As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments on California’s same-sex marriage ban passed via Prop 8, a cohort of 25 Californian mayors–including Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster–have signed a statement urging the court to rule the proposition unconsitutional.
“As Mayors, we have a responsibility to unite our cities, not divide them,” the statement to the court read. “As Mayors, we have a special view of the separate class system created by Proposition 8…We encourage the Supreme Court to find Proposition 8 unconstitutional and restore the freedom to marry to all of California’s loving, committed couples.”
Foster, along with Vice Mayor Robert Garcia, will highlight the event by raising the rainbow flag–indicative of the pride within and rights for the LGBTQ community–over City Hall for the first time ever tomorrow morning.
In addition to the flag-raising ceremony, a candlelight vigil will be held tomorrow at City Hall for those who support marriage equality.
“This is a historic occasion and many of us hope that the US Supreme Court will the right thing to restore full equality to all americans by ruling that DOMA and Prop 8 should not be the law of the land and more specifically of California,” said Councilmember Gerrie Schipske and fellow LGBTQ member, who also spoke of her hope to see many attend the vigil. “The right to choose who we will marry is a personal not political decision. I believe we will see a 5-4 vote to overturn these laws.”
The flag-raising ceremony will occur tomorrow at 9AM at City Hall, located at 333 W. Ocean Blvd. The candlelight vigil will occur at City Hall as well, from 6:30PM to 7:30PM.
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