The wedding march 2004

I haven't had a chance to post how proud I am of Massachusetts right now as legal gay marriages get underway in my home state. It's an issue I haven't written about much but is very close to my heart and important to me. Sunday May 23 at 11 AM The Wedding March will cross the Brooklyn Bridge to demand the right for same-sex couples to marry everywhere else.

Marriage is the bridge to 1,138 federal rights and more than 700 New York State rights, ranging from access to Social Security benefits and the ability to make health care decisions to inheritance, immigration, and protections for children and families. To deny what the US Supreme Court has called "a fundemantal civil right" based solely on sexual orientation relegates lesbian and gay people to 2nd-class citizenship, and it goes against every ideal on which our country was founded. March with us in support and celebration of all American families.

The march starts at Cadman Plaza on the Brooklyn side of the bridge, crosses the bridge into Manhattan and ends with a rally in Battery Park. Since I'm not in New York, I will be there in spirit. And I hope you'll go and show your support if you're in the area. Discrimination has no place in our great country.