Spring Break
Freedom to Marry Day Rally draws numbers in community support
Natasha Pepperl
Issue date: 2/23/09 Section: News
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Wilson, the president of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, spoke to the Old Town crowd of 300, who gathered in Old Town Square Saturday for the 10th Annual Freedom to Marry Day Rally, on behalf of herself and her husband.
"Our hopes and our dreams for both sons are the same," she said. "We want the government to offer them the same rights, opportunities and responsibilities."
Such was the same hope and dream of the crowd.
Many supporters held colorful signs that screamed "Marriage is about love, not gender" and "Value all families." The crowd itself was brightly colored -- pink and purple hair, tie-dyed shirts, and colorful scarves were scattered throughout.
The crowd was diverse, yet united. Young and old, heterosexual and homosexual were unified in their goal of allowing everyone to marry.
"It's about an absolute, basic, fundamental human right," Wilson said of the right to marry. She said she feels an urgency to change society so her gay son can have a positive life experience.
Julia Johns, a junior political science and communications studies major who spoke after Wilson, told the crowd about how her former girlfriend died after a man raped her with the intention of making her straight.
"He left her bloody, broken and bruised," she said of her lover's assailant.
"I don't think people know that the hate they preach is killing people, whether it's suicide or murder," she said.
Johns said love knows no gender.
"GLBT people are people; there is no difference," she said.
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