FERNDALE – About 50 people at Affirmations erupted in wild cheers when the announcement was made a few minutes ago that the Defense of Marriage Act was deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"I'm a little bit emotional," said Grace Wojcik from Oakland University. "It's nice to know that decision is a positive one – now we wait for the second one."
It's a great day," said Em Paris, 25 of Dearborn, "It's a monumental ruling in civil rights. There's not a place I'd rather be right now than at Affirmations."
"This is history in the making," said Bradley Gartin, 36 of Hazel Park. "I want to be able to tell future generations where I was when this happened. I'll be able to say I was at Affirmations."
"I'm thrilled about the DOMA decision," said Craig Covey, former mayor of Ferndale. " The Supreme Court still makes me nervous. Yesterday's decision on the Voting Rights Act was scandalous. Progress is on our side, but it just takes some people longer. I started this stuff back in 1975, and if someone had told me then that we would get gay marriage by the time I was middle aged, I would not have believed it. It's kinda neat watching history unfold."
"It is amazing to me that any woman and I could go to Las Vegas and marry her, and every state would have to recognize it, but committed gay couples can't," said Affirmations executive director Dave Garcia. "Now that is unconstitutional. It is a great day."
Attorney Syeda Davidson is a board member of Affirmations. She sees these decisions as the next big step towards equality. "The battle is the civil rights battle of our time. No matter what these decisions say, we can't stop fighting yet," she said.
"I'm a lawyer by profession and after what they did yesterday with the Voting Rights Act, I just felt I needed to be here today," said Sherry Wells, who recently said she intends to run for mayor of Ferndale.
"I'm ecstatic for the people of California, and for those in the states where the repeal of DOMA will change their lives," said attorney Lisa Schmidt. "But there is clearly a lot more work to do in this state."
DOMA Goes Down Amid Cheers, CA Keeps Its Marriage
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