking and eating at overwhelmed local businesses. | |
| Speakers took to a podium to celebrate the supreme court’s ruling. | Speakers took to a podium to celebrate the supreme court’s ruling. |
| “Scotus and Potus have our backs – that’s not a joke, it’s just the facts,” said Jim Toy, a longtime LGBT activist and the namesake of a community centre in Braun Court. | |
| Roars of joy could be heard from blocks away. Democratic congresswoman Debbie Dingell said she planned to throw DeBoer and Rowse a wedding shower during a speech that she shouted in enthusiasm. “Community, community is the strength of democracy,” said Dingell. “This is democracy at its best, when we gather when we fight for what is right.” | |
| She then advised the crowd to celebrate and start planning weddings. | She then advised the crowd to celebrate and start planning weddings. |
| Related: Anthony Kennedy: how one man's evolution legalized marriage for millions | Related: Anthony Kennedy: how one man's evolution legalized marriage for millions |
| San Francisco, the crucible of gay rights activism, found its three-day Pride festival, which climaxes on Sunday with a massive parade, morphing into a victory rally. | San Francisco, the crucible of gay rights activism, found its three-day Pride festival, which climaxes on Sunday with a massive parade, morphing into a victory rally. |
| Revellers in the Castro, a venerable gay neighbourhood, packed bars and homes, streets and plazas, singing and dancing, exchanging toasts, high fives and awed looks. Was it really true? | Revellers in the Castro, a venerable gay neighbourhood, packed bars and homes, streets and plazas, singing and dancing, exchanging toasts, high fives and awed looks. Was it really true? |
| “It’s so exciting. It’s finally happened,” said Karicia Ventura, 36, a care provider from northern California, as he waved a rainbow flag at the intersection of Castro and Market streets, a traditional rallying point for activists. | “It’s so exciting. It’s finally happened,” said Karicia Ventura, 36, a care provider from northern California, as he waved a rainbow flag at the intersection of Castro and Market streets, a traditional rallying point for activists. |
| Speakers on a stage blasted dance music. Others played Obama’s speech from the Rose Garden in which he hailed the supreme court ruling, saying “love is love”. A guitarist with a cowboy hat crooned love songs. Everywhere you looked, couples wandered arm in arm as if it were Valentine’s Day. Later, fireworks lit up the sky. | |
| Hannah Schmitz, 23, an air force field manager, embraced her wife Megan Schmitz, 24, an air force caterer, and gaped at the people streaming into the city. | Hannah Schmitz, 23, an air force field manager, embraced her wife Megan Schmitz, 24, an air force caterer, and gaped at the people streaming into the city. |
| Their home state of Missouri did not let them wed last year so they did so in Iowa. They had come to their first San Francisco Pride thinking it would be about solidarity. Then they woke up to a voicemail message from Megan’s mother, crying with joy, saying the court had legalised same-sex marriage, and they realised it would be about history. | Their home state of Missouri did not let them wed last year so they did so in Iowa. They had come to their first San Francisco Pride thinking it would be about solidarity. Then they woke up to a voicemail message from Megan’s mother, crying with joy, saying the court had legalised same-sex marriage, and they realised it would be about history. |
| “It’s just amazing to be here,” Hannah said. | “It’s just amazing to be here,” Hannah said. |
| John Lewis, 56, and his partner Stuart Gaffney, 52, turned up in tuxedos and rainbow bow ties and with a heart-shaped poster saying “love is supreme”. | John Lewis, 56, and his partner Stuart Gaffney, 52, turned up in tuxedos and rainbow bow ties and with a heart-shaped poster saying “love is supreme”. |
| They wed in 2004, along with 4,000 other couples, when San Francisco first issued same-sex marriage licenses. The state supreme court squashed the experiment and invalidated the licenses but the genie escaped, Lewis said. | They wed in 2004, along with 4,000 other couples, when San Francisco first issued same-sex marriage licenses. The state supreme court squashed the experiment and invalidated the licenses but the genie escaped, Lewis said. |
| “We tasted equality. And it showed our common humanity to the rest of the country. I believe it was the turning point.” | “We tasted equality. And it showed our common humanity to the rest of the country. I believe it was the turning point.” |
| When the courts relented the couple wed again in 2008 – only for California’s voters to then ban same-sex marriages. That galvanised the gay rights movement to organise and strike back, gradually overturning bans across the US. | When the courts relented the couple wed again in 2008 – only for California’s voters to then ban same-sex marriages. That galvanised the gay rights movement to organise and strike back, gradually overturning bans across the US. |
| The assassination of Harvey Milk in San Francisco city hall in 1978 also marked a milestone, said Basinger, the grand marshal. | The assassination of Harvey Milk in San Francisco city hall in 1978 also marked a milestone, said Basinger, the grand marshal. |
| “Without his death we wouldn’t be here today. That really pissed people off. Every movement needs a martyr.” | “Without his death we wouldn’t be here today. That really pissed people off. Every movement needs a martyr.” |
| On Milk’s bust at city hall someone left a red rose with a note: “Thank you, Harvey, for all your help in making today possible.” | On Milk’s bust at city hall someone left a red rose with a note: “Thank you, Harvey, for all your help in making today possible.” |
| Related: 'It was all worth fighting for': Stonewall revels in US gay marriage victory | Related: 'It was all worth fighting for': Stonewall revels in US gay marriage victory |
| In New York, which is hosting its own Pride weekend, thousands gathered outside the Stonewall Inn in the West Village, where a police raid spawned riots and protests in 1969. | In New York, which is hosting its own Pride weekend, thousands gathered outside the Stonewall Inn in the West Village, where a police raid spawned riots and protests in 1969. |
| By noon, the line to get into the Stonewall was almost two full blocks long. Inside, transvestites in shimmering dresses waltzed with men in flamboyant shirts. Outside, in the street, a crowd of thousands had gathered to celebrate.“I never thought I’d see this day,” said representative Carolyn Maloney, addressing the crowd, who were waving flags. “Love is love. And sometimes justice comes like a thunderbolt.” | By noon, the line to get into the Stonewall was almost two full blocks long. Inside, transvestites in shimmering dresses waltzed with men in flamboyant shirts. Outside, in the street, a crowd of thousands had gathered to celebrate.“I never thought I’d see this day,” said representative Carolyn Maloney, addressing the crowd, who were waving flags. “Love is love. And sometimes justice comes like a thunderbolt.” |
| Lea DeLaria, one of the stars of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black spoke last. | |
| “This is what gay pride is all about!” she cried. “We’re changing the world one step at a time – and we’re getting laid!”After the speakers had finished, the party truly began. A thousand people, maybe more, danced in the street to George Michael. There were bubbles and disco lights, body-paint and prosecco. People climbed scaffolding, sang and posed for photos.The queue for Stonewall – which only a week ago was saved from closure by its appointment as a New York landmark – never fell below the length of the block. Clubs for streets around filled with revellers, who spilled out on to the street, arms linked.Just before the police re-opened the road a little before 11, two exquisitely-dressed guys reenacted the famous photo of a celebratory victory kiss from the second world war, and the crowd cheered them with all their hearts. |