With a groundbreaking Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage expected in the coming weeks, the District’s 40th annual rainbow studded Capital Pride Parade displayed a float with the gay couple tying the knot.
The parade is sponsored is by Marriott International and prepared for the couple George Carrancho and Sean Franklin, who met in Texas, where the same sex marriage is illegal, to marry each other on the top of the float. The couple is currently living in New York where gay marriage is legal, but they wanted to make a statement in Washington.
By evening, thousands of people in colorful attire celebrated in the Metro’s Red Line to Dupont Circle, where the massive and lively crowd rushed to exit the platforms.
The neighborhood was flooded with spectators as organizers estimated tens of thousands of people line the 11/2 mile route that crossed the city’s well known gay restaurants and clubs, cheering as bands marched and hip-hop beats pounded and motorcycles engines revived exhibiting pride flags. Many in the crowd swayed posters that read: “Born This Way” and “I love my kids, gay and straight.”
It was a very special day for the first time parade experience of Maria Ortiz. She came to her family earlier this year. As a Catholic, she said, she was afraid to get judged by her family and friends, and at a crucial point of her life she was suicidal. She came to show her support on gay rights and same sex marriage and to fell other support.
She said, “I have never been around so many people like me, I am already feeling the love.”
Same sex marriage is legal in 37 states in the U.S. and 60 percent of the Americans support the regulation.
The Supreme Court is taking into consideration whether the Constitution needs to involve other states where it is not legal to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples and if not whether they must acknowledge the marriages executed in states where same-sex marriage is legal. A confirmatory ruling could influence same-sex marriage legal throughout the country.
The president of the Capital Pride Alliance, Bernie Delia stated that many of the members expected a favorable outcome in the Supreme Court’s decision as new steps are taken within LGBT community every year.