More than 200 celebratory residents of the Coachella Valley and environs gathered before the Palm Springs City Hall to mark the California Supreme Court decision granting Marriage Equality to members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender communities. In a 4-3 decision, California, with one eighth of the population of the Nation, that is, more than 35 million out of 300 million American residents, leads the way to Civil Rights and Marriage Equality for all. For All.
In an occasion marked by ‘mere’ citizens like Scott and Jon Hines and their two young children, Steve O’Brien and Scott Evans, partners of 13-years, Carol and Mike Balassa, leaders of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays – Palm Springs (PFLAG), and others, law-abiding and tax-paying citizens all, paid tribute to the heroism of the California Supreme Court for the landmark decision. Coachella Valley electeds such as Palm Springs City Councilmember Ginny Foat, Palm Springs City Councilmember Rick Hutcheson, Water District Board Member Craig Ewing, Cathedral City Councilmember and Candidate for Cathedral City Mayor Paul Marchand, and Cathedral City Councilmember and Candidate for the 80th Assembly District Greg Pettis attended the celebration.
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More from mydesert.com, the online edition of The Desert Sun:
(Scott and Jon Hines) had just lost a Tennesee Supreme Court case to try and overturn a ban on same-sex marriage.
“They treated us like second class citizens,” Scott Hines of Palm Springs said.
On Thursday, the chance they took for legal marriage in California paid off.
The family of four joined 200 others at Palm Springs City Hall to celebrate the California Supreme Court decision Thursday to overturn a ban on gay marriage.
“We came here because we knew there was a chance,” Scott Hines said.
When he got the news early Thursday, he called his partner of five years and asked him to marry him.
“I was in (a) dentist chair,” Jon Hines said with a big smile as he and Scott’s children, Louis, 11, and Sage,3, played nearby.
Louis, a fifth grader, has been known to say that two dads are better than one, Jon Hines said.
“They rock,” Louis said.
Several who attended the rally wore black T-shirts that read “Let California Ring…”
…Several hugged and cheered when Mayor Pro Tem Ginny Foat shouted, “Happy Marriage Day!”
Councilman Rick Hutcheson said Thursday was a “joyous day for Palm Springs and a joyous day for my family.”
He joked though that it was also an expensive day because he and his partner of 10 years would now need to shop for wedding rings.
Local radio talkshow host Bill Feingold said he was surprised at how affected he was by the Supreme Court decision, adding he cried a little.
“I feel validated,” Feingold said. “I am an American like everybody else today.”
Foat discussed the long, hard struggle of the LGBT community, and the leadership that members of the Palm Springs community provided to the Marriage Equality struggle. Foat noted that the City of Palm Springs, amongst many other California cities like Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, and others, filed friends of the court amicus briefs to support today’s California Supreme Court ruling. Foat reported that she had left a message for her long-time partner, Pam, asking her to marry her in a voice mail message. The crowd responded in laughter when Foat indicated that her partner expected more, including an in-person marriage proposal and a ‘bended knee.’ Nevertheless, Foat’s partner said “Yes!.” Foat also reported that the Palm Springs City Council, lead by Mayor Steve Pougnet, Hutcheson, and herself would seek to have a Riverside County clerical presence in Palm Springs to allow locals to seek a marriage license here, rather than having to travel to Indio as presently planned.
Foat read a congratulatory letter from Pougnet who with his partner and twins were at a family function in Rochester, NY. Clearly Pougnet, attending a family event, missed being in Palm Springs to celebrate a LGBT family event with the California Supreme Court ruling.
Hutcheson discussed the personal and community blessings of the Court ruling, indicating that Palm Springs could become the Marriage Equality capital of California. Clearly, Marriage Equality will benefit Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Desert, and Rancho Mirage hotels, resorts, spas, restaurants, caterers, and entertainers in the near future.
Foat introduced Greg Pettis, Candidate for the 80th Assembly District, as ‘THE 80th Assembly District candidate,’ to which Pettis received resounding applause. When Foat reported that Pettis would replace Bonnie Garcia (R), the applause and cheers exploded further. Pettis has fully supported Marriage Equality, foster parent priviliges for the LGBT community, anti-bullying measures for the schools, and other LGBT issues during his 13 years + tenure as Cathedral City Councilmember and former-Mayor Pro-Tem of Cathedral City. Pettis discussed his previous leadership in crafting measures to protect the interests of members of the LGBT communities in Riverside County and in Cathedral City.
Pettis has had the endorsements of every member of the LGBT legislative caucus in Sacramento including Assemblymember John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), Chair, Senator Christine Kehoe (San Diego), Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles), Senator Carole Migden, and Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). Other local electeds, members of the LGBT community endorsing Pettis include Foat, Hutcheson, Marchand, Desert Hot Springs Councilmember Karl Baker, Desert Stonewall Democratic Club Treasurer Bob Silverman, Desert Stonewall Democratic Club Secretary James Reynolds, Desert Stonewall Democratic Club Vice-President Roger Tansey, Desert Stonewall Democratic Club Steering Committee Members Donald W. Grimm, Ph.D., Bob Mahlowitz, Greg Rodriguez, and Lynn Worley, Desert Stonewall Democratic Club activist Bill Cain-Gonzales, Palm Springs Democratic Club Co-Chair David Pye, Palm Springs Democratic Club Co-Chair Sandy Eldridge, former Palm Springs Democratic Club Co-Chair Robert Lee Thomas, amongst others.
In addition, Pettis has been endorsed by all, by all of the local LGBT Democratic Clubs including the Desert Stonewall Democratic Club, the Inland Stonewall Democratic Club, and the San Diego Democratic Club.
Pettis discussed the benefits to the West Valley communities of Marriage Equality. He also discussed the fact that the impact on the Imperial Valley communities might be even greater as the visibility of the LGBT communities there becomes even more evident at neighbors, family members and friends publically seek and obtain marriage licenses in El Centro, Brawley, Coachella, and Indio. That is where real change in the local political and social environment as a result of Marriage Equality will occur.