Tonight (Thursday night) I went to the rally on Christopher Street, in Sheridan Square. I got there somewhat late, and I had to stand somewhere behind the dais, so I only saw the backs of the speakers’ heads. The Stonewall Inn was to my right, where — 34 years ago, almost to the day — the modern gay-rights movement was born. It felt so appropriate.

The final speaker was Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda. He was in the courtroom this morning when the opinion was announced. At the rally, he read from Justice Kennedy’s opinion:

“Bowers was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today. It ought not to remain binding precedent. Bowers v. Hardwick should be, and now is, overruled.”

The crowd exploded in cheers. I had tears in my eyes.

At the end, as everyone began to disperse, I heard someone yell, “Now everyone go home and fuck!”

What a day.

The gay community has never had trouble finding easy targets to ridicule. How strange to have people to praise today. It feels strange to have won something — something so big, and yet so basic. It feels strange, but it also feels normal, like a weight has been lifted. It feels so un-archaic, finally. There are more struggles ahead, more natural positive rights we need to claim for ourselves; but today, a big negative was erased. It’s a clean slate. We don’t have to participate in the political system with one hand tied behind our backs anymore. This was huge, and it makes so much more possible now.

What a day.
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