Gay marriage backers throughout the
nation are rallying for their cause on Valentine's Day.
In Chicago, the slogan “God Made Gay”
was prevalent at a Sunday demonstration held outside the Holy Name
Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.
About 60 men and women rallied against the church's opposition to the
institution, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Illinois recently approved a law that
recognizes gay and lesbian couples with civil unions, but marriage
remains out of reach for gay couples in the state.
Marriage Equality USA's tenth annual
Marriage Counter Actions urges gay couples in states where gay
marriage is not legal to apply for a marriage license.
“We engage in this annual event to
put a local face on marriage discrimination around the country and
render visible the discrimination currently enforced at government
marriage counters in most states in America,” Marriage Equality USA
Media Director Molly McKay said in an announcement.
Gay activists in Austin, Texas will
hold a rally for marriage equality outside of the Travis County
clerk's office at 4PM, the Star-Telegram reported.
“The time has come to press the issue
of marriage equality,” Dana Cloud of the group Queer Texas United
told the paper. “LGBTQ persons live and love like anyone else and
deserve the benefits, both material and emotional, of the right to
marry.”
Large crowds are expected at county
clerks' offices throughout California, but especially in San
Francisco, a city that in 2004 broke state law to issue marriage
licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
Gay marriage was legal in the Golden
State for a brief few months in 2008 before voters approved
Proposition 8, the state's gay marriage ban.
“Proposition 8 shattered that dream
[of marriage] for lesbian and gay Californians, and every day it
remains in effect, real people are being hurt,” McKay told San
Francisco alternative SF Weekly.