So I felt the 'call' today. I felt the urgent need to get down to City Hall and be a part of what was happening. At least to be of witness. I don't get emotional often. It's hard for me. But once in a great while emotion sweeps over me and I feel a need to do something. Last night I felt a need to be down with my brethren. Today as I headed down I grabbed a disposable camera at a convenience store and made my way there, to City Hall. At first, I thought the line wasn't that long. But then I realized that the line in front of the building wasn't letting people in on the Van Ness Avenue side at all. It was actually curving around two times all the way to the other side-- the Polk Street side. Now, that's a long line. I took pictures of the camps and the lines, mostly umbrellas because of all the light rain going on all day/night. People camped out here all night-- all night! They stayed outside in the cold and rain in front of City Hall in the hopes that they could have their relationships dignified with a piece of official paper. That's dedication! And that's what this is all about. So many of them talked about how this was more than them and their relationship. This was about fulfilling a cause and showing America their love and normalcy. And this was about the simple recognition and eventual full-fledged rights accorded to their status. This was a beginning. I really felt a sense of history wash over me as I witnessed.

I didn't think I would get inside City Hall. They were not letting in anyone who wasn't in the long line to be married. Since City Hall was officially closed except for this activity and they were trying to handle the crowds as best they could, this was their appropriately deemed control. But I wanted to see the weddings inside, and feel the emotion, and learn. I only got in because I knew some people and we lied that I was there to be an official witness to a ceremony. Some guy named Richard (who I didn't know before) had a badge on and was trying to help a couple get their kids in. The door monitor was not allowing anyone in. She finally let the kids in and kept me away and kept asking who I was. I'm with them! I'm with them! I think she could tell I really wasn't. But Richard, bless his heart, grabbed my hand and said that I was with them and pulled me inside. And once inside, I was in. And Richard and I introduced ourselves.

Inside were three more very long lines. The line at the Clerk's office to apply for the marriage license. Long line. Then, after they finished that duty, they went to the long line near the steps of the City Hall where they would await an official to officially officiate their wedding. There looked to be at least 12 weddings going on at the same time constantly. This picture from this other guy's site really gives a good idea of how it looked, although the picture is missing the second floor balconies and all the weddings occuring in each of the sections of them: All of my pictures inside turned to mush with my disposable camera-- the flash was terrible and didn't work. So his picture's the best representation. So, anyway, after the long line of getting in the building, the long line to apply for the license, the long line for the officiation of the ceremony by a deputized official, the actual ceremony, and then there was one more long line, and that was to the certifying room where they got the actual certificate that says they had gone through the ceremony and were officially married. At that point, after a long time of being in and around City Hall, the newlywed couple would make their exit out of the only door open for exiting on this day. And upon opening the door all of the others waiting in line and all of the other bystanders and all the cameras and rice-throwers and bubble-blowing people would scream and holler and whoop and share in the love and the moment as the couple would thrust up high their new certificate of marriage and they would whoop and holler too. And then, many of them would say, 'lets go home.'
'Home,' such a simple thought. They've got a home and a life and are together. Why would this piece of paper matter? Why would they expend so much time and energy and give up so much for this paper. Because it does matter.

I said to my mother this morning. I said, you know, it's just different. Marriage means something more. It just does. I said, you know, for instance, we know that Wendy (my sister) and Houston (her boyfriend/partner) are together. And we know they are and they live together and we consider Houston a part of our family. But if they got married tomorrow, well, it would just be different. They would be 'married.' And they would be deemed a stronger and more committed bond, or something. They would be a 'real' couple. Not that they aren't now, but it would just seem that way. And they would have so many more rights than they do as a couple simply living together. That's why this is important. That's why domestic partnership rights are nice and sweet and wholesome, but they're not enough and they're not equality. It's one thing to say someone is 'partnered' with someone, and it's another to say they are 'married'-- with all the rights, responsibilities, and status that label affords. Honestly, I've never been one for the whole labeling issue-- I just want the rights, the full equal rights. But in a way, marriage is more than a label, it is a status. It can be a civil marriage rather than a religious one, but the word marriage carries that weight. Many, many people get married civilly, not in a church, just at City Hall or in a park or by Elvis in Las Vegas, or whatever and they are afforded the exact same name and treatment and status. I and my brethren in this fight for equality, we want nothing more than the same equal status that this simple paper and its power affords: this place at society's main table, this main course and not just the crumbs, this opportunity to be a part of the full bus and not just the back, this full-citizenship as the Americans we are and not the second-class-citizenship of before, this full equal respect and dignity and not just a 'tolerance' of our 'lifestyle,' this complete access to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our relationships and loves and selves are real and strong and equal. We are queer and we are here and it's about time everybody else got used to it, cuz we ain't going nowhere! This is your land and this is my land, this is OUR land, and we are just as equal as anyone else and aren't asking for our rights anymore-- We are demanding them, now! It's time to end the second-class-citizenship, now. We deserve full equality as citizens and will fight for nothing less.