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Gay couples wed at city hall

By Sharon Gittleman

FERNDALE – Dawn Still and Dawna Lovely each wore a crown of flowers when they took their vows in front of Ferndale's City Hall last week. They stood on the lawn with a dozen other LGBT couples who shared their tears as Mayor Robert Porter wished them well and Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit's Rev. Mark Bidwell blessed their unions.
The unprecedented mass wedding ceremony, reported in news outlets across the country, brought out journalists, TV trucks and photographers eager to capture an act of political defiance.
As the press milled around the couples, snapping photographs and writing in notebooks, the couples appeared to do their best to ignore the media onslaught, and focus on their families and friends.
While some of the brides and grooms dressed in simple clothing and others in more formal attire, each woman carried bouquets wrapped with rainbow-colored ribbons and each man was handed a rose to wear as a boutonniere. A dozen one-layer wedding cakes were placed on a table nearby for the celebration after the ceremony.
Porter said he didn't fear any political fallout from his decision to stand with the LGBT residents of his city.
"I want to call attention to the fact there are rights some people don't have," said Porter, who has been married to his wife for 27 years. "I'm standing here with people who want to make a commitment to each other. I'm not doing anything illegal."
Since Michigan law forbids county offices from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the ceremony didn't give the brides and grooms legal standing as newlyweds. However, many were touched by the Mayor's decision to give a civic nod to the weddings.
Bidwell conducted the ceremony with the assistance of Soulforce Detroit co-founder Jennifer Adriel.
"Today, you are sharing with the world what God has blessed you with," said Bidwell to the couples. "The truth is you are the child of God. You have the right to love and the right to live and the right to be happy and prosper."
Not everyone agreed with the pastor's sermon.
Across the street from the ceremony, a small band of protesters watched silently. One member of the group, held a sign that said, "Sodom, MI 48220," – Ferndale's zip code.
"I'm a former Ferndale resident," said the sign bearer, George Stevens. "I felt very uncomfortable living in a community that mainstreams homosexuality."
Love had nothing to do with the afternoon's ceremony, in Steven's view.
"You have the Mayor here doing what is a symbolic act, but so is burning a church," he said.
Two of the newlyweds would disagree with Stevens' characterization of the ceremony.
"Even though it's not recognized by the state, it's recognized by us, our family and most importantly by God," said Still.
Her wife questioned claims that state-approved gay unions would obliterate the sanctity of marriage.
"How can you destroy an institution that has a 50 percent divorce rate?" said Lovely. "In Amsterdam, straight people have a 50 percent divorce rate, while gay people have a 12 percent divorce rate."
Melinda Shotts took photographs of the brides and then pointed to the just married Dawna Lovely.
"That's my birth child," she said, and then gestured to Dawn Still, "and that's my love child."
Fate seemed to play more than a small role in the couple's decision to wed, said Shotts, noting the similarity of her daughter and daughter-in-law's names.
"Her mother has the same name as mine, too," she said.
A higher power seemed to have arranged one other romance.
"It was a cold winter night. I stood outside waiting for a bus, closed my eyes and asked God, 'why don't I have anybody?'" said Melvin Rogers Berta. "While I was praying, I missed the bus."
At exactly that moment, Leroy Berta drove by and offered the shivering Rogers a ride home. They were married at the City Hall ceremony.
Steven's protest didn't seem to bother Melvin Berta.
"He needs to get a life," Berta said. "He should go raise his kids instead of worrying about us. Maybe, I should take him a piece of cake."

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