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Gay marriage supporters rally in Downtown El Paso

by Lisa Degliantoni

In a show of solidarity, a small crowd of people gathered at the Tool Box in Downtown El Paso on Tuesday night, in opposition of California Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage.

Posted on May 27, 2009

Members from the Queer Student Alliance (QSA), Delta Lambda Phi (DLP), Feminist Majority Leadership (FML), Students for Reform (SFfR), the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) and private citizens held signs, signed a banner a banner and planned a march to City Hall to show support and solidarity for same sex unions and basic human rights.

According to Huffington Post, “California's Supreme Court upheld the state's gay-marriage ban Tuesday but said the estimated 18,000 same-sex weddings that took place before the prohibition passed are still valid, a ruling decried by gay-rights activists as a hollow victory.:” In protest to the ruling, rallies were held in major cities, with over 100 people arrested in San Francisco for blocking a street. El Paso’s rally was tame in comparison.

Most of the rally attendees learned about the event either from Facebook or word of mouth late on Tuesday afternoon, after the Prop 8 ruling was announced at noon Tuesday. Event organizers Isaac Perez, vice president of DLP, and Andre San-Chez of DLP, were hopeful the event would send a message that the gay community in El Paso is organizing and is in solidarity with other rallies in support of equal rights across the U.S.

While most of the attendees were under 30, not all of them were members of the gay community. “Everyone knows a gay person, in their family at work, and it’s important for me to support this cause as it’s about equal rights for everyone,” say Nicholas Maddox, 21, a heterosexual that heard about the rally by word of mouth.

UTEP students were also in high turnout, representing organizations like Students for Reform that take up equal rights causes like closing ASARCO and parking issues. Priscilla Moreno, president of SfR, hoped the event “inspires people to be themselves” and wanted to show El Pasoans and local politicians that “we (SfR) support gay marriage and there is support for this cause outside of the GLBT community.”

Missing from last night’s event were elected officials, organizers for the upcoming Pride Festival or leaders in the gay community of El Paso. Last night’s rally was comprised mostly of 20-something’s who shared Jesus Smith’s sentiment that “there’s a new fight to rally for.”