Hundreds of revelers packed the steps of the Supreme Court Friday, spilling into the street in the immediate aftermath of the historic 5-4 ruling that said there is a right to same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
Many couples of all varieties shared long embraces with tears in their eyes shortly after securing a long-sought victory for gay rights. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington slowly made its way to the bottom of the steps to perform “The Star Spangled Banner,” as dozens joined in.
{mosads}“It was unthinkable for me to even be out as a high school student,” Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the first openly gay non-white member of Congress, told the Hill. “It was a secret that I kept to myself.”
Standing amid the jubilant celebrators, Takano, 54, recalled a time in high school when he had been unable to stand up for a gay friend who had been outed.
“I’m sorry to say I lacked the character as a teenager to be able to speak up and defend him,” he said.
But Takano rejoiced in the belief that Friday’s ruling — “one of the great significant decisions” of our time — will help empower gay youths for generations to come.
“This decision is going to rightly enfranchise more and more young people,” he said. “They’re going to feel more and more comfortable in coming out as early as middle school.”
Throngs of Capitol Hill staffers made the short trip from their nearby office buildings to join the crowd, which ranged in age from toddlers to senior citizens.
“I saw a lot of young children here today who are the children of same-sex couples,” Takano said. “Their future is much more certain.”
One father, walking up to the Supreme Court with his young daughter, tried to explain the scene after she asked him, “What is it for?”
“So basically everyone in the country can get married,” he replied. “There were laws in place that said not everyone could get married. Those laws are now gone.”
Dozens of signs waved in the air above the crowd. One homemade sign read, “Not Just Gay … Ecstatic.” A sizeable group huddled beneath a banner proclaiming “Catholics for Equality.”
One woman deftly navigated the crush of people while holding a heart-shaped wreath decorated with pints of a new Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor: “I Dough, I Dough.”
Many people wore stickers asserting “Proud to be a Democrat.”
When Takano, a Democrat, twice ran for Congress over 20 years ago, he was essentially outed by his Republican opponent, who smeared Takano as a “homosexual liberal.”
How things have changed, Takano mused on Friday. He thought back to his later years before finally joining Congress in 2013, when he served as a Gay-Straight Alliance adviser while teaching at a California public school.
“I never would have believed as a Gay-Straight Alliance adviser in the three years prior to my becoming a member of Congress that I’d be driving teenagers in a school district-owned van to ‘gay days’ at Disneyland,” he said, laughing.
Takano said he thought of those teenagers when the ruling was announced Friday and looked forward to explaining the meaning of the ruling to future generations of teens.
“I’ll first of all be able to say I was there on the steps of the Supreme Court when the decision came down,” he said. “You have a stronger America because of this.”