Union Square Marriage Equality Rally

Posted by Christian H.

We had a sunny blue morning in NYC. At this time of year I make a special effort to enjoy sunlight at every opportunity. During the late Autumn and Winter months, I am outdoors in the sun for only 10 or 15 minutes on my way to work in the morning. The first year I worked in Midtown, another motivation for our tall glass skyscrapers became clear: without them, we 9 to 5 worker bees would forget there's a sun at all.

By the time I arrived at last night's marriage equality rally in Union Square, night had fallen and a chill was creeping into the air. Outerwear in NYC trend to blues, blacks, and very dark colors, making the crowd look homogeneous to my eye. Compared to last year's Prop 8 march, there were far fewer signs. The sound system was not effective at the rear of the crowd, and those who couldn't hear were making small talk among themselves, compounding the problem.

Why I Love New York Tonight

Posted by Beau RN

I missed last night’s spontaneous rally at Times Square after the defeat of the Marriage Equality bill by the NY State Senate yesterday afternoon. When I heard more than a thousand people showed up to voice their outrage over the defeat my first thought was, “I’m not sure counting unaware tourists trying to get their theater groove on at TKTS necessarily constitutes a pro-gay marriage stance or organized outrage at the New York State Senate.” But whatever, I let it go.

I specifically wanted to make the NY Marriage Equality candlelight vigil tonight in Union Square because I missed last night‘s rally so I set out on the downtown 6 train from Harlem, anticipating wandering into a seething, undulating mass of righteously outraged LGBTer’s and their allies. My first tweet when I got up to the rally was, “Oh I see we’re on Gay Time” because ten minutes before the posted start of the event there were very few actual people other than those setting up around the platform and speaker. I started sweating and worrying that I missed a cancellation notice and end up milling about, tapping on my phone, trying not to look conspicuous until enough people pushed forward to make something of a small, angry mob.

My second tweet after the break....