Right to marry fight comes to Ohio
By Martha Grevatt
Cleveland
The movement to win the right of same-sex
couples to marry is sweeping the country. The resistance to
Bush's proposed constitutional ban, initially concentrated on
the East and West coasts, has come to Cleveland, Ohio. On March
26 the first local rally brought out 58 couples, who lined up
double-file at the county courthouse to apply for marriage
licenses.
They carried long-stemmed roses and signs identifying the
number of years they had been together. They represented a
broad spectrum of nationalities, occupations, ages and genders.
Many couples paid $40 to go before the probate judges, even
with the expectation that they would get the standard letter of
denial.
Over 200 in total participated in this first rally to be
held in Cleveland for same-sex marriage rights. Many had been
part of the successful campaign in Cleveland Heights to
establish a domestic partner registry. While similar registries
exist in a number of cities and states, this was the first in
the U.S. to be passed by the electorate.
The protest received widespread media coverage, and those
denied licenses vowed to continue the fight. "The only way
society is going to change," one told the media, "is when
people stand up for what they believe in."
Reprinted from the April 8, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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