The 20th anniversary of the first same-sex marriage licenses being given out in 2004 was marked by city officials and leaders of the marriage equality movement.
At the Kendall Center in Cambridge, there are pictures and shows. Friday showed the 20-year path that began on May 17, 2004.
This city’s mayor, Denise Simmons, said, “We were the first to open our doors.” “This is the first time we’ve ever let people get married here, and I hope it stays that way.”
Simmons has been mayor for 16 years, but he was also on the city council for a long time. In 2008, she was the first black mayor in the country to freely say she was gay. Since then, she has kept fighting for gay rights in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and other places as well.
“It wasn’t easy fight,” she said.
The party on Friday happened just hours after the U.S. Department of State warned LGBTQ+ people going abroad before Pride Month.
Part of what they said was:
The Department of State tells U.S. citizens living abroad to be more careful because terrorist attacks, protests, or other violent actions could happen against U.S. citizens and interests. The Department of State knows that there is a higher chance that violence from a foreign terrorist group will happen against LGBTQI+ people and events, and they tell U.S. citizens traveling abroad to be extra careful.
Friday, people in the LGBTQ+ community said that these problems are part of the fight they are still in.
In the years before same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts, Byron Rushing, who used to be a state representative, was very important.
When asked about their success and the backlash around the world, Rushing said, “Sometimes it’s fast, sometimes it’s slow, but it’s always forward.” “
The man told Boston 25 that he can see a time in 20 years when gay marriage is “incredibly normal.” They are free to live their lives the way they choose. “Living the way they want to.”
The U.S. Department of State tells travelers to be careful around groups and stay in touch with their department to find out about new threats.
