A big gay wedding in the heart of Oklahoma City

OKC pride to kick off festival with marriage equality rally & commitment ceremony

by Jeremy Crites, President, OKCPride
Special to the Gayly

The national debate on gay marriage equality reached epic proportions as the Supreme Court heard arguments on Prop 8 and DOMA. While many opponents of same-sex marriage talk about how one-man, one-woman matrimony is “the way it's always been,” people must understand that love between members of the same sex has always been, too.

Thousands of LGBT couples call Oklahoma home. Some are Sooner State natives; others moved from elsewhere (often from places where their union is recognized). Some have been together for decades. Some have children, and many have at least fur-children. They all have one thing in common, even with their heterosexual counterparts: they love each other and they are families. Further, these families deserve the same rights and privileges that any family is granted. After all, love knows no gender.

Whether or not the institution of marriage is important to you, having government recognize our partner as a family member is important to every one of us. Discrimination against LGBT families places unfair financial burdens on them. Heterosexual married couples can file taxes jointly, include their spouse (and their spouse's children) on their employer's insurance plan, and enjoy numerous tax incentives based on marital status. As if the death of a partner isn't traumatic enough, LGBT survivors are faced with estate taxes, are not eligible for social security or veteran's benefits, and do not have the same protections for IRA accounts that heterosexuals do. Beyond the financial aspects, marriage equality means eligibility to sponsor a foreign partner, aids in the ability to adopt children, and provides a formal framework to protect the interests of your spouse and family. Further, recognizing gay marriage legitimizes same-sex partnerships, paving the way to end employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, for example, and puts us one big step closer to achieving true equality.

In support of our LGBT couples and their families, OKC Pride is hosting the Love is Love event on Saturday, May 18 at 11:00 am on the Grand Lawn of the Myriad Gardens, directly across the street from the Devon Tower. Love is Love is a marriage equality rally where we will publicly recognize our couples in an effort to show Oklahoma that our LGBT families are stable, long-lasting and committed. Following guest speakers, a mass commitment ceremony will be held for all those couples who wish to celebrate and proclaim their bond with one another in the beautiful park setting. This event will kick off the 2013 Pride Festival, which will be held just two blocks away on historic Film Row. Ample free parking is available. Everyone is encouraged to attend and wear red in support of marriage equality. More info and couples registration at www.okcpride.org/love or join our event on Facebook at www.fb.com/okcpridefan.