Summer of Love

We are still celebrating the Supreme Court’s June 26th Ruling legalizing same-sex marriage throughout all 50 U.S. States (and Puerto Rico!). This marks a huge step in the fight for equality. June has always been a significant month for LGBT rights. The Stonewall riots occured in June of 1969 after a police raid at The Stonewall Inn, a notorious gay bar in New York City. This was a huge catalyst in the Pride movement, marking June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. Now, 46 years later, we celebrate not only the social acceptace of same-sex couples but the legal recognition of Marriage Equality. Stonewall was recently granted Landmark Status as the first LGBT Site in New York City’s History. These changes are significant steps in the right direction, making this year’s Pride Month especially meaningful and prideful, if you will. As Justice Kennedy wrote in Supreme Court Ruling:

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”