Hundreds of thousands of people on Sunday packed gay pride events from Chicago to New York City, Seattle to San Francisco, with overall attendance expected in the millions for what amounted to a celebration of a freshly endorsed right to marry.
In San Francisco, a parade that at times resembled a rainbow-colored dance party snaked through downtown. Cheerleaders, dancers and proud families of lesbians and gays swooped up Market Street as spectators flocked 10 to 15 people deep along both sides. "All 50 states!" the New York crowd roared at one point. It was no longer a plea, but a celebration. If even a typical pride parade can blur the lines between friend and stranger, the proceedings on Sunday assumed the feel of a large-scale wedding reception, uniting graying activists, fledgling families and party seekers in a historic moment that all seemed keenly aware they occupied.
Before joining the march, New York City Gov. Cuomo put his new authority to officiate weddings to use, presiding over the marriage of two men. The governor grinned ear to ear as David Turley slipped a ring on the finger of Peter Thiede at the Stonewall Inn - the birthplace of the gay rights movement - in the West Village.
"Equality is not a choice. Equality is a promise. And this was about equality," Cuomo said, recounting the legislative path of gay marriage in New York prior to Friday's landmark ruling recognizing the unions throughout the nation. "Today is a good day because at the end of the day, love wins today. And any day that love wins is a good day," Cuomo said. Thiede, an analyst for UBS, and Turley, 36, who works for the Human Rights Campaign and advocated for same-sex marriage in New York, met in July 2011. They live in Washington Heights.
