All photos courtesy of GoGayToday.com

Hundreds of Long Beach citizens–gay, straight, and everything in between–gathered at The Grand Event Center yesterday evening to celebrate not only the U.S. Supreme Court’s shut-down of DOMA’s discriminatory policies towards LGBTQ couples, but to also celebrate the Court’s dismissal of Prop 8 back to the lower court.

“I was overwhelmed with the amount of people who turned out to celebrate our marriage equality victory last night,” said LGBTQ Center of Long Beach President and Chairman Ron Sylvester. “I was also thrilled with the makeup of the crowd, which included plenty of straight allies and families with children, all celebrating a historic day in this country’s civil right movement.”

An estimated 700 people attended the event, with cars and people continually strolling out of The Grand as multiple speakers took to the podium, wedding cake was served, and cheesy wedding anthems blared on the speakers.

“The energy in the air was electric and so joyful,” Sylvester continued. “Yes, there were probably too many people for the space, and it was hot, and line to get a drink was very long, and not everyone got a piece of cake or glass of champagne, but that didn’t seems to bother anyone. Everyone was happy and smiling and thrilled to be together to celebrate our victory.”

For anyone who supports the LGBTQ community, that’s a hard thing to not smile about.