Sunday, September 7th, 2008

[Online exclusive] High school students rally for same-sex marriage

The honking didn’t stop.

For two hours on Saturday morning, drivers passing by the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard had the opportunity to witness a protest for gay marriage, an event entirely initiated by high school students.

Several passing cars honked their horns in support of the signs displayed by the 125 students and teachers attending the rally, holding poster board with slogans such as “We all deserve the right to marry.”

High school students from 10 to 15 public and private high schools, some from as far as Mission Viejo, attended the event which was coordinated by students from Windward High, a private day school in West Los Angeles.

Joe Goldman, a freshman, and Sarah Freed, a junior, both from Windward and members of the school's Gay-Straight Alliance, coordinated the rally.

“Even if only 10 people had showed up, that would be OK,” Freed said.

West Hollywood Mayor John Duran made an appearance and gave a speech at the gathering, arguing that legal interpretations of marriage have been changed before, in allowing black and white people to marry each other.

With the advent of gay marriage, “one more pillar of inequality will be struck down,” Duran said.

Saturday’s rally comes at a time when legal debates in the United States over same-sex marriages are numerous and prominent.

The California Supreme Court, in examining the validity of 4,000 same-sex marriages that took place in San Francisco this March, conveyed serious doubts on Tuesday about the legality of the decision of city and county officials to issue the marriage licenses. The court is expected to rule on whether to nullify the marriages within the next 90 days.

In Massachusetts, 1,000 same-sex couples were married over the past week, after the state became the first to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

Duran promised that, should the Supreme Court of California rule to nullify the 4,000 same-sex marriages which occurred in San Francisco this March, there would be a protest in West Hollywood.

Student Rabbi Anne Brener also spoke to the crowd, citing arguments for gay marriage from the Torah, and Mario Ceballos, Los Angeles County commissioner for human relations, finished the speeches with an appeal to self-realization and the society of the future.

“It’s very peaceful,” said Rachel Snow, a junior from Crescenta Valley High who is active in her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. “We’re getting a good reaction.”

“The energy is great,” said Windward English teacher David Beckman, who helped the students organize the rally. “I haven’t seen any negative reactions.”