Love Triumphs in DC

Adam Gerhardstein is Campaign Manager of the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign.

On the way to work yesterday, the first day gay and lesbian couples could apply for marriage licenses in D.C., Rev. Rob Hardies called me and said, “Fred Phelps is at the courthouse and we need Standing on the Side of Love.” So as soon as I got in the office, my colleague Orelia Busch and I grabbed our banner, signs, buttons and wallet cards that say, “We believe homophobia, not homosexuality, is a sin,” and headed out.

When we arrived at the courthouse it was a media feeding frenzy. Videographers, photographers, people with tape recorders, bounced from one loud voice to another and mobbed any couple coming out of the courthouse. The couples were positively glowing. They were radiating love and energy that overshadowed all the craziness around them. The hate was there, and being loudly proclaimed, but love had already won.

My favorite moment of the morning occurred while a huge media mob swarmed around two protesters yelling at each other, not realizing that they were on the same side. When I looked past the media mob, over by the door of the courthouse, I saw a man get down on one knee, look in his partner’s eyes, and, while I couldn’t hear them, I am 100% sure that he proposed. His partner began to cry, then the man got up from his knees and they kissed. A lone photographer noticed this proposal and went running over to capture it, but he was too late.

Witnessing that proposal, on that momentous day, was one of the great privileges of my life. I wish you could have been there with me, but here is a short video that will at least give you glimpse of what that day was like.