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The Alliance hosts Its 11th Pride event in Brooklyn

June 26, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Gay/Straight Alliance of the New York State Justice System held its 11th Pride event in the Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday, where speaker Cathy Marino-Thomas (right) gave a brief history of the fight for marriage equality. Also pictured is the Alliance’s President Marc Levine. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese.

The Gay/Straight Alliance of the New York State Justice System held its 11th Pride event in the Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday, where speaker Cathy Marino-Thomas (right) gave a brief history of the fight for marriage equality. Also pictured is the Alliance’s President Marc Levine. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese.

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The Gay/Straight Alliance of the New York State Justice System held its 11th Pride Month event in the Kings County Supreme Court on Wednesday with speaker Cathy Marino-Thomas of Marriage Equality USA.

“The Alliance has been around for 12 years now,” said Alliance President Marc Levine. “When I started the Alliance it was because I started seeing bad things happening and I realized that I wasn’t the only one of a certain group who found themselves not being treated respectfully. We’ve really come so far since then.”

The event took place just days before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that same-sex marriage was legal in all 50 states and the organizers could see it coming. With that in mind, they took the time to reflect on the changes of the past 12 years the Alliance has been in existence.

“11 years ago we had our first Pride event on same-sex marriage in Borough Hall,” Levine said. “Back then, people thought same-sex marriage was fantasy. We are on the cusp now of seeing it go national.”

“When it comes to LGBT people, we’re all over the world,” Levine continued. “We come from every culture and every background. When we fight for our rights, we’re fighting for everybody. Let people be who they are regardless of who they love. It’s ok for people to define their gender however they see fit. You get to decide who you are.”

Marino-Thomas, the Emeritus Board President of Marriage Equality USA, has fought for marriage-equality rights for more than 20 years. She gave a presentation of the recent history of the fight for equality beginning with Loving v. Virginia in 1967, which was the first time a court declared marriage to be a civil right, to Baker v. Nelson in 1971, the first time a same-sex couple sought to wed, through to today.

Marino-Thomas called 2012 the “tide change” because Maine, Maryland, Washington and Minnesota all passed marriage equality by voter ballot measure. Without knowing that the U.S. Supreme Court would issue its ruling on Friday, she said that with 37 states now having legal same-sex marriages that she was confident that SCOTUS would eventually rule favorably.

“I tell you about all of these cases because I want to show you how we came to this point,” Marino-Thomas said. “Many people believe that marriage equality is the key to full equality. It’s a step in the right direction, but in no way does that mean equal. Don’t go home after the marriage decision.”

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