June 26--Lorri L. Jean, chief executive of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, said Friday that California played an important role leading up to the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage across the nation.
"People always say, as California goes, so goes the nation," Jean said. "Once you have marriage in such an important state as California, we knew it would help the dominoes fall."
The nation's high court on Friday ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry nationwide without regard to their states' laws in a 5-4 opinion written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.
Like many others, Jean wasn't sure the decision would come down on Friday. It's been an "emotional morning," she said.
Jean's wife saw the news posted on the SCOTUSblog early Friday morning, and they read the decision together. Within minutes of the decision being posted, the congratulatory text messages started coming in.
Jean and her wife married during the brief window in 2008 when gay marriage was legal in California, before the passage of Proposition 8, the state's gay marriage ban. The couple has been "together more than 23 years and legal for seven and now we're legal nationwide," Jean said.
After reading the decision, Jean called her 91-year-old mother, who lives in an assisted living facility in a "small, rural Mormon town in Idaho." Her mom hadn't seen the news yet and when Jean called, her mom said, "Did it come down yet? Did it come down?" Jean said, "We won!"
"Most of my adult life, I never thought I'd see this day," Jean said. "My mom, ironically, has been a greater optimist than I've been. When I was feeling like it was going to take a longer period of time, she said, 'Oh, no, we're going to win.'"
Even though same-sex marriage has been legal in California summer 2013, the decision was still huge, Jean said.
"We never knew whether it would be taken from us. It's been taken away before," Jean said, referring to Proposition 8. "If the decision went the other way today, we would be vulnerable to having our rights being taken away from us. We can now go to any state and we don't have to leave our rights behind at the border."
California voters passed Proposition 8 in 2008 -- which amended the state Constitution -- six months after the California Supreme Court ruled that gays had the right to wed. The state high court later ruled the initiative was a valid state constitutional amendment but upheld the validity of an estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages that occurred before the election.
After years of court battles, the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2013 declined to rule on an appeal of a California court decision striking down Proposition 8, clearing the way for marriages to resume in the state.
Friday's high court ruling was of little surprise since the justices had stood back in recent months and watched as federal judges, state courts, lawmakers and voters knocked down the legal barriers to gay marriages in 37 states.
In San Diego on Friday, Councilman Todd Gloria, who is gay, said he did not think this day would come.
"Love and justice prevailed," Gloria said.
San Diego County Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis, who was in Washington to attend an LGBT reception at the White House, was at the Supreme Court when Kennedy read the majority opinion. She quickly tweeted out the key portion of the decision: "Check it out!!!"
Dumanis called the decision "a victory for all of those individuals who've had the courage to live their lives openly and authentically, working for many years to secure equality for the LGBT community."
Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) called the court decision "an emotional, great day." She applauded those activists who have continued despite defeats, including the 2008 ballot proposition in California that banned same-sex marriage. "We have continued to march forward," she said.
Los Angeles Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, who is gay, called Friday a "joyous, historic day in our great country."
"The psychological damage to the LGBT community by denying full equality is profound and incalculable," O'Farrell said in a statement. "As we march to enlightenment as a civilization, let us not forget those who are no longer with us, who were ostracized and suffered in silence throughout their lives. From this day forward, that will no longer be the case, and that is worth celebrating."
San Fernando Mayor Joel Fajardo, the small city's first openly gay mayor, said he had hosted a panel discussion Thursday night on LGBT issues at the Compade Caf頯n Maclay Avenue. More than 150 people attended, he said.
"One of the major points was that marriage equality is very important to the LGBT movement, however it is not the sole component," Fajardo said. "The LGBT movement intersects with so many other movements, such as immigration, access to affordable healthcare, transgender equality....
"It's an extraordinary day for the nation," he said of Friday's decision. "At the same time, we need to recognize that this came by a slim 5-4 majority. And we need to continue fighting to preserve our rights, given that there's still a division in the Supreme Court on this matter and in the nation."
In West Hollywood, where city surveys show that about 40% of the population is gay, residents and people who work in the city lauded the high court's decision.
"It's nice to feel like we're on the right side of history," said David Egan, 32, a freelance editor who works in West Hollywood.
Kenneth Best, a West Hollywood resident, held his boyfriend's hand Friday morning as he reflected on what the decision meant. He never thought he'd see the nationwide legalization of gay marriage.
"In the era I grew up in, in the '70s, there was so much discrimination," said Best, 55. "Even in your own family, you were not accepted."
David Brookton, 22, walked along Santa Monica Boulevard on Friday morning, beaming. The freelance photographer takes photos of LGBT youth and allies as part of a campaign to encourage the community. The news today, he said, was a boost.
"It just shows that love always beats hate no matter how long you have to wait," he said.
"It's a gay holiday. Or at least it should be."
Michael Koontz was riding in the car in Los Angeles with his boyfriend, Gary Gangi, when he saw the Supreme Court ruling come across on Twitter. The driver pulled the car over. The couple decided the moment was too perfect to pass them by.
As morning traffic rushed past, they pulled over onto the road's shoulder. Gangi placed a ring on Koontz's finger and waited on bended knee, proposing to his boyfriend of six years. He said yes.
The two had delayed their engagement because it did not feel right to get married in California when people in other parts of the country could not.
"It was a magical moment," Gangi said.
Times staff writer Katie Shepherd contributed to this story.
Twitter: @LATsandiego
UPDATE
1:48 p.m.: This story has been updated with comments from the mayor of San Fernando.
11:40 a.m.: This story has been updated with new comments.
This story was first published at 9:41 a.m.
