{"id":246314,"date":"2013-07-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/freedom-to-love-and-marry\/"},"modified":"2013-07-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T07:00:00","slug":"freedom-to-love-and-marry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/freedom-to-love-and-marry\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom to love and marry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Supreme Court decisions spark celebrations in Hillcrest; LGBT Pride Festival set for July 12 \u2013 14<\/p>\n

Por Antonio Rey | Editor SDUN<\/p>\n

Celebrations surrounding the July 26 Supreme Court decisions that struck down key aspects of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and upheld a lower court’s ruling against Proposition 8 will continue in San Diego throughout July, highlighting the 39th annual San Diego LGBT Pride Parade and Festival July 12 \u2013 14. This year\u2019s theme is Freedom to Love and Marry.<\/p>\n

\"Supporters<\/a>
Supporters at the June 26 rally in Hillcrest (Photo by Anulak Singphiphat)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Starting with the Sprit of Stonewall rally and flag raising Friday, July 12 at 6 p.m., official Pride events include the Pride of Hillcrest Block Party that evening from 7 \u2013 11 p.m. and the Pride Parade the following morning, from 11 a.m. \u2013 2 p.m. on July 13. The Parade route ends at Balboa Park, where the Pride Festival occurs: July 13 from 12 \u2013 10 p.m. and July 14 from 11 a.m. \u2013 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Participants at the Festival include a number of local, national and international businesses and nonprofits, support groups and health care service organizations, and entertainment. The 2013 headliners are DJ-producer Morgan Page and singer Monica.<\/p>\n

George Takei and his husband Brad, along with philanthropist La Toya Jackson, will serve as Parade grand marshals, and Takei will also be the keynote speaker at the Stonewall Rally, which in part serves as a kickoff to the weekend.<\/p>\n

After the rally yet before the Block Party \u2013 both are held at the base of the Hillcrest Pride flag pole, at the intersection of University Avenue and Normal Street \u2013 the Hillcrest LGBT historical monument will be unveiled and the rainbow flag raised. The monument details the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Hillcrest from the early 1900s to the present, and will rest at the base of the flag pole.<\/p>\n

The Hillcrest Business Association serves as steward of the Pride Flag Monument, and partners with San Diego LGBT Pride to produce the Block Party, now in its second year. Last year, thousands were in attendance and the Parade typically brings over 200,000 spectators to the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Hillcrest was the center of celebrations following the Supreme Court decisions June 26, with two separate rallies and people taking to the streets in solidarity and a renewed goal to fight for full equality. In anticipation of the Court\u2019s rulings, community members and activists began planning \u201cDay of Decision\u201d events weeks in advance.<\/p>\n

There was a political rally at the Hillcrest Pride flag, followed by a march along University Avenue and a gathering at The LGBT Center. All guest speakers were excited by the day\u2019s outcome, and The Center CEO Delores Jacobs called the evening a \u201ccommunity celebration\u201d for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a great day to be Californian, what a great day for America and what a great day for love and equality,\u201d said Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins, who flew from Sacramento, Calif. earlier in the day to be at The Center by 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

\"Supporters<\/a>
Supporters at the June 26 rally in Hillcrest (Photo by Anulak Singphiphat)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The standing-room only auditorium was decorated in rainbow colors, and The Center staff and volunteers were offering appetizers, drinks and a celebratory cake for attendees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a long five years since our right to marry was taken away from us at the ballot box. All of us can remember our summer of love, when we stood with our gay and lesbian friends as they married the person that they loved \u2026 and received the full dignity and recognition that comes with marriage,\u201d Atkins said.<\/p>\n

The Assemblymember said she and her wife \u201ctreasure\u201d the feeling of inclusion and equality being married gave them, before Prop 8 took away the right to marry. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long wait, but today the United States Supreme Court gave it back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Both Atkins and Council President Todd Gloria thanked the Court justices who stood in favor of helping to striking down DOMA and Prop 8, and Gloria echoed Atkins\u2019 sentiment of the power of all individuals working together for one cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact of the matter is all of you are the ones that made this happen, by living your lives just as you are,\u201d Gloria said to the packed house. \u201cNever again are we going to have our rights stolen from us at the ballot box.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin Keenan, the executive director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, also spoke at The Center, giving a brief outline of the two decisions. Keenan, as did most speakers that evening, recognized the continual fight for full marriage equality through a \u201cstate-by-state campaign,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a fight ahead of us, and the fight is not only for LGBT equality,\u201d he said, \u201cbut the equality for all people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The continual fight for rights \u2013 ranging from nationwide marriage equality to immigration and women\u2019s rights, among others \u2013 was the theme for the earlier rally at the flag monument. A selection of community activists and church leaders each spoke on the importance of full equality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe celebrate today, but tomorrow we must continue to fight,\u201d said Christina Griffin, an organizer for the NAACP and United Domestic Workers of America. Griffin is a straight ally and urged everyone to come out to show support.<\/p>\n

Pride festivities are not relegated to the weekend only, as many private and public events are scheduled throughout the entire week to help everyone celebrate the LGBT community.<\/p>\n

For complete coverage of this year\u2019s LGBT Pride, including Parade and Festival information, parking and shuttle tips, Pride honorees, and community members\u2019 feelings on the Supreme Court decisions, see our special San Diego LGBT Pride Guide 2013 insert in this issue.<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Supreme Court decisions spark celebrations in Hillcrest; LGBT Pride Festival set for July 12 \u2013 14 By Anthony King | SDUN Editor Celebrations surrounding the July 26 Supreme Court decisions that struck down key aspects of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and upheld a lower court’s ruling against Proposition 8 will continue in […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Freedom to love and marry","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}