A day to be proud of...

To mark the beginning of Pride week on campus, the LGBT Student Association decided to hold a commitment ceremony. Four couples participated, and the mayor officiated. The Chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission also spoke - he was the first openly gay person to be appointed to such a high ranking position. It's gotten a lot of attention in the local news, which was part of the purpose of having it, and I think it met its goal in many ways. A minister from a neighboring town headed up a petition to ask the mayor not to officiate (6,000 signatures weren't enough to make him change his mind), and they held a protest. There have been letters to the editor in the paper almost every day for the past several weeks, mostly positive, and we had our names included in a large paid ad the UU put in the paper supporting Mayor Welch.

All four of us attended - this was the first wedding Kate has ever been to. It was beautiful, it was incredibly moving, and I'm so glad we went. There were over 500 people there. Everyone was in tears. The Chair of the PA Human Relations commission had a hard time keeping it together. We gave the mayor a standing ovation. And there was no disruption by protesters (thanks in part to Silent Witnesses who provided a buffer). I was so glad to be a part of it, and so proud of our community and our mayor.