[caption id="attachment_234" align="alignleft" width="300"] MEUSA hosted a large contingent in the 2013 San Francisco Pride Parade[/caption]
Adopting a theme of Embrace, Encourage, Empower, San Francisco Pride 2013 will be remembered as one of the most celebratory Pride parades ever. Record-setting crowds cheered and celebrated the historic marriage rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court. The Marriage Equality USA contingent, which included couples together for many decades as well as couples who had just gotten married in SF City Hall, marched near the head of the parade to enthusiastic cheers from a crowd estimated at 1.5 million lining Market Street. "The crowd was especially joyous this year," noted MEUSA marcher Joe Capley-Alfano. Celebrating his 13th anniversary with Frank Capley-Alfano, Capley-Alfano added, "the weight of Prop 8 was finally lifted from our shoulders. We could see people's faces light up with joy!"
[caption id="attachment_233" align="alignright" width="300"] Thom Watson and Jeff Tabaco march with the MEUSA contingent as part of the San Francisco Pride Parade[/caption]
MEUSA marchers included families with kids in strollers, college students, GSA members, as well as many straight allies and relatives. Also in the parade were plaintiff couples Kris Perry & Sandy Stier and Jeff Zarillo & Paul Katami, who had “Just Married” signs on the back of their car – a reminder that marriage equality had just been restored in California and that legal weddings were taking place all weekend long in San Francisco City Hall. MEUSA contingent monitors Thom Watson and Jeff Tabaco, one of the first couples to get their wedding license at City Hall on June 28 and who plan to marry in September, carried signs reading "Just Engaged" and "He Said Yes." "All along the route, people cheered and showered us with congratulations," remarked Watson. "One woman even gave us flowers," Tabaco continued. "Our faces were beaming the entire route."
In a first, MEUSA offered legal weddings at the MEUSA booth at the Pride Celebration on both Saturday and Sunday. Supportive clergy, with the dome of San Francisco City Hall in the background, brought newlyweds together, marking the first San Francisco Pride where couples were finally able to say “I Do.”
By MEUSA News Manager John Mattras
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